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Asterisk Open Source PBX 1.0 Release
An anonymous reader writes "Today at Astricon (the first Asterisk conference), Mark Spencer announced the release of version 1.0.0 of Asterisk. For those of you that don't know: Asterisk is a complete PBX in software. It runs on Linux and provides all of the features you would expect from a PBX and more. Asterisk does voice over IP in three protocols, and can interoperate with almost all standards-based telephony equipment using relatively inexpensive hardware. Asterisk users can be up and running, making phone calls in under an hour using the various guides found at the VoIP Wiki. Connectivity to the PSTN is provided by companies like VoicePulse, Nufone, Gafachi and VoipJet."
For reference, please see this and this
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
can we change the slashdot ads, i keep seeing this guy flex his muscles, getting annoying after a while.
FP BItches!
screw you!
second post
For those of you that don't know: Asterisk is a complete PBX in software
Ooohhh! *slaps forhead* Well, fuck you very much, but wtf is a PBX?
(Mark offered to give a free IAXy to the person who got this slashdot story posted) :-)
There's no place I can be, since I found Serenity.
Anyone who has thought that they'd like to own "The Internet" should check out the best deals under "related links". I might give it a look - the one I got last year is getting out of date. Which version are we up to now?
...right here.
It's a bit out of date - it suggests you check out the code from CVS - but lots of good info there nonetheless.
The Army reading list
Are we talking about a proper enterprise solution, or is this another shoddy piece of Linux software whose faults are ignored because it's not made by Microsoft?
-erick
http://www.busyweather.com/
This should have been under 'Slashdot - advertisements'. Next article - Get $40 off the newest Linux ISO !
I sent this to their webmaster:
m spx
I find it somewhat humorous that on this page:
http://www.microsoft.com/seminar/events/security.
the photo you use is that of a Macintosh PowerBook G4 15" (with the Apple logo on the back of the screen Photoshop-ed out), on a page about security summits and programs. While I don't want to get into a pissing contest about which OS is more secure, it's mildly humorous to find a Mac being used to advertise Microsoft's security, even if it is subtle.
Respectfully,
Andy Ringsmuth
I'll try and keep an eye on it and see if they decide to change the photo.....
http://www.macslash.org/
http://macslash.org/~andyring/
I want news that sound like news on Slashdot. I do not want news that sound like ads on Slashdot.
Since when is Slashdot a walking commercial? Oh wait.
Any recommendations for IP (ethernet) phones to use with Asterisk? We've got Lucent/Avaya fones with power over ethernet (convenient) but the PBX backend is a proprietary piece of shite.
Also, is LDAP supported in Asterisk?
...is quite nice and easy to get going with a cheap $40 FXO card. With that and a decently powered machine you can easily replace your home answering service or machine with something a bit more complex. As great as Asterisk is though it definitely is a 1.0 product, hopefully now that the functionality has stabilized somewhat, more work will be put into rearing the myriad of control files into something more managable and some work will be put into better troubleshooting tools. Odd or weird problems can be a real PITA to diagnose on your Asterisk setup.
My dialplan (which works all but the analog portion 100% of the time) is that a call comes in -> rings the analog line a few times -> asterisk then picks up and gives the user a menu, from there one can pick my sip client or my girlfriend's or a global that rings the analog line and the sip clients at the same time. In case of no answer voicemail then picks up and fires off an email to us containing the message. Eventually I hope to have it sharing functionality with some friends in different states so we can all have free local dial-ins for family and friends who are scattered.
--- I do not moderate.
Mirrors can be found at http://asterisk.paperwork.com
The worst is that there is a very steep learning curve. Configuration of both hardware and software is complex. While the documentation is thorough, it is not oriented towards the first time set-up.
Taken as a whole, though the good outweighs the bad, and it is worth investing in learning about it. This is great package. Tanks to the people who have been working on it, esp Mark at Digium.
Skype (http://skype.com) seems to be taking off. Can Asterisk coexist with Skype?
Don't forget Broadvoice. It works too and is really cheap.
Chris
The much acclaimed Father Randy "Pudge" O'Day finally makes his appearance on Slashdot!!
M*_M_A_C_S_ _A_R_E_ _H_O_M_O_ _M_A_C_S_ _A_R_E_*H
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M_______/\_|___C_____)/_STEVE\_(____>___|_/_____R
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A___|_D_I_A____/_/____|__xServe_|__\_____E ____|M
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*M_O_ _M_A_C_S_ _A_R_E_ _H_O_M_O_ _M_A_C_S_ A_R_*
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I know at least one technically skilled computer programmer type (ruling me out on two counts) who had a lot of pain setting up asterics. (Brian will remain completely anonymous.)
;)
Considering the ludicrous (low) prices for which one can buy a complete system far-more-than-capable of running asterics, the relatively cheap price of the phone interfaces, etc, it seems like a plentifully adequate Asterics box could be made for a lot less than $500, and perhaps sold for that amount (just one or two lines, more could cost more). This isn't *dirt* cheap like future, hypothetical home PBX appliances ought to be from Linksys and similar companies, but considering you can also use it as a home server and other things on the side, strikes me as at least a plausible, reasonable price to aim for.
Has anyone done this? Does anyone sell a shoe-box PBX for a few hundred dollars that can be accessed via web, so new voice messages and menus can be dropped in via clicky-clicky drop-down menus?
On this front, Isaac from MythTV and Marc from Asterics should get together and forge an unholy alliance, integrating two home-automation tasks in a nice, non-monolithic, package. I noticed that MythTV has *some* kind of new addition involving phones, but I have not read the linked bits yet
timothy
jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
What have we become?!
"I can't give you a brain, so I'll give you a diploma" - The Great Oz (blatently stolen sig)
OK, that was bad.
Ignoring the free iPod issue, this is free software (GPL, even) that we're talking about. It's not v1.0 of some random commercial program. It's v1.0 of the premier Linux VoIP package. That makes it news.
I've just barely started playing with it, but it's pretty easy to use once you get the hang of it. It even comes with prerecorded messages such as "all members of our household are currently dealing with telemarketers", "somethings *terribly* wrong", and one that's just angry monkeys screaming for 20 seconds.
Here are some great resources for getting started:
http://www.digium.com/handbook-draft.pdf
and a good soft phone (x-lite) at http://www.xten.com/
I've been using a Canadian company by the name of Galaxy Telecom (http://www.galaxytelecom.net/) they've got some interesting features as well (DID's, World Wide termination, etc)
If your looking for someone to put your calls through, you might want to check this company out as well
Marko: Wanna be a bleeding-edge cheapskate with the company telephony? [/. URL here] Petey: So you'd have to contract PSTN connectivity separately through one of those fly-by-night outfits with household names like Nufone and Gafachi. Sweet. Marko: Well, yes, but you'd have the advantage of exposing your telephony to the attacks of script kiddies. Petey: Also sweet. Sign me up.
Don't forget asterlink.com and tollfreeexpress.com
um you sure thats a power book?
=1000101
We have been running it for quite some time to handle our order status system. We programmed a python interface to our oracle database, greatest thing since sliced bread. Very flexible system with alot of possibilities.
Got Code?
Not that most will care, but I first heard about Asterisk via the HTTP_REFERER data in the Web server logs for the OMR, which was apparently referenced as a place to get no-cost, pre-licensed (open licensed) on-hold music.
Now that the OMR has been shut down, the links to those songs are available in an XML dump of the music database that can be found on freality.org or my own site.
No Laughing Allowed!
Notice how in the article header it lists several providers?
Extrapolate from that, smarty pants.
I have been using Asterisk for well over a year, it has replaced the cisco call manager for my applications.
It has provided robust functionality, and many features that would be cost prohibitive to implement from other vendors.
If your looking to get into voice over IP on a scale larger than a single Vonage accout, or even want to have full pbx facilities for home..this is the way to go.
Just my 2 cents
-AC-
Anybody used this with a wireless LAN, either with soft phones or Wi-Fi handsets?
How well did it work?
org.slashdot.post.SignatureNotFoundException: ewg
Someone (not me! not me! the monkeys!) should connect asterics with festival, an audio compression program, and a mail agent.
Would be good to call one's landline (connected to an asterics box) and be given options like "press 7 to hear email."
Would be annoying to hear everything, perhaps (and too slow, too), but an option like "play the first 10 words, then prompt for more, or to skip to the next message" would make it bearable.
timothy
jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
I am wondering if Asterik works with IPv6.
don't wantD to feel
Voop offers PSTN termination over IAX and SIP for Asterisk users in Norway. Both business users and private individuals welcome.
Disclosure: I work for Voop.
And remember kids: Never trust a computer you can actually lift.
I am really happy to hear this milestone. Being a long time user of asterisk, this is very welcome. I can say that asterisk is one very fine piece of software, being as flexible as it is, and can be used for JUST about anything you need to do with a phone line. I use it for SIP/VoIP and other IVR-type purposes, and have yet to be disappointed.
Now all we need is a new release of their Web site that has some screen shots for those taking a passing interest!
AT&ROFLMAO
Here's the link (from the MythTV site) for MythPhone. It's for making SIP calls, not intended for integration with a POTS service as far as I can see, but conceptually it could be a good front end for calls made over asterics (or any landline, if tied into one). That would lose the fancy picture stuff, but would turn a MythTV computer into a big, fancy phone. Beldar Conhead plastic face mold not included.
:) Got it working, eventually, Yes, but QuickRip (sadly discontinued) does a good-enough job with a shallower learning curve. Tradeoffs are everywhere, and there's one.
"Unfortunately big complex systems require some idea of what you are doing. Services are available to those who don't understand telephony. But usually they want to get paid for their time. You sound like you expected something like this to be just configure, make, make install and it's up and running."
Actually, I'd like it to be even simpler than "configure,make, make install," but I don't *expect* it -- at least, not magically. The reason I suggest a turnkey appliance is because such a thing can encapsulate many hours of the time you mention in a form that's easily reproducable at low marginal cost, and the cost of that time can be amortized over many units' worth of hardware -- the same way interface-design and programming time that go into things like wireless appliance of various kinds can.
Re: complexity / money for time, the same could be said (and has been) about all kinds of complex systems which have in the end been simplified with sufficient skill to make them useful *without* a big learning curve. I want my cake and to eat it too, Yes, but so does everyone who drives a car that doesn't need to be manually cranked, rides a ski-lift, or uses central heating instead of stoking a coal furnace (etc). There will always be a market (in money and attention span) for the hardcore, bare-metal approach to just about anything, but that doesn't mean simplifications and commoditization in general are bad.
Somewhat related example: video compression. Using dvd::rip, I have squashed a few DVDs into hard-drive friendly smaller sizes, so I can carry some favorite films on my laptop. dvd::rip is itself a front-end meant to be simpler and friendlier than using the underlying programs it connects, but it's still not all that user friendly, at least to klutzes like me
Cheers,
timothy
jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
It's full of good stuff, but it's high traffic (IMHO). I was subscribe for a couple days shy of a month, and ended up with 3425 messages.
get them here:n -2004
http://photos.tropiano.org/gallery/astrico
VOIP intrigues me, but being a newbie at this, I still get a little dizzy by all of this. So perhaps if someone can enlighten me. :)
Ok so I install this thing on a Linux server. Then what? How do I make calls to say, someone in New York from LA? And who would I have to pay still? No one?
Also, how would I interface my phone with this thing? Would I need to get a VOIP phone?
eTrade SUCKS
We use Asterisk where I work -- about 30 Zultys ZIP 4X4 phones connected to a dual Xeon server with a Digium ISDN adaptor card (4 x E1 spans). One span is used to connect to the outside world (the full 30 lines; was just 12) and another connects to our "old" Siemens HiPath exchange.
We did have a problem with call quality which seemed to be related to recording calls; it turned out that it was due to having far too many files in the recording directory, and once we had that sorted, it was clear as a bell again.
My boss has even set up an Asterisk server at home. I haven't, but I've a spare machine I might use for the job if I can scrounge a spare IP phone. I'm not using a softphone -- we tested every one we could get the source for and one we couldn't, and they were all lousy for one reason or another.
Je fume. Tu fumes. Nous fûmes!
cheap labor conservatives - they want to keep you hungry enough to be thankful for minimum wage.
apt-get install asterisk
Mark Spencer (the guy who does asterisk), is also the original author of Gaim, and Cheops (nifty network tool).
Anyways, that's it.. I knew him when we were both freshmen in college at Auburn.. He had ethernet in his room and I didn't, so my computer lived in his room most of that year..
Haven't talked to him in years.. so if you're reading this Mark -- HEY!!
--Zac
I'm about to move into a new office, fed by both DSL and cablemodem (for 99.9999% uptime = 30s:y downtime). Has your use of Asterisk and its PSTN connection been reliable enough that your company can depend on it? What should keep me waiting for the next generation?
--
make install -not war
Only odd thing we had to correct was switching off the Linux screensaver, as it was causing voice quality to occasionally stutter under high network traffic volume.
Support Hint: an office PBX is a mission-critical system for a commercial business. You can't run it on an old piece of leftover trash! You need to put it on a high quality 1U server racked in your air conditioned computer room behind a secure door where the night cleaner can't plug his vacuun cleaner into your power bar!
You also have to ensure it's properly backed up to off site tape/CD-ROM storage, and that the disk is RAID so that it can be QUICKLY restored when the disk fails.
Anything less than this level of proper support means your ass is grass when something bad happens and the office comes to a screeching halt!
You have been warned.
Ocelot Wreak
"I figure you're here 'cause you need some whacko who's willing to stick his finger in the fan. So who are we helping?
I know that Digium sell their TDM400 cards with a single FXS module to terminate and plug a POTS phone into. I have also seen the single port FXO module PCI card, as well as some of the cheaper knock-offs (same chipset, less support) on ebay and at discount at $10-$30 dollars.
I am looking to find a single port FXS module for a home telephony system that I can then plug standard pones into.Also, with the TDM400 module, is anyone familiar with the resistance of multiple phones and what the module supports? Would it be feasible to unplug my in-house wiring from the demarc, and patch it in so that the FXS card feeds multiple phones on the in-house wiring loop?
This is great news - just strolling through the feature list makes me drool. As a matter of fact, I think my boss is already ordering a quad analog board......
:)
as far as the complexity goes... You know, instead of bitching about lack of user-friendly configuration, why won't someone write a web-based interface or something to that effect.
It's FREE software. A feature-for-feature comparable commercial PBX unit would cost you a limb or two, especially considering that with most commercial software PBX's you have to pay the per-node tax...
come on.. if you want to set up a software PBX you should be adept enough to be able to tinker with cryptic text configs..
--- sig moved for great justice.
"Connectivity to the PSTN is provided by companies like VoicePulse, Nufone, Gafachi and VoipJet."
...?
How do they do it? Do they have their own equipment at the local telco site? Is it possible to use Asterisk completely independent from VoicePulse, Nufone,
TollFreeExpress and Asterlink
Or better still GETAFIX :).
"A small village in gaul"
All the menhir and boars you can eat.
My hosting business, Binhost Technologies, uses Asterisk behind its IAX/SIP Origination and Termination and wholesale VOIP operations. It works well -- the price is right and the features are many. Most phones work if they speak SIP, IAX, or H.323 and the system comes configured from the start in a pretty usable state.
A few things we've found out: The scripting system is a bit of a learning curve. Also, the configurations are one of those Jenga configs -- breathe too hard and it falls down. You have to be really, really careful when messing with the configs because one place can easily mess up another thing. But once you get a good, working config, it just works.
Processor usage is reasonable, too. A P-266 would do well for a couple of lines and maybe up to 10. After that you'll want a bit more horse.
</plug>
Blog,Twitter
Obligatory fake Asterisk ad
Sorry to pounce on such a tiny part of your post, but I feel the need to bitch about X-Lite. This "softphone" (aka VoIP client) seems to be the one everyone recommends to the point that it's hard to find any other. Still, it is the most annoying software I've ever had the displeasure to use. By trying to make the interface look like a phone they've created a UI with all of the limitations and annoyances of a phone UI.
It took me ages to get the hang of operating the configuration "dialogs", which are made to work like the heirarchical menus found on mobile phones but do some weird things due to the fact that they are operated with a mouse rather than dedicated navigation keys. Dialling is similarly painful.
What I'd like is a simple application with a UI perhaps like a contact manager, or perhaps just to integrate a dialler into an existing contact manager. Don't bother with the three-by-four on-screen dialling keypad... I have the real thing on my keyboard. Also, the ability to dial by entering a hostname (which is then resolved to an IP) would be nice. Maybe X-Lite can already do this, but it wasn't obvious exactly how to do it so I just gave up.
In general, replicating physical devices as application interfaces is a bad idea. The "media app which looks like a stereo system" people learned their lesson years back, and now it's time for the VoIP client authors to learn as well.
I'd be interested in locating consultants that have implemented Asterisk and VoIP before. Preferrably ones connected to organizations, but individuals are okay too. I am in the Atlanta area if that matters.
True Linux users should be lazy:
/etc/hosts
cat >>
0.0.0.0 ads.osdn.com
^d
I just saved you 5 keystrokes.
*burble*
Quack, quack.
True Linux users should be lazy:
/etc/hosts
cat >>
0.0.0.0 ads.osdn.com
^d
I just saved you 5 keystrokes.
*burble*
(I responded to the wrong funny post..)
Quack, quack.
For email, things eventually changed. SMTP is king, and RFC 822 is the gold standard for email formats. Modern mailers are a lot less complex because they *CAN* be. Will the future hold something similar for telephone service? Who knows. Check back in a decade, but for now, use Asterisk.
I predict that the ILECs will be merged into one unified operating company, call it...oh I don't know, say AT&T, thus providing a unified body of specifications for interconnection and call processing.
But seriously folks, is there a nexus where discussion of Asterisk lives? Please don't tell me it's IRC, I don't need to be involved in up-to-the-millisecond development efforts, but this seems right up my alley and I'd would love to lend my experience and participate.
Thank you for your links.
slashdot: A failed experiment.
It's too bad -- if Skype opened up their system, or someone were to reverse engineer the protocol, you'd have a killer combination.
Oughta hit the spot.
... but it's a DRY heave. -- me
There is no right to feel safe thru security vaudeville at the expense of everyone's freedom, privacy and tax money.
You can find more information on Asterisk and Astricon at the unofficial Daily Asterisk News Page:
www.sineapps.com/news.php
or rss 2.0 feed via:
www.sineapps.com/rssfeed.php
Cheers,
Matt Riddell
-={ Security does not exist - give up }=-
I got iConnectHere service a while back and have been mostly disappointed with the connections sometimes working, mostly not working.
But also, the phone has a lot of apparent features which their firmware (or service?) doesn't support - half the buttons don't do anything (I have to use a web page to get voicemail - the phone will not do it), and I wish the LED backlighting would stay on longer (oddly, if the phone doesn't succeed in doing DHCP then it stays on constantly; otherwise it only stays on a few seconds after you pick up the handset and you are left dialing in the dark.) Surely somebody is improving the plain-jane firmware from Grandstream? Or is it just iConnectHere that's so retarded and not the firmware?
Sounds like I need to incorporate telephony into my "next-generation gateway" box (currently an old dual-pentium, dual-LAN box connecting my cable modem to my LAN) which I plan to base on a dual-LAN Via Epia board. It has one PCI slot for the telephony card, perfect. Anybody running a setup like that?
My wife's been nagging me about resuscitating vgetty again so we have voicemail. This sounds like a nice step up.
That has been rehashed to DEATH at every service provider I have ever worked for.
Asterisk is also available for the best OS.
But there seems to be a problem with supporting H323. Does anybody know about the current status of chan_h323 for FreeBSD? (I mean, more than "doesn't work"?)
My Linux Command of the Day site : LCOD
If you object to "hacker" being used instead of "cracker", then why do you "surf" and not "browse" the Web?
I don't "surf" the Web, and I never have. I object to the use of said term as well as the term "Information {Super-,}Highway"!