Slashdot Mirror
Build Your Own PBX
Kerbo writes "Kerry Garrison has written up a complete guide to building your own PBX with Asterisk@Home to create your own working PBX system. In the article, he shows how you can build a complete, working system for under $20 (assuming you have some old hardware laying around the house)."
For those with extra hardware to run Astrerix@Home, consider running Folding@Home! ;-)
Hulk SMASH Celiac Disease
While I ddid focus on using softphones, you can use either SIP phones or normal phones using an ATA adapter. SIP phones range in price from $69 - $500.
For those that don't know...Private Branch Exchange[wikipedia.org]
PBX = Private Branch Exchange
(Your work phone system)
Just in case it's not clear yet
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/P/PBX.html
Why worry? Each of us is wearing an unlicensed "nucular" accelerator on his back.
Sig changed for readability by G.W.
In a PURE VOIP scenerio, you could get PSTN/POTS termination from a company like Vonage, Broadvoice, VoicePulse, or a number or other companies. This basically gives you Dialtone-over-internet. What you need on your side is either a single softphone, ATA adapter, or something like an Asterisk box communicate with the provider. VOIP is suitable for everything from 1 user to any number of business class users.
You can use any of the following: Regular phone lines (multiple modems or multi-line modems) ISDN Trunk lines T1 Trunk lines Internet-based carriers If you have 2 regular phone lines, you can handle 2 concurrent calls, a T1 can handle up to 23. It is a very effective cost point considering the alternative standard PBX costs.
Make sure your connection is up for it:
http://testyourvoip.com/
Wikipedia VoIP Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voip
You either use something like the Wildcard X100P Generic (mentioned in the article as available on eBay for $6.95) to connect your standard analog line to the Linux box.
Or, you use a VoIP provider that does DID/Termination and will port your number. I believe Broadvoice does this. Then it's purely a VoIP line -- you use it by setting up the Asterisk box to use SIP to connect to Broadvoice. i.e. once you port into Broadvoice you'll no longer have a real landline.
Broadvoice is $5.95/mth for DID (unlimited incoming, pay per minute outgoing) or starts at $19.95 for their unlimited package (includes North America and quite a few European locations).
I have two Broadvoice DID's, one Broadvoice line that has the unlimited World that I use for outgoing calls, 1 Nu-Fone IAX outgoing line, 2 Unlimitel DID's (one of the only places to get Canadian numbers), 1 POTS line.
One of my favorite side tricks after getting the basic PBX features running is to setup one of the DID lines to give me DISA (direct-inward-system-access) when I call from my Cell Phone (based on Caller ID) so I can then dial out one of the outgoing accounts to anywhere in the world and only have to pay for a local call on my cell phone. (Here in Canada long distance is rarely included on cell phones like it is in the states)
Don't get into the things you were talking about. You only go there if you're running a business and want things like 24 flexpath lines on a T1.
Not a commercial, but you can add regular telephones to this great PBX system by going to www.voipsupply.com Most consumer SIP equipment is locked for Vonage, CallVantage, or Net2Phone. This shop sells non-configured versions which you can simply plug into your network, configure, and go. There are single- and dual-port analog adapters with FSX support, and fairly nice (and cheap) desktop phone sets, all SIP compatible.
Kriston
You can just use a regular phone line or a voip line if you prefer. No need to talk to the phone company. Busy signals for incoming calls are the phone companies problem, you don't have to worry about that. In a simple case you might have your Asterisk box pick up on the second ring (caller ID comes in between ring 1 & 2) and ask the caller to "press 1 for Jack, 2 for Jill etc. When the caller makes a selection you then ring the phone distinctivly (ie. different kind of ring for different people) and if noone answers the call goes to voice mail.
Those Lin/Winmodems are simply a soundcard with a telephone interface. They are of no value to most of us that have had fast Internet connections for years. Wait a minute: They have been approved to be connected to the PSTN! That is by far the greatest expence of producing this hardware.
Might I add, with a bit of experience, and perhaps a 'trade school' education in electronics it is trivial to reverse them and make 'ATA' devices. (Actually I think they are called 'FXS' devices in telco lingo. The devices that must be approved for connection to the PSTN are 'FXO' modules.) At somewhere between zero and a couple Euros per linmodem, used, this is a great idea.
As for the software, I'll stick to FreeBSD or Gentoo Linux and install my own Asterisk. Binaries give me the creaps. Computers a couple or three years old are likely to have more PCI slots and maybe an onboard 'Lin/Winmodem and lan card. While ee100s are a very good NIC (get them for as little as EUR 5,--) Linux and the BSDs have drivers for just about all types -- far more than Windows ever had.
It's pretty much general knowledge what a PBX is.
Some trivia: PBXs used to be known as PABXs, when it was new and highly advanced for a company to have a private AUTOMATIC branch exchange, rather than one where a switchboard operator would plug plugs into the right holes to manually route calls. The original PABXs were electromechanical - some large companies had Strowger private exchanges the size of a typical telco exchange unit.
Oolite: Elite-like game. For Mac, Linux and Windows
DO NOT BOOT THE Asterisk@Home ISO !!!!!!
IT WILLE AUTOMATICALLY FROMAT YOUR / PARTITION WITHOUT AKSING YOU A THING.
OMG this is freekin' Unbelievable!!!
I've downloaded the Asterisk@Home and like every other n00b around I just booted up from it (no I've not read any warning s or FULL documentation). I bet 98% of people around to the same thing. After the kernel boot and X detection phase it started formatting my / partition. NOT even a ONE question asked. Of course it screwed my system.
The good part is that I booted from this ISO in a virtual machine (not my real box) and I just lost a default Debian installation (installed on a virtual machine).
Is this the latest way to distribute bad things on the net? Post an article regarding an open source project that do a lot of good things after it FORMAT your / partition?
Please if you wanna try Asterisk@Home ISO do it in a blank new virtual machine not your development/home primary box.
Regards,
the3ngineer