[MLUG] Asterisk continued

["Russell Horn" <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

I've put a bit more work into this. Yesterday I added two FXO cards that
cost me about $25 each - that's a Foreign Exchange Office which connects my
asterisk box to two standard phone lines. I can now route calls at will. The
asterisk box can spot if I am dialling the USA and route calls there through
Broadvoice VOIP and if I'm dialling locally route them through the PSTN.

Incoming calls can be moved between extensions and voicemail works.

The configuration system is quite messy, but I think they are working on
that. It has a system for passing call information to another program so you
can run compiled C programs or even call a PHP script on the basis of
telephone input.

All in all, this is a neat system. For a few hundred quid of hardware you
could easily have a PBX that would cost thousands from a big name vendor. Of
course what you don't get is the support line and technicians. That,
however, was where I was pointing in my initial thread. If someone wanted to
make money through Linux, this has to be an opportunity. You can provide
better, more flexible systems than almost any other vendor, and undercut
them on cost every time because you have no licensing fees.

On the other hand, you could just set things up at home so you have the
geekiest house in MO. Is the university covered by Wi-Fi? If there was a way
to get the phones to log in, you could even get a Wi-Fi phone and have an
extension of your home PBX in your pocket anywhere on campus!

Asterisk is definitely one to watch...

Russell.

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