VOIP

Phone Dial I’m not quite sure when it really happened, but for me, (Voice over IP) actually started working six weeks ago. That was the point that I finally realized I could rely on my internet connection for local and long-distance phone calls, paying a fraction of the price that I have been paying for my land-line long-distance, and getting a sophisticated multi-extension, multi-line phone system as part of the deal. I’m now running three IP desk phone extensions in my home office These are connected to an old Dell Optiplex server which hosts Asterisk/Trixbox, a PBX software package which runs under Linux. A brief recipe for getting into VoIP follows. Of course, if you already have been using Skype, or some other IP phone system, you can skip steps 1 and 2.

VoIP runs over broadband internet connections. You can test your network connection at TestyourVoIP.Com This service will place test calls between your location and several cities including Sydney, Vienna, Boston, and Montreal.
You can get your feet wet with internet calling by getting an account with Skype or (my favorite) Gizmo. Both of these services emphasize calling other members of the same service (i.e. for Skype, other Skype users) but for a few bucks you can also sign up to make calls to land-line phone numbers. This starts to get really interesting, especially when you are making calls from your laptop to landlines via wireless connections at the airport. By doing this, you can start to get a feel of both the possibilities and the limitations of IP calling.
Check out Trixbox. Trixbox is a pre-configured installation of Cent-OS Linux (the Red Hat community clone), the Asterisk PBX software from Digium, and a set of management applications. You can download Trixbox as an .iso file, and burn it to CD, then install on an old faithful workstation. [Note: The installation will overwrite the hard disk. Don’t try this on a machine you use for daily work!]
Although you can use Asterisk with a software phone (including the later versions of Gizmo), it starts to act like a real phone system when you have real phones. These cost around $60-$80 each. I’ve had good luck with Grandstream Budgetone phones. Buy a couple and set them up as extensions on the Asterisk box. Each phone will take a Ethernet port on your network switch.
At this point you should be able to call the extensions on your system from another extension. To call out you need to have a VoIP service provider which will take your IP calls and transfer them to the regular landline phone system. This will cost a few bucks a month as well, but if you choose carefully you can save a bundle in long-distance phone charges. I’ve had good luck with VoicePulse. They have a plan specifically for Asterisk, extensive documentation, and they’ll help you get connected if you run into problems.

Other ideas:
Asterisk is a Linux application. If you have ever wanted to learn Linux, Asterisk is a great excuse for doing so. Asterisk has been installed on various distributions including Fedora, Cent-Os, Debian, and Ubuntu. If you want to get around the Linux piece, The enthusiast Nerd Vittles site has downloadable Trixbox images that run in a virtual machine on a Windows box.

If you want to integrate your Asterisk box with your existing land-line phone lines, you can purchase a board from Digium or another vendor to do this. Many installations, especially in an office setting use VoIP for the PBX functions and internal calls (to branch offices for example) but run all external client calls through conventional phone lines.

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