asterisk users - Jan 2010 - Really Silly Question From Total Newbie

Hello All -

I've been poking around the past few weeks, trying to familiarize
myself with all of this.  I am new to Linux, VoIP and Asterisk -- to
be complete.   This is my first exposure to all of these technologies.

I installed AsteriskNow on my old dual Pentium 833mhz Dell PowerEdge
2400 and the install went well.   I can log in and poke around in
Linux and I even configured the box to be recognized on my windows
network.  However, is there a GUI that I can access to help me set
things up?  I've gotten so far as what looks to me like "DOS"
windows
that I can change various things in the OS...

I do not have any other hardware installed.  No cards and no VoIP
phones.   I havent got to the point where I can make a test call or
anything like that.  I dont know how to tell if Asterisk is up and
running and how I can tweak it, etc.   I've been reading a lot of
different things, and have become a bit confused. I think that in time
it will come to me but I needed to stop and ask because I need to know
if I am on the wrong path for what I'd like to do someday....

My main question is: CAN I make call from that box to my cell phone
using a soft-phone?   If so, how can I do that?   Also, can I use my
cell phone to call into that box?   I dont know if I have to get a
phone number, or do I NEED a phone number?   At the moment, I do not
have any dollars to throw at this project.   Its purely for learning,
proof of concept sort of thing for myself on my spare time in the
evenings.  I would simply like to be able to call out and be able to
call into that box.  Later on down the road maybe I will get into
setting up an IVR using a database so I can call into that system from
wherever and get information read back to me.  But, first things
first....  I'd like to know if I am heading down the wrong path here.

Sorry for what might seem as really silly questions, but I am not sure
how to proceed.

Thanks in advance for any insight that you folks can provide!

Mike

I can't help you two much with configuration of linux, but as to the call
question. You will need some route for the server to be capable of
sending/receiving calls. There is a couple of ways to do this cheaply.

Buy a standard telephone modem (usb, pci, or serial). And plug into wall a jack.
This will only allow you one call at a time. But if this is just a proof of
concept that sounds like it will be plenty. Your number would be whatever the
phone jack corresponds to.

Integrate it with something like skype.

Buy one of the products similar to a magic jack which will work with linux.

Or if you know someone who has a sip server already running. And is amiable to
letting you piggy back off of it. Your  phone number would point to that
person's Server (be it one of the friends that the person is lending you, or
a number that you have forwarded/ported at/to them) with it set to forward to
your asterisk server. from there you could use your dialplan to do whatever you
wanted it to. And for outbound you would send the calls out thru the friends
server via sip or iax.

James Shigley
Monroe Telephone Answering Service
409-981-9213
Infinity 5.51,UC 4.02.3803, Blink 3.0.104
Ecreator:2.21, eResponse 1.1.7
Webportal,WebApps, 
?
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email, including any attachments, contains
information which may be confidential or privileged. The information =is
intended to be for the use of the individual or entity named above. If you are
not the intended recipient, be aware that any disclosure, copying, distribution
or use of the contents of this information is prohibited. If you have received
this email in error, please notify the sender immediately by "reply to
sender only" message and destroy all electronic and hard copies of the
communication, including attachments.

-----Original Message-----
From: asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users-bounces
at lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of UIT DEVELOPMENT
Sent: Tuesday, January 05, 2010 1:54 PM
To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion
Subject: [asterisk-users] Really Silly Question From Total Newbie

.........................

My main question is: CAN I make call from that box to my cell phone
using a soft-phone?   If so, how can I do that?   Also, can I use my
cell phone to call into that box?   I dont know if I have to get a
phone number, or do I NEED a phone number?   At the moment, I do not
have any dollars to throw at this project.   Its purely for learning,
proof of concept sort of thing for myself on my spare time in the
evenings.  I would simply like to be able to call out and be able to
call into that box.  Later on down the road maybe I will get into
setting up an IVR using a database so I can call into that system from
wherever and get information read back to me.  But, first things
first....  I'd like to know if I am heading down the wrong path here.
...........................

_______________________________________________
-- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com --

asterisk-users mailing list
To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit:
   http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users

UIT DEVELOPMENT wrote:
> Sorry for what might seem as really silly questions, but I am not sure
> how to proceed.
> 
> Thanks in advance for any insight that you folks can provide!
Hello Mike.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Asterisk.  Before you sludge through a
GUI and all the attendant bad habits that can produce, I suggest that
you download what we consider to be the Bible of Asterisk.  The infobot
on IRC says:

"thebook is Asterisk: The Future of Telephony 2nd Edition (ISBN
0-596-51048-9) --- Order yours at
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596510480/ --- Free downloadable PDF
http://downloads.oreilly.com/books/9780596510480.pdf --- HTML at
http://astbook.asteriskdocs.org"

Download that and read the first few chapters.  It will make your
Asterisk experience a lot more enjoyable and will help you understand
what you're doing.

This list, and the IRC channel #asterisk, are good resources when you
finally get to the point where you're stuck and need some help.

Regards,

Barry

On Tue, Jan 5, 2010 at 8:53 PM, UIT DEVELOPMENT <uitdev at gmail.com>
wrote:
> I've been poking around the past few weeks, trying to familiarize
> myself with all of this. ?I am new to Linux, VoIP and Asterisk -- to
> be complete. ? This is my first exposure to all of these technologies.
I think one of the best things to do is to read this book:
http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596009625

It will allow you to ask specific questions about stuff you may not
get but in the meantime it will tell you all the basic things about
what asterisk can do in terms a newbie can easily assimilate.

There are also a lot of web sites out there with tutorials about the
world of VoIP and Asterisk, and of course the IRC channel #asterisk on
Freenode.net

/r

On Tue, 5 Jan 2010, UIT DEVELOPMENT wrote:
> CAN I make call from that box to my cell phone using a soft-phone?  If 
> so, how can I do that?
You need to get an account with a VOIP provider -- someone to accept your 
call via the Internet and place a call on the PSTN to call your cell 
number -- or any other number.
> Also, can I use my cell phone to call into that box?  I dont know if I 
> have to get a phone number, or do I NEED a phone number?
With the same account you can rent a PSTN number. When someone calls that 
number, they will "call" your server over the Internet.

This is assuming you don't have a fancy-dancy smart phone with a SIP 
client.

I use www.vitelity.net. I don't know their current pricing, but outbound 
calls are less than US$0.015 per minute and renting a PSTN number is 
around US$1.50 per month.

-- 
Thanks in advance,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steve Edwards       sedwards at sedwards.com      Voice: +1-760-468-3867 PST
Newline                                              Fax: +1-760-731-3000

Could use the free http://www.sipgate.com/one for some testing (assuming that
Asterisk is connected to the Internet)

-----Original Message-----
From: asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users-bounces
at lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of UIT DEVELOPMENT
Sent: Tuesday, January 05, 2010 2:54 PM
To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion
Subject: [asterisk-users] Really Silly Question From Total Newbie

Hello All -

I've been poking around the past few weeks, trying to familiarize
myself with all of this.  I am new to Linux, VoIP and Asterisk -- to
be complete.   This is my first exposure to all of these technologies.

I installed AsteriskNow on my old dual Pentium 833mhz Dell PowerEdge
2400 and the install went well.   I can log in and poke around in
Linux and I even configured the box to be recognized on my windows
network.  However, is there a GUI that I can access to help me set
things up?  I've gotten so far as what looks to me like "DOS"
windows
that I can change various things in the OS...

I do not have any other hardware installed.  No cards and no VoIP
phones.   I havent got to the point where I can make a test call or
anything like that.  I dont know how to tell if Asterisk is up and
running and how I can tweak it, etc.   I've been reading a lot of
different things, and have become a bit confused. I think that in time
it will come to me but I needed to stop and ask because I need to know
if I am on the wrong path for what I'd like to do someday....

My main question is: CAN I make call from that box to my cell phone
using a soft-phone?   If so, how can I do that?   Also, can I use my
cell phone to call into that box?   I dont know if I have to get a
phone number, or do I NEED a phone number?   At the moment, I do not
have any dollars to throw at this project.   Its purely for learning,
proof of concept sort of thing for myself on my spare time in the
evenings.  I would simply like to be able to call out and be able to
call into that box.  Later on down the road maybe I will get into
setting up an IVR using a database so I can call into that system from
wherever and get information read back to me.  But, first things
first....  I'd like to know if I am heading down the wrong path here.

Sorry for what might seem as really silly questions, but I am not sure
how to proceed.

Thanks in advance for any insight that you folks can provide!

Mike

_______________________________________________
-- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com --

asterisk-users mailing list
To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit:
   http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users

But jailbreaking increases the freedom to develop a application and  
put on the iPhone only creating a repository for it or using a  
existing repository, without the Apple Store burocracy and $$$. But  
you can be right if the purpose is only to install applications that  
are available on Apple Store.

Regards.


Em 06/01/2010, ?s 03:21, Randy R <randulo2008 at gmail.com> escreveu:
> On Wed, Jan 6, 2010 at 6:48 AM, Allann Jones <allanjos at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>> Jailbreak your iPhone and install Cydia to have a Unix like open
>> source environment (based on Debian), then install Siphon SIP client,
>> and have fun!
>
> There are at least 4 iPhone SIP clients available for $3-10 that work
> well and do not require jailbreaking the phone.
>
> http://www.voipusersconference.org/2009/sip-for-apple-iphone/
>
>
http://www.open-voip.com/blogs/blog1/2009/09/27/voip-on-the-iphone-and-ipod-touch-a-comp
>
> By the way, this thread make me realize that-two year contracts should
> have an unemployment clause that would allow the signee to trade the
> subsidized phone for a basic one and reduce to normal, inexpensive
> cell service. There should be a legitimate out for provable force
> majeur other than bankruptcy. The lack of this is just one of the
> reasons I have never signed a contract and stick to prepaid. But I
> digress... as usual!
>
> /r
>
> _______________________________________________
> -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com --
>
> asterisk-users mailing list
> To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit:
>   http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users