Thanks for all of the information, JD. My apologies to der.hans for hijacking his thread. On Wed, Sep 26, 2007 at 09:19:36AM -0700, JD Austin wrote: > Yes, you can have Asterisk handle faxes/etc and even use that second line > for outbound dialing when you don't have incoming faxes. Trixbox uses > asterfax which captures faxes well and sends them to email. > > Adminsparadise uses hylafax and works both directions; pretty slick setup. > It uses 'iaxmodem' to simulate a real modem and does a great job. You can > use a real modem if you want to but since Asterisk is very touchy with > IRQ's (don't share IRQ's with asterisk hardware!) I prefer the software > modem to the hardware one just so I can turn off the serial and parallel > ports in the bios. Fax over voip is iffy. I did it for awhile and it > worked sometimes; lots of issues with smearing and dropped calls. > > As far as ip to pstn adaptors.. there are many to choose from for less that > $100. Most are sip based and as long as you're inside of your network > those work fine. Outside your local network natting can make getting it to > work a challenge (one way audio, calls that dial and disconnect/etc). The > Iax (asterisk's native protocol) based ones will work through firewalls/etc > as long as it can talk to the UDP port 4569. > If you go with a TDM400 card or the equivalent from Sangoma/Rhino then just > get an FXS module (gives dialtone) and 2 FXO modules (receives dialtone) > for your inbound lines. Also you could buy a few voip phones and plug them > in wherever you need a phone. If you set up your port forwarding right you > can even plug them in anywhere with a good internet connection and use your > PBX as if you're in your home office. > > VOIP.. keep in mind that it is only as good as your bandwidth. ISP's love > to do things to cram more users into the same bandwidth.... traffic > shaping, compression, lopsided bandwidth (heavy download, light upload), > etc that can affect your ability to make calls. Unfortunately speed alone > isn't good enough; latency can really wreak havok on voip calls. I can > sneakernet 10G an hour to the other side of the valley; it wouldn't be a > good conversation though (grin). > There are tools online to get an idea of how good your connection is: > http://www.dslreports.com/tools > Run the speed tests from several servers, the line quality test, and the > voip bandwidth tester. > Keep in mind that if you're on a connection that varies such as cable that > your results may vary. > If you get rid of your second line then you'll need a good voip provider to > make more than one call at a time (inbound/outbound). > These are the ones I recommend currently: voipstreet.com, les.net, > vitelity.net, junction networks (junctionnetworks.com), and teliax. I've > heard nothing but good things about voicepulse but haven't used them. > Junction networks and teliax are a bit pricey but they're reliable. I > recommend signing up with more than one for those occasions where they > flake out or temporarily outgrow their hardware/bandwidth. Stay away from > Broadvoice and nufone. > > Asterisk has a bit of a learning curve.. if you don't mind it you'll love > Asterisk. If you're already adept with Linux (especially Centos) then > you're 1/2 way there. In many ways Asterisk is like Linux was in the > mid-90's. It is accelerating quickly and becoming more robust every day. > Project such as FreePBX make it MUCH easier to manage. > JD > > Jon M. Hanson wrote: >> I, too, would like to eventually get Asterisk set up at hy mouse if for >> no other reason to say I have my own PBX (not to mention the extensive >> features that Asterisk has). I'm thinking of installing Asterisk@Home >> (now TrixBox). >> >> Fortunately my entire house (phone jacks and network jacks) are all CAT >> 5e so it should be really simple to set up IP phones throughout the >> house. >> >> I am going to need the analog adaptor for my cordless phone and the >> add-in card to interface with the PSTN (I'm not going pure >> voice-over-IP). Can someone make some recomendations for the analog >> phone adaptors? Also, I'd like some links on where to find the PSTN >> interface cards below if possible. >> >> I actually have two incoming lines (one goes to a fax machine). Is there >> a way for Asterisk to detect an incoming fax and then store it for >> e-mailing or display later? If so then I wouldn't need the separate line >> and I could just let Asterisk automatically detect an incoming fax call. >> >> >> On Wed, Sep 26, 2007 at 08:09:38AM -0700, JD wrote: >> >>> Asterisk is cool! >>> If you're going all voip you don't need pstn hardware. >>> >>> Sangoma and rhino cards are usually less expensive and have built in >>> echo cancellation. >>> The x100p cards aren't very good; get tdm400 card if you go digium. >>> >>> As far as ip phones...polycom, aastra, snom are good; grandstream 2000 is >>> ok; stay away from grandstream budget phones. >>> JD >>> >>> -- >>> sent from phone >>> >>> -----Original Message----- >>> From: chip33az@netscape.net >>> To: "Main PLUG discussion list" >>> Sent: 9/26/07 7:51 AM >>> Subject: Re: asterisk: forward disconnect and Cox >>> >>> I will be looking into Asterisk very shortly as my company will no longer >>> pay for my home office phone line. I have Vonage now and like it, but it >>> costs more than I use. I'm thinking of going with VoicePulse for the >>> long distance/phone service. >>> >>> Have you looked at the actual digium cards? They sell for about $140, >>> but are supposed to be the best out there. >>> >>> PLUGd@LuftHans.com wrote: >>> >>>> moin moin, >>>> >>>> still trying to get Asterisk working in my spare nanoseconds. >>>> >>>> I found documentation suggestion I verify that "disconnect supervision" >>>> aka "forward disconnect" is enabled. >>>> >>>> I hadn't realized we have Cox phone service rather than Qwest. Sorry for >>>> not having that info on previous emails. >>>> >>>> Just talked to phone tech support at Cox ( after getting Internet tech >>>> support twice and being disconnected ). The person was nice, patient and >>>> appeared to be willing to help out. She didn't know what "disconnect >>>> supervision" or "forward disconnect" were, so put me on hold to talk to >>>> internal tech support. >>>> >>>> The response she got was that my answering device isn't compatable with >>>> Cox phone service :(. >>>> >>>> Does having service via Cox rather than Qwest change what I need to do >>>> to >>>> get Asterisk to recognize call initiation and termination? Asterisk >>>> doesn't recognize hangups and ties up the line for long periods of time. >>>> Some might see this as a bonus :). >>>> >>>> Do I need to call it something else when asking for support from Cox? >>>> >>>> Any recommendations for a card that actually works? I want to connect to >>>> a >>>> POTS line for receiving and initiating phone calls. I want the >>>> possibility >>>> of that POTS line to be whatever source of POTS lines we get in the >>>> Phoenix area. >>>> >>>> I also want to ring through the phone card to a phone. >>>> >>>> I also want to use a small Sipura SIP box that has 2 RJ11 connectors and >>>> can handle two phones. >>>> >>>> There are many other things I want to do, but that's the initial setup. >>>> If >>>> I can get that working such that I don't break it with further >>>> experimentation I can play with Asterisk. >>>> >>>> ciao, >>>> >>>> der.hans >>>> >>> --------------------------------------------------- >>> PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us >>> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: >>> http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss >>> >>> --------------------------------------------------- >>> PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us >>> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: >>> http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss >>> >> --------------------------------------------------- >> PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us >> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: >> http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss >> > > > -- > JD Austin > Twin Geckos Technology Services LLC > email: jd@twingeckos.com > http://www.twingeckos.com > phone/fax: 480.288.8195 > > --------------------------------------------------- > PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss --------------------------------------------------- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss