Asterisk (complete n00b)

[Kevin]

I know we have some Asterisk gurus on the list.  I'm wondering if it might
fill a simple need (or maybe it's overkill).  I want to create a simple
greeting on my home phone number during overnight hours that says "we're not
taking calls right now, call back during the daytime" or something similar.
I also need to have a whitelist of caller ID numbers that can always get
through for emergencies (family, neighbors, etc.)  From what I have read, it
seems like the dialplan features can do this.

I do something similar today with my Cox phone service.  I created a
whitelist of numbers that can always ring-in, then at night I dial a *
command to activate it.  The trouble is that I often forget to dial the
(same) * command in the morning to turn it off.

I thought about using a modem in one of my linux boxes (maybe even my Tivo)
with a bash script that sends AT commands in the evening and again in the
morning.  Trouble is Cox uses the exact same * command to toggle on/off.  It
would easily get messed up if one of the dial attempts missed.

Sooo... enter Asterisk.  Maybe.  Since I'm not interested in VOIP phones,
would I need a digium board to connect analog phones?  Thoughts?

...Kevin