Asterisk Newbie Help, Network Diagrams, & 0800 number

Forums › VoIP › Asterisk Newbie Help, Network Diagrams, & 0800 number

snowfly

329 posts

Ultimate Geek
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Topic # 12346 13-Mar-2007 00:29

Hi All,

I'm new to this forum, so hi to all.
Well new to posting. Been reading various posts and articles on here for a little while, and doing some research into VOIP.

I've decided to get into setting up an Asterisk server, and using VOIP not only for a good project, but also to save some costs on calls.

Currently for my small on-the-side business I run, I have an 0800 number, which redirects to my cellphone, thanks to Vodafone (free2call), which has been great, but getting costly.

As I've started to use a USB phone, with gizmo and skype, going great, the next step is getting it working with asterisk

My goals are to:

- Install Asterisk at home

- Have my 0800 number terminate on my home landline (much cheaper than terminating on a cellphone!)

- When I'm at home, redirect incoming 0800 calls to the phone in my home office

- When I'm away from home (& using a PC/internet elsewhere), redirect 0800 calls via VOIP, to my SIP connected PC

- When I'm away from both home, and not connected to any external PC, redirect 0800 calls to my cell phone
or voicemail

- All other home land line incoming calls, redirect to cordless or other fixed phone (maybe even a menu with extensions, and voicemail)

Here is my home network at present: (large size: http://www.ramsu.co.nz/~mike/voip/networkdiagram_existing.jpg)

And here is what I thought a VOIP setup would be: (large size: http://www.ramsu.co.nz/~mike/voip/networkdiagram_voip.jpg)

So can anyone tell me if my diagrams above look ok?

Some questions I have:
- What happens if power is out, and all hardware is off? Do I need a backup standard phone line connection, as in RED in the diagram above?
- Can asterisk tell if its an incoming 0800 call? And then give a different menu, with main option to transfer to home office phone?
- Can asterisk tell if its any other call, and give a personal greeting, and transfer to other wired phone or cordless?

- Can asterisk tell if its an incoming 0800 call, check if I'm at home (eg via bluetooth cellphone, or other means), and then transfer 0800 call via VOIP to another external PC, where I can use a softphone SIP client with my USB phone?

So then I can be sitting at any internet connected PC, logged in to SIP softphone client, and receive my 0800 calls, transfered from home.

Are the following new parts what I need:
- Digium Voxzone X100P or similar FXO card
- Linksys PAP2-NA gateway

Anything I've missed??

Lots of questions, so please bear with me!

Thank you for your time, and I look forward to some responses!

Cheers

robscovell

123 posts

Master Geek

Reply # 63609 13-Mar-2007 17:36

Hi,

Welcome to this forum! I'm fairly new to asterisk myself but I've just succesfully set up trixbox in my small office.

I would say, judging by comments elsewhere, that you would be better off using a Sipura 3102 to connect to PSTN, rather than the X100P card. I get the impression that it's rather cheap and nasty. I got given an SPA 3102 to play with and it is very configurable.

My only other comment is that I don't suggest you try using your printer as a phone. You will get nasty black marks on your ear.

If you want to IM/chat about your setup, email me and I'll reply with my details.

Rob

snowfly

329 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 38

Reply # 63651 13-Mar-2007 21:45

Thanks for the tip on the printer Rob :)

Ok, so a Linksys SPA 3102 would be better?
How does that connect up in the scheme of things?

Like this: ???

PSTN ------[phone line]------> SPA 3102 ------[cat5]------> Asterisk Server / LAN

Ok, so here's my options:

Option1:
- SPA 3102 - $195 from Nicegear
- PAP2-NA - $100 TradeMe

Option 2:
- Digium FXO X100P PCI Card - $65 TradeMe
- PAP2-NA - $100 TradeMe

Whats the pro's/con's of each?

Would it be a good idea to start with off with the cheaper X100P PCI card, get the hang of things, then upgrade to the external SPA box?

I did read somewhere that the SPA 3102 didn't support or didn't work right with call waiting? Or was it voicemail? (I can't find that article again!)

Who where use's which equipment above?

And how do 'extensions' work with the PAP2?
Eg it has 2 line outs, I can only plug in 2 phones, and have #1 extension, and #2 extension?

Is it possible to plug the entire internal phone line system in my house into the PAP2 ATA?
Or would that ring all phones at once that are connected?

So many questions :)

acsonline

179 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 8

Reply # 63665 14-Mar-2007 04:15

Just a question from sideways.. where would be a good place to pick up an SPA3102 from (nz or overseas)? Could you point me to a good site?
Thanks.

robscovell

123 posts

Master Geek

Reply # 63686 14-Mar-2007 11:02

Hi,

Firstly, here's one source for SPA3102s: http://www.comsexpress.com/product_info.php?cPath=6&products_id=23

"- What happens if power is out, and all hardware is off? Do I need a
backup standard phone line connection, as in RED in the diagram above?"

It depends how you set it up. With the X100P, if your hardware is down, then you won't be able to use your phones. The SPA3102 has a failsafe facility. You can attach a phone to it that will be connected straight to your line if power fails.

"- Can asterisk tell if its an incoming 0800 call? And then give a different menu, with main option to transfer to home office phone?"

I think it's unlikely -- Telecom probably only forward the caller ID of the caller.

"- Can asterisk tell if its any other call, and give a personal greeting, and transfer to other wired phone or cordless?"

I think you will need to do this on the basis of the incoming Caller ID. I.e. set up different call forwarding rules for different incoming CIDs.

"Would it be a good idea to start with off with the cheaper X100P PCI card, get the hang of things, then upgrade to the external SPA box?"

It might be ... but on the other hand, you might get frustrated with the X100P card! It's up to you!

"Is it possible to plug the entire internal phone line system in my house into the PAP2 ATA?
Or would that ring all phones at once that are connected?"

Unless you've got an existing conventional PABX, then it would just ring all the phones at once.

Rob

snowfly

329 posts

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+1 received by user: 38

Reply # 63688 14-Mar-2007 11:57

Thanks Rob, that cleared some things up.

I talked to Hadley at nicegear, and it is possible to plug the SPA3102 direct to the PSTN via FXO port, and the plug the existing phone line wiring (in the walls) into the FXS port, and have all phones ring at once (with a max of 5 REN).

Starting to sway towards the SPA3102, due to your comments, and also that it supports phone calls to standard PSTN if the power is down.

I guess the only possibility of handling incoming 0800 calls seperately, is get a 2nd phone line, eg virtual number, from iTalk, VFX or similar, and have all 0800 calls terminating to that.
Then it can be seperate from standard incoming phone calls to the normal phone line.

Mike

robscovell

123 posts

Master Geek

Reply # 63689 14-Mar-2007 12:10

Hi,

If you use xnet or italk to get a virtual number, you might find the following thread useful:

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?ForumId=43&TopicId=11521

Rob

chris021

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Reply # 64021 17-Mar-2007 12:10

I know when i have a phone diverted to my cellphone, it comes up with a divert symbol prior to showing me the caller id of the caller so that i can tell the call is being diverted. this may be something that Asterisk could see?

not sure but might be worth a google.....

chris021

coffeebaron

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Reply # 64108 17-Mar-2007 23:18

I'm not an Asterisk master, but I do believe you can get some sort of GSM card for an Asterisk box. Therefore:
0800 - landline / VOIP line - Asterisk - GSM card (with Prepay SIM on bestmate) - your cellphone.

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chris021

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Reply # 64113 17-Mar-2007 23:30

Thats a pretty good idea... anyone know of any cheap hardware to do the gsm gateway???

rcw

30 posts

Geek

Reply # 64480 21-Mar-2007 02:31

Just to keep things complicated you might also consider the Digium TDM400P

http://www.digium.com/en/products/hardware/tdm400p.php

It's a carrier card which accepts any mix of 4 FXO and FXS modules so, for example, you could attach one port to your incoming telco line and the other three to phones or fax. I have no idea regarding NZ suppliers. It's generally cost effective compared to the X100P.

I've used these pretty successfully but you should avoid putting more than two or three cards in a single case (gets line noisey and funky--the migration path with that many lines is a T1 card plus channel bank).

One advantage this has over the linksys gear is that you never have to deal with actual VoIP codecs so the call quality is less likely to suffer. You get the avantages of a nice open and highly configureable PBX w/out the less pleasant artifacts.

robscovell

123 posts

Master Geek

Reply # 64483 21-Mar-2007 07:07

Yeah, I think I might go down that route too. The SPA3102 can be irksome.

Rob

remarks

33 posts

Geek

Reply # 65667 31-Mar-2007 01:08

I got my SPA-3102 off a guy in Singapore who I found through Ebay. He is great to deal with and ships through Fedex.
It works out to be $136NZ including Fedex (1KG). The only thing you'll need is a pin converter for the power adapter as that part of the world uses US type pins.

http://myworld.ebay.com/bigfive88/ is his profile and search for SPA-3102.

On his actual listings for the unit he has his skype details and I just started chatting to him directly and we organised payment through Paypal skipping out ebay which I think may have made it cheaper. I have just ordered a WRT54GL V2 off him as well.., something to play with next week ;)

acsonline

179 posts

Master Geek
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Reply # 66143 3-Apr-2007 17:20

Thanks.. I managed to find one for AUD$115 including shipping at https://www.voipshop.com.au

tonyhughes

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Reply # 66475 5-Apr-2007 21:47

snowfly: I've decided to get into setting up an Asterisk server, and using VOIP not only for a good project, but also to save some costs on calls.

My goals are to:

- Install Asterisk at home

Hi there, I missed this thread whilst I was away-from-keyboard for a week or two...

Heres a step by step trixbox install guide - might save you some time and effort... it includes x100p trunks and SIP trunks. Its written in a style aimed at home users, but all technology and concepts are the same for business.