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Questions about Asterisk’s obvious limitation

Started by VOIP_JoeSummy, July 28, 2015, 12:07:57 PM

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VOIP_JoeSummy

I would like to purchase a second laptop to install Asterisk to experiment with it. But before doing that, I would like to get my doubts clarified.

From my Google search, I think all these stuff, like Asterisk, FreeSwitch, FreePBX, etc, are some sorts of Unix-based software. They are not the actual hardware, like a physical OBi110 box. And they have some obvious but rarely mentioned limitations ---- They cannot connect to a PTSN line, like a Bell Canada landline, and also I cannot attach a traditional corded/cordless telephone to it.

To make/receive calls via Asterisk, I must use microphone/speaker, or USB/SIP phone, or smartphone ( through WiFi ).

Is it true?

If so, then I think the usefulness of Asterisk is severely reduced ( in a typical family environment ), and remains a basement hobby project forever.

RFC3261

Quote from: VOIP_JoeSummy on July 28, 2015, 12:07:57 PMIs it true?

Not exactly.

Asterisk is actually a fairly comprehensive piece of software written for unix, although ported to some other platforms.  There are vendors who sell entire commercial grade PBX solutions based on the asterisk software, and there is hardware available to support FXS and FXO capabilities (that is the phone and line ports), in addition to SIP (and for that matter, almost any other telephonic device/connection) phones.

Some of the packaging/distributions (such as FreePBX, or RasPBX) are intended to install on your hardware, and just used by the average Joe, and try to simplify, but due to its extensive capabilities can be overwhelming too.

I am unaware of anyone who has offered for sale a cheap asterisk-in-a-box device that includes FXS/FXO ports for the family, although they may exist.

Some people have integrated an Obi as their FXO/FXS solution to connect to an Asterisk server (it can be cheaper than some alternatives in some cases).  I think you can find posts with "how-to"s on this board.

But if you want cheap, and easy, and (more or less) foolproof, the Obi devices are good candidates.

Lavarock7

I have installed various versions of Asterisk and yes, it is software that runs under unix-type operating systems.

You might check out NerdVittles as there is a version you can install under virtualbox. Virtualbox is software that runs under Windows, OSX and various systems and allows you to create a computer in their box. Thus you could load a package which contains unix and Asterisk in a simple installation. Test it and see what you think.

I have used this process to connect to a Voip Account like CallCentric and Voip.Ms which contain actual phone lines. I believe people have connected their Obis to Asterisk, but I have not tried. I did connect an IP telephone to Asterick and seem to remember ATA's connecting also. These allow phones to conenct to the system.
My websites: Kona Coffee: http://itskona.com and Web Hosting: http://planetaloha.info<br />A simplified Voip explanation: http://voip.planet-aloha.com

NoelB

#3
Quote from: VOIP_JoeSummy on July 28, 2015, 12:07:57 PM
I would like to purchase a second laptop to install Asterisk to experiment with it. But before doing that, I would like to get my doubts clarified.

I have done this using a raspberry pi for asterisk and an obi110 as both an asterisk extension and as an fxo port. You can use the obi phone or a mobile connecting unregistered via wifi to the obi. With the obi110 you can use sp1 to register to the asterisk and sp2 as a normal vsp client and piggyback the mobile voip app onto sp2

VOIP_JoeSummy

Is it possible to use OBi110 as a pure hardware dummy terminal just for interfacing with PSTN and traditional phones, and let Asterisk control how to make/receive calls, i.e., let Asterisk control the digit map, inbound call route, outbound call route, connecting to Google Voice / VOIP.ms, etc?

I definitely do not want to maintain various configuration data in both places. It is too much hassle.

NoelB

#5
Quote from: VOIP_JoeSummy on August 05, 2015, 12:44:38 PM
Is it possible to use OBi110 as a pure hardware dummy terminal just for interfacing with PSTN and traditional phones, and let Asterisk control how to make/receive calls,

I definitely do not want to maintain various configuration data in both places. It is too much hassle.

I started off this way with sp1 registered as an asterisk extension and sp2 set up with a dummy sip account so I could use my mobile with CsipS app set up to operate without registering. This allows me to make calls via asterisk with my mobile with all the dial plans in asterisk. One of these plans is exten=>_18x.,1,Dial (SIP/obi/${EXTEN}) with a corresponding inbound call route on sp1 to direct calls from obi> to l1. This allowed asterisk to send all the free calls out via the obi line .
I only added a vsp to sp2 as an extra in case asterisk was down and added {obi110>(5:>xx.):sp2}
to the sp2 inbound call route so if I wanted to force a call via the obi vsp I prefixed it with 5.So the full inbound call route for sp1 is {obi110>(<5:xx.):sp2},{obi110>(xx.):sp1} with no dial plan checking in the obi.

Mango

Quote from: VOIP_JoeSummy on July 28, 2015, 12:07:57 PM[Asterisk has] some obvious but rarely mentioned limitations [...].  To make/receive calls via Asterisk, I must use microphone/speaker, or USB/SIP phone, or smartphone ( through WiFi ).

Is it true?

If so, then I think the usefulness of Asterisk is severely reduced

No, that's not true at all. 

You haven't yet investigated Asterisk's patent-pending EtherAir™ interface.  Using EtherAir™, you don't need to use a microphone/speaker or a phone or a smartphone.  When you wish to make a call, simply talk into the air.  Microphones and speakers are not necessary.  That is old technology.  Using very advanced software techniques, Asterisk's EtherAir™ interface will detect your speech through the air, using only software, and transmit it over VoIP.  Obviously, you will be able to listen to the other party of your call (with full duplex audio) in the same way.  This can even be done when the Asterisk server is in a remote location such as a datacentre.  You do not need to be in the same room or even the same building as the Asterisk server.  That is because no hardware is required.

The only downside is that without a phone, speakers, or microphone, users of EtherAir™ appear to be talking to themselves when they use it.  This is not a significant problem as it will become common practice as EtherAir™ is more widely used.  (This is good news for people who really do talk to themselves - they can simply say they were using EtherAir™.)

This is revolutionary technology that will soon do away with all hardware.  Soon, no one will use phones and will instead use EtherAir™.  You can trust me when I say it works well.  It also supports G.722.