[Tfug] VoIP/PSTN bridges (?)

[John Gruenenfelder]

Don,

If I understand your requirements correctly, I believe what you need,
at least for the first machine, is a Private Branch eXchange (PBX).
In the open source world, the go to software is called Asterisk.

It is not a small piece of software, but it is both free and extremely
capable with both a large number of users as well as a sizable number
of commercial vendors offering service and addons/extensions.
Asterisk is also very modular which is very handy in that you only
need to load (and learn about) the pieces you actually need.  There
are modules for various protocols, codecs, database backends, and
additional features.

While I was living in Massachusetts I wanted to get a home phone and
spend as little as possible.  Somebody here on the TFUG list suggested
the company "Teliax" who offered just what I needed for an amazingly
low price.  They ran their entire phone company using Asterisk and in
my apartment I also ran Asterisk on my server, so connecting the two
was quite easy, though Asterisk by no means requires that Asterisk
must be running on the remote end.

My needs were relatively simple, though, and I just used Asterisk for
basic PBX service, connectivity, and to run my voicemail locally.  I
also had a small interface device (called an "Iaxy") that had an
Ethernet port and also an RJ11 port.  With this and a small
provisioning program I could then interface my corded desk phone with
Asterisk.

Some of the features that I never needed include SIP support, data/fax
abilities, Bluetooth connectivity, non-standard codecs, text-to-speech
(via espeak or flite), and other forms of telephony connectivity.  For
that last item, there used to be some hardware devices you could get,
expansion cards I believe, called Zaptel, that you could use to have
your computer and Asterisk talk to the PSTN.  The devices and software
are now under the name DAHDI.  The Debian repository has all the
various packages as well as some for the DAHDI hardware, including
utilities, kernel module source, and the non-free firmware.

I think Asterisk will cover a lot of what you are looking for.  At
least the first machine, perhaps even more.


--John Gruenenfelder    Systems Manager, MKS Imaging Technology, LLC.
Try Weasel Reader for Palm OS  --  http://weaselreader.org
"This is the most fun I've had without being drenched in the blood
of my enemies!"
        --Sam of Sam & Max