The telephone companies, since Alexander Graham Bell first invented the equally useful and annoying device, have had monopoly over the construction and use of phone lines, and later, or cellular wireless waves. However, with new open source code programs such as Asterisk, individuals can now start up and maintain their own phone line systems using only a personal computer.

Asterisk, the open source program that aims to reinvent the telephone industry, essential transforms a personal computer into a phone line. As far as hardware is concerned, a special card will need to be installed to allow a phone to be connected to the PC is the computer is not already equipped with a LAN line connection.

Since Asterisk is open source software designed to work in any Unix operating system or DOS, it is compatible with Linux and is completely free to use as it is licensed under a general public license as well as the more specific and business oriented proprietary license.

To set up an Asterisk phone line, first, download the free software. Once downloaded, burn the installation and system boot up information to a CD. The PC that is designated to serve as the phone line router, should be switched off and rebooted with the Asterisk installation CD in the appropriate disk drive. The Asterisk user interface will then offer a self explanatory series of prompts to guide the user through the configuration process.

Asterisk will require the administrator of the phone line to create channels and devices to direct the voice communications over the internet. Channels and devices commonly used are VoIP protocols, which channel a voice stream through the internet. VoIP, or IP telephony is particularly useful for users with unused network capacity which can easily carry the voice and data signals being transmitted at a fraction of the cost as they would if they were transmitted through the usual private separate corporate phone network. VoIP uses compressed voice file data packets to transfer digital audio and voice recordings as a whole across the internet.

The digital phone line administrator will also need to establish a dial plan. A dial plan is the pattern of numbers which establishes the expected number and order of digits for a telephone number. A digital Asterisk operated phone requires a dial plan so that users on other external devices such as cell phones or regular LAN line networks or other Asterisk using PCs to connect and receive from the Asterisk network being set up.

Asterisk is controlled by a series of configuration files that define, among other things, what to do when answering an incoming call and how to direct outgoing calls. Asterisk traditionally has used a Linux command line interface that takes a fairly advanced level of computer and technological savvy to operate. The Asterisk system has been reissued as AsteriskNOW and features a graphic interface to aid users in the configuration and installation process.

For users who do not know how they ought to configure their Asterisk home PC IP telephone system, the book Asterisk: the Future of Telephony, by Jared Smith and James Van Meggelen, is a good source for a navigating the options featured by the Asterisk telephone system and figuring out what your communication needs are. For first time users of Asterisk, help with the configuration files is almost a must, as only computer whizzes will be able to get their personal phone line set up unassisted.

If an Asterisk system is to function as a PBX (most are), then a context is needed to determine where a particular device starts its dial plain. These contexts are defined in the configuration files and determine, among other things, the context, limitations and extensions of where a specific signal or dial plan may access. The system can also be altered through the configuration file to recognize and record messages from users and allow the messages to be received and listened to by the administrator. Using loadable module APIs, asterisk software can automatically connect with users communicating with any sort of hardware, from LAN lines to cell phones.

Once set up, Asterisk and other IP Telephony systems, allow the users to conduct conference calls, interactive voice response programs such as voice menus, and automatic call distribution. Essentially, a PC can be configured to act a compact call centre, directing voice and data packets to destinations all over the nation and all over the world.

Many VoIP telephone companies have begun to not only support Asterisk
programs and systems, but explicitly design their telephone service packages to utilize existing Asterisk telephone communication networks. Since so many companies and organizations have unused network space, Asterisk combined with VoIP is frequently a less expensive alternative to costly outsourced communication service providers.

Popularity: 9% [?]