[Asterisk-Users] New Guy Here for Linux PBX

[Greg Hill]

On Mon, 22 Mar 2004, Jeremy wrote:

> I've recently stumbled upon this PBX on Linux concept.  I hope to learn
> and absorb as much as I can.  I am very open to thoughts, ideas,
> comments and suggestions, as I really dont know where to start, other
> than lurking here for a while to pick up on what I can.

that's basically what I've done. And when you see a term etc that you
don't recognize it, go learn about it from www.voip-info.org,
www.asteriskdocs.org, or one of the other sources mentioned in the current
thread "documents."

> I would very much like to learn how I can create an inexpensive pbx
> system for my service repair call center of 10 users.  I wonder if its
> going to be possible to use the users desktop as the actual phone
> (soundcard, headset/mic) etc if the user is logged on to the local area
> network.  Am a bit unsure of the hardware required for this setup, other
> than a linux server, and what kind or type of phone is to be used for
> the users. and would this work for a remote user connected to our LAN
> via the web?

the concept you're referring to is generally known as a 'softphone'
because it's software on a computer, rather than a 'hardphone' which is
short for hardware phone. (?) You can find a list of softphone products,
both free and commercial, on the documentation sites. You configure your
softphone of choice and * (asterisk) to work together, and away you go.
Remote users can be tricky, depending on your specific firewall and NAT
circumstances.

> Is this the right place to begin after reading the Asterisk website?

yup. But be sure you've done an exhaustive search (ie google, mailing list
archives, several * web sites, etc) before asking, because the
less-informed questions often get ignored or get curt replies (as you may
have noticed, if you've been lurking long).

Greg