[Asterisk-Users] Vonage, PSTN, 911, and hardware question

[Rajeev Sharma]

Hi. I've never deployed a Asterisk system before, so go easy on me. :) I'd really appreciate if you 
answered these questions:

1. Is it possible to use Asterisk with Vonage VOIP service? (I'm talking about the "Premium 
Unlimited" plan.) I think I've seen something about plugging the phone line from the ATA into a 
Digium card, but I'm guessing it would be a lot easier to just bypass the ATA.

2. Phone availibility during a power outage is a big concern. I'm planning on keeping my regular 
PSTN line around for emergencies and 911 dialing (so that 911 calls actually go to the 911 center, 
along with my address). Is there an easy way for all the phone jacks in my house to automatically be 
switched to the PSTN line if my broadband goes out? I'm also planning on hacking together a powered 
switch so that when the computer's power supply goes down, the line gets switched fully to the PSTN 
line, but I'm hoping somebody can give me a better solution.

3. I'm assuming it would be (relatively) easy to configure Asterisk to dial out through VOIP and 
answer through PSTN. Is this correct?

4. Hardware. I'm planning on using a Pentium III 500Mhz computer, running Debian Linux (probably 
Woody, maybe Sarge if it's stable by the time I build this system). Assuming I have 1 PSTN line and 
up to 3 VOIP lines, would this be enough? Also, which phone card would you recomend? I'm kind of 
confused about which card to buy (I've only looked at the Digium site as of now), and they all seem 
extremely expensive. (I was expecting to spend ~$50, but oh well.)

Anyway, that's all I can think of now. I'm sure I'll think of more questions later. Thanks in advance!

-Rajeev