[Asterisk-Users] Outline For Asterisk Book - Please Review & Comment
Steven Sokol
ssokol at sokol-associates.com
Fri Nov 21 14:03:54 MST 2003
Randy,
Great suggestions! Jared is working on integrating the changes since
this morning. I think I may drive him nuts, but we will get these
integrated too. If you get a chance, drop by #asterisk-doc.
Thanks,
Steve
-----Original Message-----
From: asterisk-users-admin at lists.digium.com
[mailto:asterisk-users-admin at lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Johnson,
Randy
Sent: Friday, November 21, 2003 2:25 PM
To: 'asterisk-users at lists.digium.com'
Subject: RE: [Asterisk-Users] Outline For Asterisk Book - Please Review
& Comment
This is a great development. What a good way to develop a book for a
great piece of software! I had an ouline slowly developing as my
Asterisk implementations broadened, but now I'll jump on board behind
yours. I am not an Asterisk guru either, but I'll contribute as I can.
Some initial suggestions are in-line below.
One general suggestion: Include with the printed book a bootable
Knoppix-style CD that would boot up, autoload drivers for the DevKit or
DevKit Lite, and be ready to hit with SIP and IAX from DIAX and X-Lite
from another PC running Windows on the same network (and maybe a GS
phone, too). I think this should be feasible.
I hope Outlook doesn't mess this up too much--I've to make it as
list-friendly as I know how...
Randy Johnson
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Steven Sokol [mailto:ssokol at sokol-associates.com]
> Sent: Friday, November 21, 2003 12:35 PM
> To: asterisk-users at lists.digium.com
> Subject: [Asterisk-Users] Outline For Asterisk Book - Please
> Review & Comment
>
>
> Asterisk Users
>
> In an attempt to help Asterisk move forward, a number of us
> have decided
> to create a book. It would initially be released as an "ebook" that
> could be sent to newbies to help them up the rather steep learning
> curve. Ultimately I would like to see it published and sold in
> bookstores (preferably by O'Reilly & Co.).
>
[snip]
>
> A "living" copy of this outline can be found at:
> http://www.sokol-associates.com/outline.htm . I will try to update it
> daily with your suggestions. It will also be the basis for
> the project
> outline (completion %, assignments, etc.).
>
> Thanks,
>
> Steve Sokol
> Sokol & Associates, LLC
>
> [Outline Guide]
> The following outline describes the layout for the book.
>
> 1. <- Section
> a. <- Chapter
> 1) <- Sub-Chapter
> i. <- Topic Heading
> *. <- Sidebar Heading
> 1} <- Graphic or Chart
> 1> <- Table
>
> [Outline]
> 1. Introduction to Asterisk
> a. Introductory letter from Mark Spencer
> 1) Whatever Mark has to say...
> 2) Digium Reference Information
> i. Web Site
> ii. Phone Number
> b. The Business Case For Asterisk
> [Somebody From The Business Side Writes This]
> c. General concept of asterisk
> 1) Asterisk: Swiss Army Knife of Telephony
> 2) PBX, IVR, ACD
Is this also Telephony 101? FXO, FXS, loop start/ground start, PRI,
E&M, RBS, T1, etc. Telephony has a lot of new concepts for someone
coming from software or networking... Maybe a basic telephony
dictionary at least should be an appendix?
> 3) What To Expect
> i. Asterisk Is Not A Turnkey System
> ii. Don't Like It? Change It Yourself.
> iii. Opensource, GPL and LGPL Licensing
How about either 4) or iv. Like:
4) Other Related Open Source Alternatives
i. VOCAL
ii. SER
iii. GnuGK
iv. Bayonne
This will put Asterisk in context for someone familiar with any of
these, point out Asterisk's advantages, and show how they can be used
together if appropriate.
> d. Asterisk architecture
> 1) The Big Picture
> 2) Channels
> 3) Codec Conversions
> 4) Etc.
> e. Key components
> 1) Asterisk software
> i. Asterisk (Main PBX & Channels)
> ii. Zaptel (Drivers for Zaptel Hardware)
> iii. Libpri (ISDN PRI Drivers for Zaptel)
> 2) Zaptel Hardware
> i. Overview
> ii. X100P - Single Port FXO Line Interface
> iii. S100U - Single Port FXS USB Interface
> iv. TDM400P - 4 Port FXS Analog Interface
> v. T100P - Single Span T1/E1 Interface
> vi. TE410P - Quad-Span T1/E1 Interface
> 3) Channels
> i. Zaptel Devices/Channels
> ii. The IAX Protocol
> iii. SIP
> iv. MGCP
> v. Skinny
> vi. H323
> 4) Applications
> i. Dial and Other Basics
> ii. Voicemail
> iii. Dial-Plan Scripting
iv. CDR
(does this belong here? It should be somewhere...)
> 5) Extensibility
> i. AGI
> ii. Custom Applications
> f. Add-On/Optional Components
> 1) Software
> i. Gnophone
> ii. VoIP Soft Phones
> iii. DIAX
> iv. Gastman
> v. Open H.323
I would break f.1) up more like (pardon the numbering format):
i. Soft Phones
1'. Gnophone
2'. DIAX
3'. Other
ii. Management and Configuration Tools
1'. Astman/Gastman
2'. Ethereal Plugin for IAX2
3'. Others (I know there are other web and/or GUI tools
floating around).
( or something like that...)
> 2) Hardware
> i. VoIP Hard-Phones
> ii. VoIP Gateways
> ii. Channel Banks
A possible addition here would be:
iv. Legacy PBX Equipment
and
v. Other Hardware Options
1'. VoiceTronix OpenLine and OpenSwitch
Cards
2'. QuickNet Cards
3'. ISDN Cards (Eicon, etc.)
4'. Dialogic Cards (and Proprietary
Drivers)
(I just re-read and saw 4b3 and 4b4 below, but I think this belongs here
in the "Components" section as well.)
And also, how about:
3) Service Providers
i. SIP ...
ii. IAX ...
I think a connection to the outside world is an important Optional
Component.
>
> 2. Installing Asterisk
> *. Asterisk Quickstart
> 1) Install PC Hardware
> 2) Download Asterisk Software
> 3) Build Asterisk
> 4) Install Asterisk
> 5) Configure Autostart
>
[snip]
> b. Hardware Installation
> 1) IRQ Sharing Issues
> 2) Digium Wildcard Cards
> 3) LineJack and PhoneJack Cards
> 4) Other Cards (ISDN, VoiceTronix, Etc.)
I'm glad 3) and 4) are here (see above). I might be able to contribute
to some of these sections.
> c. Downloading Asterisk from CVS
> 1) What is CVS?
> 2) The Asterisk "Versioning" Issues
> 3) Your Initial Download
> 4) Updates
> *. Adding Custom Patches (patch/diff)
[snip]
> f. Sample Configurations
> [LOTS OF SAMPLES HERE]
Including, where possible, the configuration files from the foreign
devices...
>
> 4. Common Issues
> a. Music On Hold/MP3 Playback
> 1) Proper Version of MPG123
> 2) Zaptel Timer or Ztdummy
[snip]
> h. Common Hardware Device Issues
> 1) Grandstream BT100 Series
> 2) Cisco ATA-186
> 3) Cisco 79XX Series Phones
> 4) SNOM VoIP Phones
> 5) Carrier Access Channel Banks
How about:
6) Legacy PBX Equipment
i. Nortel Meridian / Norstar Systems
ii. Avaya Definity Systems
iii. Others
(I am currently running PRI to Nortel Meridian systems, and I will be
interfacing with a Definity G3 in the next week or two. I might be able
to add some value in this section.)
> *. How to politely use the Asterisk-Users List
> *. How to politely use the Asterisk IRC channel
>
> 5. Advanced Asterisk Configuration
> a. Agents and the Asterisk ACD
> b. Text-To-Speech: Festival
> c. CLASS Features (John Todd?)
> d. Fax (Software Fax)
> e. Sphinx Speech Recognition (ASR)
>
f. Databases and Asterisk
1'. PGSQL Application
2'. CDR and MySQL
h. Data Networking with Asterisk and Zaptel (Zaptel PPP/HDLC)
> 6. Scripting And AGI Extensions to Asterisk
> a. What Is AGI?
> b. What Languages Can I Use
> c.
> AGI In: c, perl, php, etc.
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