[Asterisk-Users] Re: Still trying program -> phone call

[John Chambers]

Andy Powell wrote:
> 
> 1 Access to the PSTN - this can be done via a single X100P card (plugs into a standard phone line) or one of the sinlge port T1 cards or 4 port TDM410 cards (if you need a shedload of lines). You can also use a VoIP -> PSTN gateway or gateway service (such as, but not limited to, NuFone)
> 
> If you use the X100P, then as I say, a standard analogue phone line is all you need (you can add upto 3 X100P's iirc without issues).
> If you want to use the T1 cards then you need to get your local telco to deliver T1's to your location 

Actually, this is very much like one of our plans.  Of course, if we are to install
hardware to connect to the PSTN locally, there's little point in using a complex
package like asterisk.  I've done enough modem programming, including implementing
SLIP and PPP from scratch, to know how to handle that. But we were hoping to use
the glorious new VOIP approach, so we won't have to have a staff to babysit the
special hardware.  The prospect of lower costs for internet calls also gets people's
attention, but supporting a modem bank is a nightmare that we're hoping to avoid.

> Personally I think the medical service should just employ more people for home visits, since seeing a person is better than just hearing an automated voice on the phone.. (you may have differing opinions, but I come from a culture of free healthcare (however bad it is at the moment))

Lots of people would agree with you there. But in modern America, this is becoming
less and less feasible for most of the population.

> It looks to me like you put  800 with a context of callme in your .call file...

Nope; there's no "800" anything in any file that I edited. I'm assuming that it's
the result of some default calculation, but I don't know yet.

> I suggest that you abide by the adage, "learn to walk before you run" ... You can take a look at my guide at http://www.automated.it/guidetoasterisk.htm (there are others) which may help clear up one or two points of understanding...

Actually, I already had that bookmarked (and the browser's link coloring gives
away the fact that I've actually read some of it. ;-)

In fact, there's a related topic of sensible hospital communication with the
growing number of medical gadgets that come with networking, especially "WiFi",
but also other packet-radio schemes.  It sure looks like a good idea.  But here
in North America, writing code to send a wireless message is an impressively
difficult task. For example, suppose your gadget detects a medical emergence,
and the 802.11b interface shows a signal.  Just fire off a UDP packet, right?
Not if it's, for example, a Starbucks access point. First you have to register
for service, which means that your code has to use a web interface to send in
a credit card number. This is a LOT more code than just a socket() and sendto()
call.  And it's different for every commercial WiFi supplier.

But that's a different project.  Right now, I'm just trying to demo the baby
step of a routine that sends a message to a phone number and stores the reply
into a file.  We know the modem bank would work.  I'm trying to find a method
that avoids this, and just uses the Net. We think it's possible. Asterisk got
our attention mostly because the intro docs state clearly that you don't need
special hardware to connect to a phone. But being told it's possible isn't
quite enough, I'm trying to learn how to do it.

> You could of course pay my air fare to Boston (and back) and hotel costs and I'd gladly help you out in person.. after my time at VON in Boston last year I wouldn't mind visiting again :D

Yeah; wouldn't it be nice to persuade our employers to pay for this?  It reminds
me of advice I've often given musical friends:  Don't complain about the way that
people think that other musicians from far away are better than the local yokels.
That way, the local audience pays to fly your friends in for parties and jam
sessions, and their local audience pays to fly you there.  You want to encourage
this attitude; it's to everyone's advantage.

OTOH, we're talking about software to do remote communications. It's probably far
better if the developers are forced to do their work across the Net. If you want
the software to work at a distance, it's reassuring to know that the developers
know how to work at a distance.