[Asterisk-Users] Newbie - getting two local phones to communicate would be a good start :)

[Steven Critchfield]

On Sat, 2004-01-03 at 06:31, John Coll wrote:
> SW: Thanks a million for the statement that I only need these two files and
> they can be just about empty !
> 
> David Carter: many thanks for those files which I will study
> 
> Rich Adamson: That is so re-assuring! That may sound odd but its realy
> helpful to have the problems I am facing acknowledged and makes me feel that
> others really see the need for, in effect, intuitive docs to get the novice
> on-board. I used to write code, now I leave it to my staff, but I guess I
> can go there.  What I am doing is evaluating * to see if we as a company
> should use and support it rather than just buying in Quintum boxes or
> whatever. No doubt many others are doing the same.

Be aware, that the documentation is getting better. There is info going
into the wiki daily and there is a book being written. This kind of
documentation is only needed when we get over run by people who aren't
willing to take their time learning and willing to spend a lot of
effort. We built up a large group of developers and supporters without
much documentation. This allowed us to to move forward at a pretty
decent pace. Documentation is usually neglected during periods of fast
growth. 

> As a company we write software for end-users and I insist that an average 16
> year old must be able to make it work, at the basic level, without grief -
> it must be intuitive. OK make that "an average linux administrator" for
> */VOIP but again it really needs to be intuitive - but I guess I am
> preaching to the convereted.

I think you need to go meet and get to know some pbx installers. Maybe
make some calls to your local CLECS and requests sales support by a
engineer there. You will eventually learn that telephony is a large
field that takes quite a bit of effort to understand. Your expectations
that telephony be easy will probably not be met unless you have the
prerequisite knowledge to begin with. 

During my last job, I was able to talk to the man who the company hired
to install their Intertel pbx. I ended up with the distinct feeling from
him that the industry has been progressing much as old trades did.
Basically it seemed that one had to study by being a go-fer for a person
who knew what they where doing for some time before you could pick up
the required knowledge to do simple installs.

So while we haven't improved the amount of knowledge you will need to
acquire to begin a decent install, but we have developed a community
that will help those willing to help themselves. Those who aren't
willing to put forth the effort have the ability to pay for the support
they need. 

> I would like to offer to try and do that in the wiki - but realistically I
> don't have the time. Still I am feeling a bit guilty now having got such
> solid support.

The biggest time consumer is the amount you must learn before you can
start documenting. There are many people here who are contributing to
documentation. What you can do to help now is to ask interesting and
directed questions that will be answered by members of this group. When
it is sufficiently answered, Olle tends to get it incorporated into the
wiki.

-- 
Steven Critchfield <critch at basesys.com>