[Asterisk-Users] Calling PSTN lines from VOIP softphone

[Francesco Peeters]

On Sun, August 28, 2005 1:15, Aniket Bhat said:
> Folks,
>
> I am a newbie to the VOIP world and have a question (might as well
> sound silly to some). I would like to set up a PC-to-Phone call from
> my desktop to a regular PSTN number. Does the Asterisk PBX itself act
> as a VOIP-PSTN gateway or do I have to subscribe to a VOIP provider
> for this? Are there any free IP-PSTN gateways which I can subscribe
> to? Do I need any specific hardware to set up such calls?

With correct hardware to interface between the PSTN/ISDN and (*) it is
possible for (*) to do this for you, but you can also get a VOIP provider
to do it for you. The latter means you will not be able to call 911 (for
instance)

The best is usually a combination using least cost routing...
>
> If there is no additional hardware or subscription to a VOIP provider
> required, are there any resources that have information about
> configuring asterisk for such gateway functionality?

There is *no* way asterisk can get a VOIP call onto the PSTN without being
connected to it either directly (hardware) or through a third party (VOIP
provider)

>
> Note: I believe that for receiving calls, you may need some form of a
> FXO card or something, but if my requirement is to just make calls
> from a softphone on my computer to a PSTN no. and NOT vice versa, do I
> still need any additional hardware?
>

See above...

> Thanks in advance,
>
> Aniket.



-- 
Francesco Peeters
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