[Asterisk-Users] Line sharing

[Christian Schnell]

Glenn Powers wrote:
> Christian Schnell wrote:
> 
>> Hi, I would like to have a VoIP-card share a physical phone line with 
>> some other analog device. When a call comes in it is supposed to be 
>> answered by that analog device, only occasionally I'd like the 
>> VoIP-card to "join" that conversation. Using the VoIP-card, I'd like 
>> to establish a three-way conference (external party, analog device, 
>> PC+IP-phone) and then also record that conversation digitally to a PC 
>> in the LAN. All three parties must be able to hear and speak freely.
> 
> I don't think you need special hardware to do this. I think you /may/ 
> just need to patch the current Zaptel driver.

Thanks for your answer Glenn.

I wonder: Is it perhaps better to modify our modem such that we can 
interface it through a sound card? Shouldn't be too difficult, and if I 
run * on that host with chan_oss/chan_alsa then I should be able to make 
that thing appear as a full VoIP endpoint in *, or did I miss anything?

I have quite a few options with my hardware setup, but perhaps this is 
the best one, compared to modem pass-through and line sharing. Our modem 
handles all things related to call setup, caller id and DTMF, the line 
is only used for voice during limited time frames when connected, and 
that's when I want to use that device as a VoIP endpoint in order to 
talk through an IP phone and also to record conversations.

Is it a good idea to use a sound card or is it better to use dedicated 
VoIP hardware in my situation?

Thanks for any help,
Christian.