[Asterisk-Users] New Asterisk user - Dumb Questions

[Mike McMullen]

Hi All,

This is my first posting and if am asking dumb questions please
let me apologize. I'm in no way a telephony or pbx expert. I have
tried googling for answers but can't seem to find the answers I need.
Probably because I'm not using the right words.

I have installed Asterisk at Home 2.0 which uses Asterisk 1.2.

Everything appears to be running great with two exceptions:

1) On outbound dialing it appears that about 50% of the time the
    leading dial digit is lost by the phone company. I have 8 analog
    lines connected into two digium TDM400P cards. 

    I think Asterisk is dialing the number before the carrier (SBC)
    is ready. Is there a way to create a delay in the dialing to allow
    SBC to be ready to take the dialing? Kind of like the "w" command
    in modem dialing. If so, what do I need to put and in which configuration
    file?

2) Is there a way to increase the volume of received vmail in email? I've
    tried listening to them on 2 different PCs and a laptop. Even with volume
    turned up all the way, they are very faint.

Thanks for your answers and patience,

Mike