[asterisk-users] Really Silly Question From Total Newbie

Tue Jan 5 15:08:54 CST 2010

Thank you Danny.  I shall investigate that.

On Tue, Jan 5, 2010 at 3:57 PM, Danny Nicholas <danny at debsinc.com> wrote:
> There are some "free-trial" and low-cost services out there.  Gizmo comes to
> mind but "buyer beware";  look through this site for recommendations and
> warnings.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com
> [mailto:asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of UIT
> DEVELOPMENT
> Sent: Tuesday, January 05, 2010 2:48 PM
> To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion
> Subject: Re: [asterisk-users] Really Silly Question From Total Newbie
>
> James,
>
> Thank you for the reply.  I do not have phone service in my home.
> I've been 100% cell since 2003.  I do have an old analog phone - big
> heavy thing...  If I connect it to the wall outlet there is nothing.
> I've tried every outlet in the house.  I didnt expect to find a tone
> as we've never connected phone service here.
>
> My assumption, however stupid it might be, is that I could set this up
> to make calls but as I began to read more and more I started reading
> about gateways and other costly services that I was hoping to avoid --
> for now at least.  This all began when my wife went food shopping
> around the holiddays and wanted to know if we had something or not
> already, and I wasnt home to confirm or not.   So I got to thinking,
> if she could call the VoIP box and get one of those "press 1 for
> spices... press 2 for dry foods, press 3 for canned goods, press 4 for
> snacks, press 5 for drinks............." and it would access a
> database that I already have set up with our groceries already in
> there.   Yea - geeky, I know.  :-)
>
> So that was the plan but first I needed to be able to get this thing
> set up.  I THINK you're saying I need to purchase another service to
> get myself to make calls.   I dont know anyone with a SIP server..
> I'd rather keep it all inside our home if possible.  I've got a lot of
> old hardware laying around and I do have MODEMs - internal and
> external 56k types.   Thanks for the hints.  I'll check into Magic
> Jack type stuff and see how it can help.
>
> -M
>
>
> On Tue, Jan 5, 2010 at 3:19 PM, James A. Shigley <jas at answeringserv.com>
> wrote:
>> I can't help you two much with configuration of linux, but as to the call
> question. You will need some route for the server to be capable of
> sending/receiving calls. There is a couple of ways to do this cheaply.
>>
>> Buy a standard telephone modem (usb, pci, or serial). And plug into wall a
> jack. This will only allow you one call at a time. But if this is just a
> proof of concept that sounds like it will be plenty. Your number would be
> whatever the phone jack corresponds to.
>>
>> Integrate it with something like skype.
>>
>> Buy one of the products similar to a magic jack which will work with
> linux.
>>
>> Or if you know someone who has a sip server already running. And is
> amiable to letting you piggy back off of it. Your  phone number would point
> to that person's Server (be it one of the friends that the person is lending
> you, or a number that you have forwarded/ported at/to them) with it set to
> forward to your asterisk server. from there you could use your dialplan to
> do whatever you wanted it to. And for outbound you would send the calls out
> thru the friends server via sip or iax.
>>
>> James Shigley
>> Monroe Telephone Answering Service
>> 409-981-9213
>> Infinity 5.51,UC 4.02.3803, Blink 3.0.104
>> Ecreator:2.21, eResponse 1.1.7
>> Webportal,WebApps,
>>
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>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com
> [mailto:asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of UIT
> DEVELOPMENT
>> Sent: Tuesday, January 05, 2010 1:54 PM
>> To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion
>> Subject: [asterisk-users] Really Silly Question From Total Newbie
>>
>> .........................
>>
>> My main question is: CAN I make call from that box to my cell phone
>> using a soft-phone?   If so, how can I do that?   Also, can I use my
>> cell phone to call into that box?   I dont know if I have to get a
>> phone number, or do I NEED a phone number?   At the moment, I do not
>> have any dollars to throw at this project.   Its purely for learning,
>> proof of concept sort of thing for myself on my spare time in the
>> evenings.  I would simply like to be able to call out and be able to
>> call into that box.  Later on down the road maybe I will get into
>> setting up an IVR using a database so I can call into that system from
>> wherever and get information read back to me.  But, first things
>> first....  I'd like to know if I am heading down the wrong path here.
>> ...........................
>>
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