1. Asterisk The Open Source PBX

2. What we will discuss... ● Functionality of a PBX... ● What is Asterisk... ● Setting up your own PBX...  Hardware needed  Software needed ● What is asterisk@home/trixbox... ● Common features of the Asterisk PBX... ● AGI... ● Ideas for my Asterisk PBX... ● Links and documentation on the web...

3. Functionality of a PBX ● Discussed briefly in our class ● Allows multiple users in an organization to connect to others within the organization and the outside world ● Centralized voicemail ● Call forwarding ● Conference calling ● Automated answering services ● Music on hold ● etc...

4. What is Asterisk? ● An open source (free) software VOIP PBX that allows the common person to install and use a PBX in their home or office ● A powerful PBX that can be scaled to serve a small group or a large organization ● An adaptive PBX that is easily changed or manipulated to a user's needs ● A lot of fun to play with

5. What is the hardware/software needed for a small system? ● Pentium III 450 Mhz with 128 RAM is sufficient (lying around at home, or nearly free on ebay/craigslist) ● VOIP phone, analog to digital adapter, or softphone (depends) ● SIP gateway service to the PSTN (almost free) ● Linux OS and asterisk software (free) ● Trixbox/Asterisk@home (free and easy)

6. What is Asterisk@home/trixbox ● Asterisk@home And trixbox are prebuilt ISOs that can be downloaded for free ● They can have a fully functional Asterisk PBX running on a Linux box with admin tools built in, in about a half hour ● Asterisk@home (The product I have built and played with at home) was recently replaced by trixbox ● These prebuilt cd images can be downloaded, burned as an ISO image to a CD, and installed very quickly ● Gets rid of all the manual installations required when installing the software by itself ● These ISO images make life very easy...

7. Common features of the Asterisk PBX ● Wake-up calls ● Ring groups ● Call forwarding ● Call blocking ● Automated Attendant ● Call parking ● Call recording ● Voicemail ● Music on Hold ● Local weather ● Blacklists ● Time telling service ● Dial by name ● Distinctive ringing ● Fax server ● Route by caller ID ● Three way calling ● Conference calls ● Call monitoring ● Do not disturb ● Call forward on busy ● Endless possibilities!

8. AGI – Asterisk Gateway Interface ● The computer – telephony integration ● Allows you to develop your PBX into virtually anything that you would like  Credit card balances  Airline delays ● Common programming languages can be utilized  Perl  Python  Java  PHP  C  Bash Press 4 to check your balance...

9. Ideas for my Asterisk PBX ● Townhouse rental  Separate voicemail and ringing  Call billing  Call forwarding  Call recording :-) ● Home use  Weather service  Forward calls to other parts of the house  Separate calls for home business  Alarm clock  Database and web interaction (traffic report, stock tips)  Paging service

10. Links and Documentation ● www.asterisk.org – Asterisk homepage ● www.trixbox.org – Download asterisk at home or trixbox ● http://voipspeak.net/index.php?option=com_conte nt&task=view&id=33&Itemid=2 – Oreilly book free download (creative commons license) ● http://chayden.net/Asterisk/SeUpAsteriskAtHome. htm -- Basic user Setup ● Lots more thanks to google!!!