HOW TO SETUP ASTERISK@HOME

  1. Introduction
  2. Installing the Operating System with Asterisk
  3. Configuring the Operating System
  4. Configuring Asterisk
  5. Getting a Softphone Working - X-Lite
  6. Setting up External Calling using VoIP
  7. Setting up External Calling using VoIP (cont'd)
  8. Advanced Settings and Configuration (via SSH)
  9. Conclusion

Part 9: Conclusion

That should be it! One neat thing about the way we configured it is that you don't actually have to be on the same network as the PBX server to connect to it.

That means that if Jane Doe goes on vacation to Singapore, and she has internet access in her hotel and she brought her laptop, she could connect to her PBX back at home over the internet. That way, she can make a call to John Doe's extension as though she were in the same office building - even though she might be thousands of kilometers away. Furthermore, even from Singapore, she could still make long distance calls using her PBX Server's VoIP account! Just don't forget to open up ports 5060 and 10000 to 20000 in order for this to work over the internet!

Of course, Asterisk is loaded with more features beyond the scope of this DO-IT-YOURSELF guide. With a little more effort, you can interface the PBX Server to analog telephones and telephone lines, set-up a "digital receptionist" and much more.

For more information, check out the Asterisk@Home website at http://asteriskathome.sourceforge.net/.

A special thanks to Michael Soares, for all of his support and advanced troubleshooting. Without his effort, problems wouldn't have been solved, documentation wouldn't have been understood, and much of this article couldn't have been written.

If you have any questions and/or comments, please submit them to Mike's e-mail address:

ARTICLE BY: ALEX BLANK

Copyright © 2006-2012 Michael Soares & Alexander Blank