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Google Voice. Skype. VoIP-to-PSTN providers. SIP-to-SIP calls. All of these technologies and products allow you to make calls that are either free or much cheaper than on your landline. Wouldnt it be great if you could escape the clutches of your Telco and connect your home phone to these services? A phone server like Asterisk can help you realize this dream. Short for Private Branch Exchange, PBX is a telephone exchange that is often used by businesses or offices. If you work a 9-to-5, chances are that your phone system is PBX-based. The short definition is that its essentially a network of phones connected to a main public switched telephone network (PSTN) that functions in a similar manner to a data network. In fact, in many instances today, the voice network is actually a VoIP-based network operating over data lines.
Dont be intimidated; connecting Google Voice to your own home telephone line using Incredible PBX just takes a few configurations on this screen. Theres a cheap and fairly simple way that you can ditch Ma or Pa Bell. The trick entails using an old PC to set up your own PBX in your home, and then connecting this PBX to Google Voice. Were going to show you how to set up your own home PBX server, how to connect it to Google Voice, and how to connect your landlines to the entire network. Lets get started.
Enter the following commands into the command line at the bottom of the screen: cd /root wget http://incrediblepbx.com/incrediblepbx18.x chmod +x incrediblepbx18.x ./incrediblepbx18.x Answer the prompts and wait for the install to finish. While the script is running, open a browser on another machine and open UDP port 5222 in Windows and on your router. Point it to the Asterisk IP address. Google Voice uses this for incoming calls. Once done, set your passwords by typing passwd-master into the command line. Use the same password you did in the previous script.
This PIAF setup screen will allow you to monitor, test, and customize your personal PBX. You may also want to check the Asterisk console on the server. Press Ctrl + Alt + F9 to access it. All phone activity will display here. Type HELP to see all the commands available. Press Ctr + Alt + F1 to return to your login session. The easiest way to test Asterisk is with a softphonea program that behaves like a traditional telephone. We prefer X-Lite as a good option to work in Windows. You can download it athttp://bit.ly/I0pol. Once youve installed it and gotten it running, go to the Account Settings screen. Set User ID to 701, the domain to the IP address of the Asterisk server, and the password to the SIP phone password that was in the Secret field. When you press the OK button, the softphone should register itself and show its status as Available. Please note that Windows Firewall may require you to unblock X-Lite in order to make it work. OK, lets make a call. Make sure you have a headset connected or your speakers on. Dial 3366 and press Call. This runs the DEMO voice menu. If you hear Allison, the voice of Asterisk, then everything is working fine. Now try phoning your home or cell phone number. The call should go out over Google Voice, the not-so-secret sauce that will save us hundreds of dollars per year thanks to Google making all calls to numbers in the United States and Canada free. (Thanks, Google.) Finally, try using another phone to call the Google Voice number that was assigned. If all goes well, you should receive the call on your softphone.
One of the best choices for an ATA is the Cisco Linksys SPA3102. It has both an FXO and an FXS port, as well as a router. To connect a phone you need an FXS port on the ATA. To connect an incoming phone line, you need an FXO port on the ATA. One of the best choices for an ATA is the Cisco Linksys SPA3102. It has both an FXO and an FXS port as well as a router. Connect the ATA either at a wall plug or at the point where your phone service comes into the house (called the demarcation point). Plug an RJ11 line from the incoming line or wall plug into the FXO port, a phone into the FXS port, and an Ethernet connection into the WAN port. The LAN port is only needed if you want to use the ATA as a router. Pick up the connected phone and dial ****, listen to the prompt, and dial 110#. Listen to the IP address read out to you. Enter 7932# then 1# and 1 to allow web access from the WAN side. If you are connecting from the LAN side, the IP address is 192.168.0.1. Enter the IP address of the ATA in a browser to get the web interface. Click Admin Login and then Advanced. Detailed setup instructions for configuring the SPA3102 with Asterisk are athttp://bit.ly/9hUgu7. There are a lot of steps but they are quite straightforward.
SIP Phones
Another option is to replace your old handsets with SIP phones. These connect to your home network through Ethernet, or sometimes wirelessly. A good option for a SIP phone is the Cisco SPA941, or the SPA942 if you want to share the Ethernet port with a computer or use Power over Ethernet (PoE). Each allows up to four line appearances. Heres how to set it up. Go into the menu on your phone and scroll to and select Network. Record the Current IP address. Go there in a web browser to configure the phone. Click Admin Login. Select the Ext 1 tab. Enter your Asterisk IP address in the Proxy field, your name in the Display field, your desired extension (701 to 715 are already set up in the PBX) in the User ID field, and the secret for that extension in the Password field. Submit the changes and your phone will reboot. Go back to the page and you should see Ext 1 is Registered. You can now make and receive calls on your phone. See http://bit.ly/glYBe for further refinements. You are now officially up and running. The only thing left to do is call your Telco and tell it to take a hike.