New Member looking for some direction

Asterisk Asterisk General
1

Hi folks,

As subjected, I am a new member. I find that most forums are friendly but need some introduction so I put forth some basic questions for some direction. I hope I will be received well as I have in other forums. Thanks to all for reading my post.

I will try to keep it basic, to the point and simplistic to feel out the forum. But please excuse some initial ramble.

I have read a lot in wiki and google but I believe the real info is within this forum so I ask for patience and direction humbly.

I want to get a system up (pbx) but I do not know how or where to start based on my needs using existing equipment. What seems to evade me the most is how to take what I have and use it within the Asterisk structure. I have no problem with building a box and implementing the software. My real dilemma is what do I need for the incoming lines and how do I integrate them with the box I build as well as dispersing that signal (TP) to hard and soft phones.

I have one POTS line from VZ, three voip lines, and a line from my local cable company which I guess is voip as well. However, all these lines terminate as an analog signal via their interface. I have an old pots line and 4 ata’s. I also have two Cisco sip phones, Grandstream voip phones, and of course analog phones. I have some comdial and other digital sets.

So I understand how to build a system but I am not sure how to integrate my existing voip via ata’s and pots lines. As well as, can I use a mix of analog and digital corded, cordless, and wireless sets in conjunction with a system.

I am not sure how to gather the information I need based on all the different components I have and maybe that is the problem. I have high speed (10-15 M) cable internet and I know that there are free voip services out there but I would like to try to work with what I have and then see what works best to widdle down the excess.

I hope I make some sense and hope a bunch of you can put me in the right direction to figure out what build to use based on a home/soho system that is scalable (and maybe a real office of many users one day).

I am learning and hope to refine my parameters based on some great wisdom from within this forum. Thank you for taking time to read this and please respond with any information that I can research so I may get to know this forum, the nomenclature and best way to interact with the helpful folks here.

Thanks,
Lynx

2

Asterisk General is for discussing Asterisk itself. For you to use it, use Asterisk Support.

For general background, see asteriskdocs.org/

Interfacing to a VoIP system via an analogue adapter is not generally a good idea; you should use a direct, IP interface. You may find that your ISP is not prepared to support their telephone channel via a PABX.

Digium sell hardware for interfacing to analogue lines.

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Thank you very much for the info David55.

I appreciate the direction and I will try to get the read after I gather my project together with better sense. I will get the hang of the forum as I spend more time with it.

Yes, I see that support is where I need to be and will take my posts there. Thanks for the heads up on the Digium equipment, I see they have some pricey hardware. I will see what they have for analog lines but it seems as though starting over and abondoning my original thoughts would be the way to go.

Maybe I will see you in support, thanks so much.

All the best,
Lynx