Newbie questions before taking the plunge!

Asterisk Asterisk Support
1

Hi!

I’m a total newbie to Asterisk. I was about to subscribe to Skype and buy USB2Phone adapters for the office (home office) but found out about Asterisk! It looks very promising.

I read the Asterisk@Home tutorial which was very informative. I do have a few questions, however…

  1. Can I use “regular” phones (RJ-11) with Asterisk? I guess I would need hardware (PCI cards?) for that. What’s the best bang for my buck for this? Cordless phones would be great.

  2. Can Asterisk work with the existing “home” line, and with VOIP providers?

  3. Which VOIP providers are usually recommended? Can Asterisk be used with Skype?

  4. I am what I believe to be very techy and computer literate. How hard is it to manage and get used to an Asterisk PBX?

  5. Can calls be forwarded from extension to extension, and from an extension to an external phone number (ie: cell phone)?

  6. What about VOIP reliability and sound quality? Is this something a business can rely on?

  7. THANKS A LOT FOR YOUR TIME!!! Very much appreciated!

Carl

2

still an asterisk newbie myself, but from my recent experience :

yes, either with an FXS PCI card, e.g. TDM10B, or with something like a LinkSys PAP2 (get the right one for your country)

yes, YMMV with your POTS provider/FXO card combination. money gets quality.

i use FWD, Sipgate & VoIPGate. i have seen a skype gateway somewhere but not really interested in skype, sorry.

i use a “modified” AAH installation, but most people/home users will find the AMP interface suitable.

[quote=“cmer”]5. Can calls be forwarded from extension to extension, and from an extension to an external phone number (ie: cell phone)?
[/quote]
yes and yes. as long as you have enough trunks :smile:

YMMV !! i have clients trying * now.

y’elcome !!