Will asterrisk work with a sip phone on its own or does it require a hardware pbx and does it include its own voicemail boxes or do i need to downlopad a module or order them from a provider?
Asterisk will indeed work with a sip phone, either a hardware device or a soft phone. It becomes the PBX in this case. Getting calls to the PSTN would require either a SIP trunking account with one of the multiple available providers.
Voice Mail is indeed included with the system.
If you are new to Asterisk and not really looking to learn the internals, write dial plan code and build your highly customized server, you may want to look into a packaged distribution such as AsteriskNow or PBX in a Flash.
If you want to learn about all the things that Asterisk can do, a good start is the Asterisk Book asteriskdocs.org
Awesome thank you
[quote=“dalenoll”]Asterisk will indeed work with a sip phone, either a hardware device or a soft phone. It becomes the PBX in this case. Getting calls to the PSTN would require either a SIP trunking account with one of the multiple available providers.
Voice Mail is indeed included with the system.
If you are new to Asterisk and not really looking to learn the internals, write dial plan code and build your highly customized server, you may want to look into a packaged distribution such as AsteriskNow or PBX in a Flash.
If you want to learn about all the things that Asterisk can do, a good start is the Asterisk Book asteriskdocs.org[/quote]
Could it be used for a call center. I am wanting to setupo a virtual call center and am wondeirng if asterisk would be ideal? Also does it have to run on CentOS or can I use other linux distributions such as ubuntu or fedora? Also I have an analog pots line for my business line right now it doenst include voicemail or many features other than standard ones is there a way for me to set it up so when people call it the get my sip trunk line?
[quote=“dalenoll”]Asterisk will indeed work with a sip phone, either a hardware device or a soft phone. It becomes the PBX in this case. Getting calls to the PSTN would require either a SIP trunking account with one of the multiple available providers.
Voice Mail is indeed included with the system.
If you are new to Asterisk and not really looking to learn the internals, write dial plan code and build your highly customized server, you may want to look into a packaged distribution such as AsteriskNow or PBX in a Flash.
If you want to learn about all the things that Asterisk can do, a good start is the Asterisk Book asteriskdocs.org[/quote]
It is used by many as a call center solution.
I can run on many different Linux distros, Ubuntu is fairly common, Fedora is very similar to CentOS so it should be similar installs. If you are familiar with a specific distro, you should be able to find the correct packages for the dependencies.
You can set it up as a gateway that would take calls on the POTS lines and direct them out another trunk (sip or pots) to another number. You could also send the call to voicemail on the Asterisk box and have it send you an e-mail when a VM is left.
My employees will be working form home and will need to connect via softphone remotely to take calls an ideas as to if its possible to accomplish this with asterisk. Any suggestions on a good soft phone? Also do I need a switch or a hub to hook the sip ohones to the server computer? Also what usually connects my phone system to my clients so calls from their queues hit my system for my reps to take calls. For example a cell phone provider or a satelite providers my client? Sorry about all of the newbie questions jsut trying to understand what im getting myself into.
[quote=“dalenoll”]It is used by many as a call center solution.
I can run on many different Linux distros, Ubuntu is fairly common, Fedora is very similar to CentOS so it should be similar installs. If you are familiar with a specific distro, you should be able to find the correct packages for the dependencies.
You can set it up as a gateway that would take calls on the POTS lines and direct them out another trunk (sip or pots) to another number. You could also send the call to voicemail on the Asterisk box and have it send you an e-mail when a VM is left.[/quote]
I know that there are many people who use softphones for remote end points, I am not one of them. I have no recommendations there.
The server will need to be connected to a data network in order for local or remote phones to connect up. Therefore you will need a network switch.
What connects your phone system to your clients. That is a difficult question to answer. I do not know what your clients have or what kind relationship you have with them. It could be that you have trunks, SIP or ISDN or POTS, from a service provider and your customers simply call a DID. You could have a dedicated T1/E1 between you and your customer as a data connection where you have SIP or IAX trunking between system. A T1/E1 could be used as an ISDN circuit and be a tie trunk between systems, in either case you are simply a peer PBX. You could use a VPN to provide a network connection to your customer and build tie trunks or create extensions on your own server. There are other options as well. A lot of that depends on what you are trying to provide for your customers.
I understand i was just curious in general how some call centers connect to like their clients billing system and such. Sounds like ill have to find out from my client how they prefer i do it and customize it to their specs. Is there anything special i will need for the switch. I already have a great router so a switch should be all i need then correct? I really like a specific softphone one of my old jobs used however not sure who makes it or if its a custome softphone they created. I believe its called Sparc Softphone. It gives the remote connection a real call center feel for the employee when they are taking calls. Guess I’ll have to look into that. Just out of curiousity do most centers use power over ethernet to power their phones or doe they usually select phones that come with a power supply?
[quote=“dalenoll”]I know that there are many people who use softphones for remote end points, I am not one of them. I have no recommendations there.
The server will need to be connected to a data network in order for local or remote phones to connect up. Therefore you will need a network switch.
What connects your phone system to your clients. That is a difficult question to answer. I do not know what your clients have or what kind relationship you have with them. It could be that you have trunks, SIP or ISDN or POTS, from a service provider and your customers simply call a DID. You could have a dedicated T1/E1 between you and your customer as a data connection where you have SIP or IAX trunking between system. A T1/E1 could be used as an ISDN circuit and be a tie trunk between systems, in either case you are simply a peer PBX. You could use a VPN to provide a network connection to your customer and build tie trunks or create extensions on your own server. There are other options as well. A lot of that depends on what you are trying to provide for your customers.[/quote]
I am not qualified to answer for ‘most call centers’. My call centers are small and part of the ‘Brick and Mortar’ office. Some have SIP hard phones powered via POE, some have legacy proprietary sets that have been ‘SIP Enabled’ via a special device in the communications room. All my sets are powered remotely so that I can maintain power to the sets even in the event of an outage.
Thats awesome. Wasnt aware you could power them remotely.