Asterisk 1.6

Barrie Dempster, David Gomillion

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Overview

Table of Contents

Author

Reviews

Support

Sample Chapters

Install, configure, deploy, secure, and maintain Asterisk
Build a fully-featured telephony system and create a dial plan that suits your needs
Learn from example configurations for different requirement
Implement 3rd party applications which will help you manage Asterisk through a web interface

Book Details

Language : English
Paperback : 240 pages [ 235mm x 191mm ]
Release Date : September 2009
ISBN : 1847198627
ISBN 13 : 9781847198624
Author(s) : Barrie Dempster, David Gomillion, David Merel
Topics and Technologies : All Books, Networking & Telephony, Open Source

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Preface
Chapter 1: Introduction to Asterisk
Chapter 2: Making a Plan for Deployment
Chapter 3: Installing Asterisk
Chapter 4: Configuring Asterisk
Chapter 5: Creating a Dialplan
Chapter 6: Quality Assurance
Chapter 7: Making Asterisk Easy to Manage
Chapter 8: What is asterCRM?
Chapter 9: Case Studies
Chapter 10: Maintenance and Security
Index

Preface

Chapter 1: Introduction to Asterisk
- What is Asterisk?
- What's new in Asterisk 1.4?
- What's new in Asterisk 1.6?
  - Asterisk is a PBX
    - Extension-to-Extension calls
    - Line trunking
    - Telco features
    - Advanced Call Distribution
    - Call Detail Records
    - Call recording
    - Call parking
    - Call barging
  - Asterisk is an IVR system
  - Asterisk is a call center system
  - Asterisk is a voicemail system
  - Asterisk is a Voice over IP (VoIP) system
  - Asterisk 1-2-3
  - Asterisk scalability
  - Asterisk does not run on Windows
- Is Asterisk a good fit for me?
  - Trade-offs
    - Flexibility versus ease of use
    - Graphical versus configuration file management
  - Calculating total cost of ownership
  - Return on Investment
- Summary

Chapter 2: Making a Plan for Deployment
- The Public Switched Telephony Network (PSTN)
  - Connection methods
    - Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) line
    - Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)
    - T1 or E1
    - Voice over IP connections
  - Determining our needs
- Terminal equipment
  - Types of terminal devices
    - Hard phones
    - Soft phones
    - Analog adapters
    - Another PBX
  - Choosing a device
    - Features, features, and more features…
    - Determining true cost
    - Compatibility with Asterisk
    - Sound quality analysis
    - Usability issues
  - Recording decisions
- How much hardware do I need?
- Choosing the extension length
- Preparing a test environment
- Summary

Chapter 3: Installing Asterisk
- Preparing to install Asterisk
- Obtaining the source files
- Installing DAHDI
- Installing LibPRI (optional)
- Installing Asterisk
- Getting to know Asterisk
- Summary

Chapter 4: Configuring Asterisk
- DAHDI interfaces
  - system.conf
    - Lines
    - Terminals
  - chan_dahdi.conf
    - Lines
    - Terminals
- SIP interfaces
- IAX interfaces
- Voicemail
- Music on hold
- Queues
- Conference rooms
- Summary

Chapter 5: Creating a Dialplan
- Creating a context
- Creating an extension
- Creating outgoing extensions
- Advanced Call Distribution
  - Call queues
  - Call parking
  - Direct Inward Dialing (DID)
- Automated attendants
- System services
- Summary

Chapter 6: Quality Assurance
- Call Detail Records
  - Flat-file CDR logging
  - Database CDR logging
- Monitoring calls
- Recording calls
- Legal concerns
- Summary

Chapter 7: Making Asterisk Easy to Manage
- Trixbox
- CentOS
- Trixbox preparation and installation
- What is FreePBX?
  - FreePBX preparation and installation
  - FreePBX System Status Dashboard
    - Tools
    - Setup
    - Trixbox maintenance section
    - Reports
    - Asterisk Recording Interface
    - Flash Operator Panel (FOP)
    - Flash operator configuration files
  - Web MeetMe
    - Setting up and accessing Web MeetMe through Trixbox
  - Flexibility when needed
- A simple one-to-one PBX
  - Extensions
  - Trunks
  - Routes
- Summary

Chapter 8: What is asterCRM?
- Installing asterCRM
  - Automatic installation
  - Manual installation
- Introducing asterCRM
  - Import
  - Statistic
  - Extension
  - Customer
  - Dialer
  - System
  - Survey
- Summary

Chapter 9: Case Studies
- Small office/home office
  - The scenario
  - The discussion
  - The configuration
    - system.conf
    - chan_dahdi.conf
    - musiconhold.conf
    - voicemail.conf
    - modules.conf
    - extensions.conf
  - Conclusions
- Small business
  - The scenario
  - The discussion
  - The configuration
    - system.conf
    - chan_dahdi.conf
    - musiconhold.conf
    - agents.conf
    - queues.conf
    - sip.conf
    - meetme.conf
    - voicemail.conf
    - extensions.conf
  - Conclusions
- Hosted PBX
  - The scenario
  - The discussion
  - The configuration
    - system.conf
    - chan_dahdi.conf
    - musiconhold.conf
    - sip.conf
    - voicemail.conf
    - extensions.conf
  - Conclusions
- Summary

Chapter 10: Maintenance and Security
- Backup and system maintenance
  - Backing up configurations
  - Backing up voice data
  - Backing up log files
    - Backup scripts
  - Time synchronization
    - Adding it all to cron
  - Back up Asterisk with FreePBX
  - Back up Asterisk with Trixbox
  - Rebuilding and restoring the Asterisk server
  - Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP)
- Asterisk server security
  - Internal access control
- Host security hardening for Asterisk
  - Integrity checker
  - Rootkit detection
  - Automated hardening
  - Role Based Access Control (RBAC)
- Network security for Asterisk
  - Firewalling the Asterisk protocols
    - SIP (Session Initiation Protocol)
    - H.323
    - IAX
    - The Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP)
  - Controlling administration of Asterisk
- Asterisk scalability
  - Load balancing with DNS
- Support channels for Asterisk
  - Mailing lists
  - Forums
  - Internet Relay Chat (IRC)
  - Web sites
  - Digium
- Summary

Index

Back to BOOK PAGE

Barrie Dempster

Barrie Dempster is currently employed as a Senior Security Consultant for NGS Software Ltd a world-renowned security consultancy well known for their focus in enterprise-level application vulnerability research and database security. He has a background in Infrastructure and Information Security in a number of specialised environments such as financial services institutions, telecommunications companies, call centres, and other organisations across multiple continents. Barrie has experience in the integration of network infrastructure and telecommunications systems requiring high calibre secure design, testing and management. He has been involved in a variety of projects from the design and implementation of Internet banking systems to large-scale conferencing and telephony infrastructure, as well as penetration testing and other security assessments of business critical infrastructure.

David Gomillion

David Gomillion currently serves as Director of Information Technology for the Eye Center of North Florida. There, he orchestrates all of the technological undertakings of this four-location medical practice, including computers, software (off-the-shelf and custom development), server systems, telephony, networking, as well as specialized diagnostic and treatment systems. David received a Bachelor's of Science in Computer Science from Brigham Young University in August, 2005. There he learned the theory behind his computer experience, and became a much more efficient programmer. David has worked actively in the Information Technology sector since his freshman year at BYU. He has been a Networking Assistant, an Assistant Network Administrator, a Supervisor of a large Network and Server Operations unit, a Network Administrator, and finally a Director of Information Technology. Through his increasing responsibilities, he has learned to prioritize needs and wants, and applies this ability to his Asterisk installations.

David Merel

David Merel is the founder and CEO of Thinkbright LLC a local/long distance telephone company as well as a cutting-edge Voice Over IP carrier, providing businesses of all sizes with sophisticated and low cost VOIP solutions.

David started Thinkbright in 2005 and continues to manage the company and its employees, all of whom are dedicated IT professionals. He acts as the company’s chief architect, designing new technologies that have added significant revenues to the company’s operations. During his many years at Thinkbright, David has worked with the latest Voice Over IP technology, including all VOIP equipment from major manufacturers such as Cisco, Polycom, Grandstream, and Aastra. He also works with customers ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies, and interacts with system integrators and IT consultants who call Thinkbright on a daily basis for assistance with all of the VOIP solutions that Thinkbright offers. Thinkbright manages its own PBX system, providing customers with PBX features such as Auto Attendants, Waiting Rooms, and Ring Groups, or assists customers in managing their own PBX network while providing these customers with the service for incoming and outgoing calls.

David has many years of experience with Trixbox and Asterisk, and has installed countless custom configurations and deployments using those solutions.

David earned a Bachelor of Arts triple majoring in philosophy, politics and law from SUNY Binghamton. David holds a CCNA (a Cisco Certified Network Associate) certificate and is proficient in over 10 languages and databases, various operating systems, VOIP and related protocol, and other business applications.

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What you will learn from this book

Install, configure, and deploy Asterisk to build a fully-featured telephony system
Install and use FreePBX
Connect your Asterisk server with your phone service (via PSTN, SIP, etc) as well as learn to deploy some basic PBX features such as queues, voicemail and music on hold
Determine how calls are routed through the Asterisk server by creating a dialplan
Create extensions, distribute calls in an orderly fashion using queues, and present callers with a greeting using automated attendants (IVR)
Install and learn how to monitor, record, and capture detailed call logs
Install and use asterCRM (customer relation management solution) to streamline your business operations
Gain knowledge of security precautions, network deployment recommendations as well as maintenance tips such as backups and preparing disaster recovery plans for keeping the Asterisk system running smooth and secure

In Detail

Asterisk is a powerful and flexible open source framework for building feature-rich telephony systems. As a Private Branch Exchange (PBX) which connects one or more telephones, and usually connects to one or more telephone lines, Asterisk offers very advanced features, including extension-to-extension calls, queues, ring groups, line trunking, call distribution, call detail rerecords, and call recording.

This book will show you how to build a telephony system for your home or business using this open source application. 'Asterisk 1.6' takes you step-by-step through the process of installing and configuring Asterisk. It covers everything from establishing your deployment plan to creating a fully functional PBX solution. Through this book you will learn how to connect employees from all over the world as well as streamline your callers through Auto Attendants (IVR) and Ring Groups.

This book is all you need to understand and use Asterisk to build the telephony system that meets your need. You will learn how to use the many features that Asterisk provides you with. It presents example configurations for using Asterisk in three different scenarios: for small and home offices, small businesses, and Hosted PBX.

Over the course of ten chapters, this book introduces you to topics as diverse as Public Switched Telephony Network (PSTN), Voice over IP Connections (SIP / IAX), DAHDI, libpri, through to advanced call distribution, automated attendants, FreePBX, and asterCRM.

With an engaging style and excellent way of presenting information, this book makes a complicated subject very easy to understand.

An easy introduction to using and configuring Asterisk to build feature-rich telephony systems for small, medium and large businesses

Approach

The book offers readers both a detailed description as well as step by step instructions on deploying software solutions as well as Asterisk configurations. Screenshots are provided in sections to give a visual perspective of the instructions. For Asterisk configurations actual sample code is listed in the book which can be directly inserted into your Asterisk solution.

Who this book is for

This book is aimed at anyone who is interested in building a powerful telephony system using the free and open source application, Asterisk, without spending many thousands of dollars buying a commercial and often less flexible system.

This book is suitable for the novice and those new to Asterisk and telephony. Telephony or Linux experience will be helpful, but not required.