Asterisk is rightly stated as the keystone in telecommunication systems. Asterisk PBX is extensively used for the VoIP calls, mainly with the SIP (session initiation protocol) protocol. Here, SIP trunk in an Asterisk server is used for routing the call over the network, which reduces the cost of communication to a great extent because VoIP is much cheaper than local PSTN, ISDN BRI (basic rate interfaces) etc. Despite the fact that Asterisk is very easy to use, many people don’t use it due to its complicated installation and configuration process.
In the following, I have tried to explain the process in the simplest possible words.
Making calls with Asterisk SIP gateway is a five-step exercise basically, which are;
1. Choosing the preferred telephony hardware
2. Assessing the available and required computer hardware
3. Linux OS and Asterisk installation
4. Configuration of the services on Asterisk
5. Dialpan and SIP account configuration
Once you have a computer with required IP telephony hardware, you simply jump to the step number three, which is the core topic here. If you are not a tech savvy person, you might not be aware of the fact that, Asterisk primarily works on Linux operating system. So, before you go for installing Asterisk, you need to have Linux installed on your computer. Here is a list of some applications required on your PC before Asterisk installation.
• Linux kernel source (2.4 or 2.6) header files
• Bison and its development package
• Ncurse and ncurses development package
• Zlib and its development package
• Openssl packages
Once you have installed Linux from the CD, you will have to connect to internet for downloading Asterisk, because live download is preferred. This is because; the latest version of Asterisk needs some new files, which it downloads during the process of downloading.
One very important thing which needs to be kept in mind is that Asterisk is open source software, which can be customized as per the required services and needs. Its installation will require you a bit attention to details, to get the right set of applications and systems installed.
Installation of the software will not complete the tasks, and will be followed by Asterisk configuration, which is the real headache for many. Asterisk SIP configuration is done is sip.conf file which is located in /etc/asterisk/sip.conf. Here, you need the help and support of your subscribed VoIP service provider. The customer support and asterisk engineers in VoIP companies can help you manage this stage.
The trunk configurations include the username, secret, hostname or IP, proxy and some custom settings. The provider will give you these settings which you put in sip.conf.
After you are done with this, simply reboot your PC and enjoy making calls from PC.
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