How to turn your useless home PC into an IP phone PBX?

When we talk about mounting the IP switchboard in our home, the first thing that comes to mind is where or how to start. Here, we will discuss an easy way to turn your home PC into a full-fledged IP phone PBX. Let us first understand what this technology actually is.

Installation using the old method:

The old asterisk installation method was one of the most horrible ways to install the IP phone. Using the CLI (command line interface) based interface to do anything is no longer an option, and when it comes to Linux, that becomes even more of a pain. This is the biggest reason why people now think installing asterisk in their homes is a nightmare. When this CLI-based Linux installation took place, it took a lot of dark turns, at the end of the day. There were basically two mocking things. For a layman, the first was to remember all those commands and execute them at the right time. Second, to install Linux separately, I also needed to install Asterisk, which was nothing short of climbing Mount Everest.

Asterisk based GUI:

Now, users don’t have to deal with the text-based command prompt. The new packages have included everything on a single CD and you just don’t need to install different software packages in parts.

There is a GUI-based Linux software that solves half of the worries related to remembering all the Linux CLI commands. Now ordinary people like you and me can see and relate to what’s happening on the screen. Second, the new GUI-based version of asterisk makes things even easier for users.

You can make all changes to Asterisk through the graphical user interface instead of using the command line interface. There are many GUI based asterisks available and most of them are open source like AsteriskNow, Flash in a PBX and many others.

All these changes have not only made the installation process much easier, but also reduced the unnecessary headaches that ordinary people had to go through before.

We are talking about a useless PC running Asterisk. Anyway, we will still take a look at the minimum requirements for the computer that can be used for this purpose.

– You need a PC that is x86 with a Linux GUI based operating system installed.
– The PC must be a minimum Pentium III with a 500 MHz processor.
– There must be a PCI slot available.
– Must have Digium TDM-400P that supports 2 X FXO daughter cards and 2 X FXS daughter cards.
– Your PC must have a sound card installed and working in perfect condition.

Assuming you already have Linux OS installed on your PC, we will proceed with the installation of Trixbox, as this is one of the most common GUI based asterisks in use.

Installing asterisk on your PC using Trixbox

Once you get to the console, sign in with these details.

Username: root
Password: The one you provided at the time of installation

Once you have been able to successfully login to your system, your system will tell you the IP address received from the DHCP server. Now you need to give your system a permanent address which you can do in two ways, either through the GUI or through system-config-network.

When setting the IP address, you must restart the service network.

You will need to use your web browser to continue with the configuration task through the IP you just assigned.

You will now need to click Change next to User Mode to open the management GUI. Login details are provided below.

user: maintenance
password: password

Select Asterisk – PBXconfig from the GUI.

Go to tools – administration module. Here you can select from a list of given modules. Install the ones that you really think will benefit you.

Now go to settings – extensions – generic sip device to add your first extension.

Now you can enter different phone extensions that you want to use. Many people prefer to start from 200.

What to do next?

Once you have successfully configured all the settings, you now need to have a phone to make and receive calls. But as in this case, you are using your PC. Make sure you have a good quality pair of VoIP headsets with a microphone. This will help you make and receive phone calls. Make sure you have voicemail enabled to get the extra benefits. Now you can virtually attach as many phone users as you like. Just make sure you configure it correctly in your asterisk based GUI and don’t forget to assign an extension to each new phone user added. The extension would be unique and can only be assigned to one phone user.

Enjoy managing a large network of phones with a secure operating system like Linux run by Asterisk. It does not involve a little hard work, but in the end. You will not need to invest as much money or effort.

To reduce the cost of the whole process and increase the joys, make sure you have a reliable internet phone service like vonage, axvoice or Skype on the backend.