Add-On/Optional Components

Soft Phones

Softphones are software based interfaces on a modern PC. These softphones allow you to place and receive calls at your computer using a headset and microphone. Softphones have the advantage of being extremely portable, especially with a laptop. There are several freely available softphones working with a variety of protocols. Because of the number of softphones available and their configurations, they will not be covered extensively so you should consult the documentation of any softphone which you wish to use. We will however deal with the configuration of Asterisk for use with softphones.

Management Tools

Hardware

Asterisk officially supports hardware made by Digium (the creators of Asterisk) although many other peices of hardware do work. We will be mostly focusing on the installation and configuration of Digium hardware, though you may be able to find more information in the Other Hardware appendix.

An option from using channel banks and analog telephone devices is to use VoIP hard phones. There are several different models available for a wide range of prices. Some phones have different features, so research before purchasing is recommended. The Asterisk configuration of these devices will be covered, however you should consult the documentation that comes with your hardware devices for their configuration.