[LUAU] UPDATE: Open Source Pizza: Asterisk - The Open Source PBX

[Julian Yap]

HOSEF is proud to present the following public lecture and
presentation.  Please join us.

Please note that the speaking topic has changed.

--==[ Open Source Pizza: Asterisk - The Open Source PBX ]==--
http://www.cyberpizzahawaii.com/
Info: Feb 21 • Tue • 5:45-8:30pm • University of Hawaii Manoa Campus:
Marine Science Building Auditorium - Room 114 • $7 if you want pizza and
drink

Ron Fox
Sr. Software Engineer - Diagnostic Laboratory Services, Inc. 

Asterisk (tm)
The Open Source PBX

You may may have heard about Open Source Software and Linux and wondered
whether this is something that you, or your business, should be involved
in. This presentation may help you make that decision as we examine a
specific application in some depth.

The application is named Asterisk and it is a combination of Open Source
Software and low cost hardware that make up a full-blown phone system
(PBX) which is competing successfully with commercial, closed systems
that cost in the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Why would anyone want such a thing? In particular, why would you want
such a thing in your home or business?

There are many reasons, including:

1) To save 50% to 70% on your domestic and interisland long distance
phone bill, even more on international calls
2) To enjoy phone features such as automated attendant, automatic call
forwarding, multiple extensions, voicemail for each extension, pager
notification, voicemail as an email attachment, wakeup calls, selective
call blocking based on time of day or calling number or any other
condition that you can measure, all without paying anyone extra for
these features.
3) To connect to and interoperate with an existing phone system to
extend the existing system's capabilities at extremely low cost.
4) Business potential, ever wanted to be your own phone company?
5) It's fun, be the first on your block!

Ron will demonstrate how you can install Asterisk on any system that
will run Linux in about 1 hour from a single CD with no input from you.
We will then demonstrate how to configure the system using a web browser
to enable most of the features described above and route toll calls to a
VOIP carrier that charges 1.3 cents/minute for calls to anywhere in the
domestic US (except Alaska). This will be a live demo with actual calls
being placed and received so that you can judge the voice quality and
ease of use for yourself.

Time permitting, we may delve into other capabilities of Asterisk and
this particular package, which is named Asterisk at Home.

No previous experience with Linux or phone systems is required; we will
define and explain the concepts involved.

Ron Fox has been using Linux since 1994 and runs Linux on the desktop at
work and at home. He has been an advocate for Linux and Open Source
software since that time and is always looking for new ways to apply the
advantages of Open Source at Diagnostic Laboratory Services, where the
number of Linux servers now exceeds the number of Windows servers by a
factor of more than 2 to 1.