I put together a How to video detailing how to program SIP compliant phones for an Asterisk based VoIP Phone System.

In this demonstration, I am using PBX in a Flash with IncrediblePBX as my server.  It uses FreePBX as the web interface on top of Asterisk, making it much more user friendly than the command line or via text.  With a test extension already set up, I use a Cisco SPA504 phone for demonstration.  Any SIP compliant phone will work with Asterisk, but I have always found the Cisco SPA series of phones to be easy to set up and visually quite nice sitting on a table.  I have used Snom, Grandstream and Polycom before with success, and have heard a lot of good things from Digium and Aastra phones.  If you are looking to test out a system before deploying it full on, I actually recommend picking up a simple Analog telephone adapter, such as the SPA112.  It has 2 ports for analog phones, and 2 SIP registrations, so its great for doing initial testing.

While the system I am using in the video is PBX in a Flash, the latest version from the IncrediblePBX team uses Elastix as its interface.  I have an instructional video here on how to set it up, and do recommend giving it a try.

If you like these videos, please Like and Share them with your friends, Circles and Tweeps!  Don’t be shy about leaving me a note in the comments section on YouTube.  I’d like to hear what you think so I can bring you more videos to help you stay connected!

For many years, I have talked about the virtues of Voice over Internet phone systems for small businesses, and temporary offices, and how they can provide you with an inexpensive alternative to traditional phone lines.  Many of my colleagues and clients have come to use them and enjoy how well they work.  For just the price of a low end desktop computer (New or used, it doesn’t matter) and some VoIP enabled phones, you can have all the equipment you need to be up and running.

As an example of how easy it is to get started with a VoIP based PBX, check out my How to video on installing Elastix 2.5 and IncrediblePBX11 on a computer.  All the software is free for download, and comes pre compiled and ready to go. You only need to configure it for your specific details.

Click here for my Video on Installing Elastix 2.5 and IncrediblePBX 11

The above video goes through the process of installing the system on your computer.  Once it’s installed, you need to configure it. The next video in my series talks about setting up trunks on the system.  Trunks are like phone lines.  A trunk can allow 1 line in and out, or it can have many, all depending on what you have subscribed to with your VoIP provider.

This video details the process to setup a trunk in Elastix 2.5

For those who have trouble reading the text I’m entering into my screen, here is a recap.  Don’t worry if you don’t understand it all right now, it may look intimidating, but it really isn’t too bad.  This is just example text, but you will need some information similar to this from your VoIP provider.

Outgoing Settings

Trunk Name: Example-Outgoing

PEER Details:
username=login1
type=peer
secret=ThisIsMyPassword
rfc2833compensate=yes
relaxdtmf=yes
progressinband=no
insecure=very
host=xxx.xxx.xxx.xx
dtmfmode=rfc2833
disallow=all
context=from-pstn
allow=ulaw

Incoming Settings

USER Context: Example-Incoming

USER Details:
username=login1
type=peer
secret=ThisIsMyPassword
rfc2833compensate=yes
relaxdtmf=yes
progressinband=no
insecure=very
host=xxx.xxx.xxx.xx
dtmfmode=rfc2833
disallow=all
context=from-pstn
allow=ulaw

Registration String:
login1:ThisIsMyPassword@xxx.xxx.xxx.xx/login1