Setting up a small office or home office VOIP system with Asterisk PBX

It used to be that having a phone system in your office that consisted of multiple extensions,
phone numbers, and digital receptionists was a massively complex and expensive project.
In fact, most offices still operate on those types of analog systems which quickly become a
nightmare to maintain. With an analog phone system, every phone extension requires its
own separate phone line run to its destination. This is probably in addition to a data line and
maybe another phone port or two it adds up in a hurry.
If you!ve worked in IT at a small to medium company, you!ve likely seen patch panels similar
to this"
#ur company recently moved out of an office where we were running a hosted $#I%
solution attached to a slow &'( that was our only option for data. The system was set up by
a full service voip operation who managed everything. The system was cumbersome and at
around )*++,month, expensive, but it worked. We!ve since moved to a new office, and this
time I had full control over what services went into it and how the network was structured.
The space came pre-wired for a full analog phone system, which made it tempting to just
use it, but knowing the potential cost savings with an in-house voip system I decided to
venture in that direction. It also didn!t hurt that we had plenty of .itel *//0 $#I% phones left
over from the old office, which saved us a significant amount of money out of the gate. The
first step was to figure out what exactly I needed to make this work on my own. I knew some
of the basics, but being new to this I was unsure of which components were mandatory for
the set of features we require.
The features that we need"
1 number of extensions
2 &igital 3eceptionist , I$3 4Interactive $oice 3esponse5 system
&irect dialing to extensions
$oice mail
&ial 6roups
7ollow-.e
.ultiple phone numbers
Inbound call routing
8aller I& .anipulation
8all Waiting
8all Transfers
8onferencing
7ax
%retty standard stuff for an office.
the network components, the network layout, the software chosen, and the initial set up of
the system. 9ntil then, have a look at the website http",,www.voip-info.org which has a
wealth of knowledge about %:; and $#I%.
What you need
Broadband internet connection. The more call volume you have the higher the
bandwidth you will need. We have low call volume and are using a <.bps,<++=bps
connection, this has been plenty of bandwidth for us.
ired !thernet router. >ou have a ton of options here but your budget will likely
decide this one. I!d suggest a decent $%1 router that has ?o' and a good amount of
concurrent connection volume. The $%1 function will come in handy if you want to use
your $#I% system from a remote office or home office. We went with the @y;A( @yW2((
* Internet 'ecurity 7irewall 2ppliance
and have been very pleased. It is an excellent value.
A computer to act as the PBX Ser"er. The requirements for this system are very
low unless you have a lot of phone users. #ur machine is modest and has still been
overkill, it has a B6hC %0 processor, D 6: 32., D+,D++ Athernet, and D/+ 6: Eard
drive. We bought it for )F+ through 6eeks.com and it works perfectly.
IP Phones. There are a slew of I% phones out there from full color touch screen
ones to wifi cordless ones. Gust double check that the phones you choose are compatible
with the %:; server you choose. We have about a doCen.itel *//0 I% %hone 4&ual
.ode5 H $oI% phone H 'I%
phones operating in 'I% mode that work great with our system.
PBX Ser"er Software. The %:; software is what gets installed on your server to act
as the brains of your local phone network. It allows you to do everything you can imagine
with your phone system. We are using the 2sterisk %:; system with 7ree %:; as the
user interface. :oth are free and can be installed together in about D* minutes by using
the 2sterisk1ow .iso image available at 2sterisk.org.
VOIP Pro"ider. This is a service that you need to subscribe to, much like a normal
phone company, that allows you to actually make and receive calls outside of your office.
Without one of these you!re only able to dial other extensions within your office. We went
with a provider named 8allcentric for no real reason other than they are cheap and let
you set up an account for free to make sure your system is working first before you
subscribe. We currently pay )F.I*,month for unlimited incoming calls and we use the
%ay-as-you-go plan for outgoing which is pretty common for this type of service. 'o far
we!ve spent a whopping )D on outgoing calls.
The network layout for this system looks like this"
$#I% 1etwork &iagram
1otice how the %:; server doesn!t connect to anything directlyJ In the next part of this
series I!ll discuss the setup of these components to get the system up and running.
%art Three of this series assumes that you have your hardware in place, including your
phones and %:; system. 2s I mentioned in part two, we chose to go with a 2sterisk
%:; system with 7ree %:; as the user interface.
The 1etwork
$#I% 1etwork &iagram
In part two I provided a network diagram that shows an overview of the hardware layout for
a our $#I% installation. The main cause of much of my trouble understanding the network
configuration for a $#I% system before this install came from never seeing a diagram like
this. I assumed that the phones would need to interface directly with the %:; box with some
type of hard connection and that I might need analog phone cards in the %:; system to
make and receive calls outside of the office. It turns out that things are a lot simpler than
that for a pure $#I% system.
%:; Eardware
2s you can see in the diagram, the %:; computer merely sits on your network like any
other device. The I% %hones, as long as they are on the same network, can use the 'I%
4'ession Initiation %rotocol5 to discover and be discovered by the %:; system.
The %:; system needs only to be connected to your network via a standard network
interface card 41I85 and be assigned a static I% address. 'ome guides that I read
suggested that you install your entire $#I% network under a separate sub-net, but I decided
to just leave the whole network on the same sub-net for ease of configuration.
I% %hones
I!m going to assume that the phones being used are 'I% phones, if not, you!ll need to read
the documentation on the particular protocol required for your devices. To connect your I%
phone to the network, you only need to connect it via an Athernet cable 4some also require
a power-over-Athernet adapter5 to the same network that the %:; is on. #nce the phone
has begun booting, it will attempt to locate a %:; system to pair with.
The 3outer
>our router will probably require some minor configuration in order to work properly with
$#I% services. 'ome basic changes you!re likely to make are"
Anable 9%n% support
Anable 12T
#pen 7irewall port 9&%"0*KI to your %:; static I%
7orward %orts *+K+ H *+K+ to your %:; static I%
7orward %orts D+++D H /++++ to your %:; static I%
7orward %orts 0*KI- 0*KI to your %:; static I%
The 'oftware
Eopefully now that you!re this far along in your install, the network and hardware setup are
much less mysterious, or at least less difficult seeming. I say hopefully because the
software configuration is probably going to leave you bewildered. I have by no means got it
all figured out, I!ve basically reached a point where the phone system is working and I
mostly understand how to make the basics happen.
I started to write the next steps for the software configuration and realiCed that it will take
too much explaining to cram into this post. I!ll devote all of part 0 to the software
configuration and aim to complete this series then.
%art four of this series has our hardware and network all set up and ready for software
configuration. This can be the most confusing part of the set up, even for a technical
person, if you are not familiar with %:; systems. This post will barely scratch the surface of
the configuration for 7ree %:; on 2sterisk but hopefully will give you enough to get started.
To begin, log into your %:; server by entering the I% address you chose when installing the
2sterisk software on your system. The default username and password for an 2sterisk1ow
7ree%:; install are freepbx , fpbx.
#nce you!re into the dashboard you!ll see a screen similar to this"
'et up your $#I% %rovider
The first thing you!re going to want to do is configure your server to communicate with the
outside world via your chosen $#I% provider. Without doing this, your network will only be
able to communicate internally, which I recommend trying out to get some sense of
progress 4it!s nice to hear a dial tone5.
2s previously mentioned, we chose 8all8entric as our $#I% provider and have been
reasonably satisfied.
The T391=
7irst we!ll set up the T391=, which is the basis for communication between your network
and your $#I% provider. 8lick on the Trunk menu item on the left side navigation. The
values you will enter here depend on your provider. The $#I% provider should provide these
values to you when you subscribe to their service. 1ote that you can hover your mouse over
most of the field titles to get some helpful information about what you should be entering.
#runk $ame% The name of your provider
Outbound &allerI'% >our new $#I% phone number you were assigned
&I' Options% 'et to 2llow 2ny 8I& for now to make sure you get up and running.
#nce you are in business, I!d recommend changing this to block foreign 8I&!s as we!ve
seen some vulnerability in allowing call forward requests from outside your network.
'ialed $umber (anipulation% 8an skip for now
P!!) 'etails% This is important and complicated. >our provider should give you the
exact text to insert into this field.
Incoming Settings% This was not needed for my provider
)egister String% This is important. This is usually going to be information that
authenticates your network with your provider by supplying an account I& along with a
password or secret key.
'ave the trunk. >ou will notice an orange box appears at the top of the screen that says
L2pply 8hangesM. >ou!ll need to click this and reload 2sterisk for the changes to take effect.
This happens frequently and you should watch for it.
I1:#91& 3#9TA'
1ext you!ll set up an inbound route to receive calls from the outside world. 8lick on the link
for LInbound 3outesM on the left side. >ou can set up as many inbound routes as you want,
each should represent a different phone number you want your network to handle.
'escription% Title this incoming phone number
'I' $umber% >our incoming phone number 4important5
&I' name prefi*% This will prefix the caller id for someone calling you. 7or example,
if someone calls us on this phone number it will show up on our phone as 8>%3A''-
<DK-;;;-;;;;. This is very handy if you have other incoming numbers so you know
which one is ringing you at the moment.
Set 'estination% Where do you want someone calling this number to be directedJ
#urs is set to an I$3 4&igital 3eceptionist5 that has a simple welcome message and
instructions. >ou may want to set your to go directly to an extension such as a
receptionist.
When you!re done, click 'ubmit to save the inbound route.
>ou!re now configures to make and receive calls with the outside world.
Axtensions
1ow that you are able to reach outside your office, you!ll want to configure some phones
and extensions to use them. This is usually a two part process, configuring the %:;
extensions and then configuring the phone itself. I can only providedetails on the %:; side
because every phone setup will be different. 9sually your phone has a web admin feature
that you can reach by entering the phones I% address into a browser. 7rom there you!ll
need to specify the extension, password you set up, and I% address of the %:; server at a
minimum.
To create an extension on the %:; side, click the LAxtensionsM link in the left navigation.
8hoose L6eneric 'I% &eviceM 4unless you know otherwise5 and click 'ubmit.
>ou can leave most of the default values as they are on this screen and pick through the
vast amount of settings for things you might need,want. 2t a minimum you should set"
!*tension% The extension number e.g. D+/
'isplay $ame% 1ame of the person at this extension
Secret% This is a password you will need to enter both here and on the phone itself
Voicemail% Turn this on if you!d like a voicemail box set up for this extension. >ou
can then set $. options like adding a password and an e-mail address 4which will e-mail
you the recording in .wav form if you choose5.
Optional 'estinations% What do you want to happen when nobody answers.
%ress submit to save this extension. >ou should now configure the phone to match.
#utbound 3outes
>ou should be able to receive calls now and you!re almost ready to make calls. >ou just
need to set a couple of outbound route rules so the system knows how to handle different
dialing scenarios. The two basic scenarios that we!ll set up are dialing an internal extension
and dialing an outside phone number.
Internal &ialing 3oute
8lick on L#utbound 3outesM on the left side navigation and click 2dd 3oute.
)oute $ame% Internal
)oute #ype% Intra-8ompany
#ime +roup% %ermanent 3oute
'ial Pattern% Anter in the L.atch %atternM field" @@@
8lick 'ubmit to save this route. This will tell the system that when someone dials a B digit
number, it should go to an extension internally. 2dd or subtract @!s if your extensions have
more or less digits.
Axternal &ialing 3oute
8lick on L#utbound 3outesM on the left side navigation and click 2dd 3oute.
)oute $ame% #utbound
)oute #ype% 1one 8hecked
#ime +roup% %ermanent 3oute
'ial Patterns%These are the patterns we are using, all through the same route. >ou
can set up additional routes if for each trunk if you have a different provider for long
distance etc.
D. +DD. 4matches any number starting with +DD5
/. DF++1;;;;;; 4.atches Toll 7ree F++ numbers5
B. DFKK1;;;;;; 4Toll 7ree5
0. DF<<1;;;;;; 4Toll 7ree5
*. DFFF1;;;;;; 4Toll 7ree5
K. %repend" D .atch %attern" 1;;1;;;;;; 4This is for long distance dialing.
%repending D removes the need to dial D before an area code5
<. %repend" <DK .atch %attern" 1;;;;;; 4(ocal dialing. %repending your area
code allows you to just dial the main number5
#runk Se,uence% 8hoose your $#I% Trunk
8lick 'ubmit to save this route.
7inish
If everything went well, you should now be able to make and receive calls so give it a try.