Asterisk: The Future of Telephony
Posted: March 6, 2010 at 7:19 am | Tags: asterisk, future, telephony
Product Description
It may be a while before Internet telephony with VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) reaches critical mass, but there’s already tremendous movement in that direction. A lot of organizations are not only attracted to VoIP’s promise of cost savings, but its ability to move data, images, and voice traffic over the same connection. Think of it: a single Internet phone call can take information sharing to a whole new level. That’s why many IT administrators and develope… More >>
The Discussion
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realy it is. get out of the wiki allready and and realy learn how this thing works. I know there is not alot of books on this subject to compare it to but if there where i think this one would still be the best. wait that dosent realy maske any sense. Its a magic book and once you read the whole thing it turns into a unicorn and the sky starts to rain candy. there that should get you to buy it…..
Rating: 5 / 5
The asterisk software has progressed substantially, but worse, the organization of what’s important and what’s not makes this book hold the distinct honor of being in the top five worst books by O’Reilly Press.
Rating: 1 / 5
It’s tough to find good docs for Asterisk. I had hoped that buying this book would have allowed me to set up and configure all the basic stuff, but instead I’m consulting the online info just as much as ever.
Although the bulk of people connecting remotely to an Asterisk box are probably wishing to do so from behind a NAT-enabled device on a DSL line or cable modem, this book sort of just assumes that you happen to have a T1 or something with a static IP. There’s also no mention of analog telephone adapters or troubleshooting any of the many pitfalls that you will likely encounter.
Have you tried connecting to Asterisk through SIP? Expect difficulties; don’t expect any help from this book.
This could have been a nice reference if the writer had chosen to fill at least twice as much paper. Only buy this if you know absolutely nothing at all about Asterisk and are just playing with it as a hobby.
Rating: 1 / 5
I have only had the book for a week and have been reading it carefully. I have finished chapter 4. So far it has been excellent, much better than other books I have read on Asterisk. I am relatively new to Linux and Asterisk, and the book has helped me put a lot of the pieces to the Asterisk/Linux puzzle together. I have read a lot about Asterisk on the Internet and another Asterisk book, but this book helped me understand a lot more! Now on to chapter 5! Highly recommended…
Rating: 5 / 5
The content has been summarized by a number of people on here already, but I want to add that this book is no “admin guide.” It has some value if you are tinkering around, but a telecom book that tosses an important PBX service like SMDR (call accounting) under a catch-all chapter entitled “Asterisk for the Uber-Geek” is not the serious approach that a 40-hour/week PBX person needs.
What most annoyed me about this book is that there is no configuration information for setting up clients using a device like the IAXy2. Instead, under “Configuring Inbound IAX Connections,” there’s just configuration info for “Free World Dialup.” Guess what guys, if I just wanted my ATAs to connect to FWD, I wouldn’t need an Asterisk box!
I can’t wait for something better to come along. Please don’t be fooled by these other reviewers who are giving this pamphlet far too much credit.
Rating: 1 / 5