How To Turn Your Useless Home PC Into IP Phone PBX?

When we talk about installing the IP telephony PBX system in our house, the first thing that comes to mind is where or how to start. Here, we will discuss in an easy way how to turn your home PC into a full-fledged IP phone PBX. Let’s first understand what this technology really is.

Installation using the old method:

The old method of installing the asterisk was one of the most horrible ways to install the IP phone. Using the CLI-based interface (command line interface) to do anything is no longer an option, and when we talk about Linux, that becomes even more painful. This is the biggest reason why people now think of installing an asterisk in their homes as a nightmare. When this CLI-based Linux installation took place, at the end of the day, it took a lot of dark twists and turns. Fundamentally, there were two mocking things. For a layman, the first was to remember all those commands and execute them at the right time. Second, to install Linux separately, you also needed to install an asterisk, which was nothing less than climbing Mount Everest.

Asterisk based on GUI:

Now, users don’t have to struggle with the text-based command prompt. The new packages have included everything on one CD and you simply don’t need to install different software packages in parts.

There is a GUI-based Linux software that solves half of the concerns related to remembering all Linux CLI commands. Now ordinary people like you and me can see and relate to what is happening on the screen. Second, the new GUI-based version of asterisk makes things even easier for users.

They can make all changes to asterisk through the graphical user interface instead of using the command line interface. There are many GUI based asterisks available and most of them are open source like AsteriskNow, Flash on a PBX and many others.

All of these changes have not only made the installation process much easier, but have also reduced the unnecessary headaches that ordinary people had to go through before.

We are talking about a useless PC on which asterisks work. Anyway, we will still see the minimum requirements for the computer that can be used for this purpose.

– You need a PC that is x86 with a Linux GUI-based operating system installed.
– The PC must be a minimum Pentium III with a 500 MHz processor.
– There must be a PCI slot available.
– You must have Digium TDM-400P that supports 2 FXO daughter cards and 2 FXS daughter cards.
– Your PC must have a sound card installed and working in perfect condition.

Assuming you already have the Linux operating system installed on your PC, we will proceed with the installation of Trixbox, as this is one of the most common GUI-based asterisks in use.

Asterisk installation on your PC using Trixbox

Once you get to the console, log in with these details.

Username: root
Password: the one you provided at the time of installation

After you have been able to successfully log into your system, your system will mention the IP address that the DHCP server received. Now you need to give your system a permanent address which you can do in two ways, either through the GUI or by system-config-network.

When configuring the IP address, you must restart the service network.

You will need to use your web browser to continue with the configuration task through the IP you just assigned.

Now you will need to click Change next to User Mode to open the Admin GUI. Login details are provided below.

user: maint
pass: password

Select Asterisk – PBXconfig from the GUI.

Go to tools – admin module. Here you can select from a list of provided modules. Install the ones that you really think will benefit you.

Now go to settings – extensions – generic sip device to add your first extension.

Now you can enter the different phone extensions you want to use. Many people prefer to start from 200.

What to do next?

Once you have successfully configured all the settings, you now need to have a phone to make and receive calls. But like in this case, you are using your PC. Make sure you have a good quality pair of VoIP headphones with a microphone. This will help you make and receive phone calls. Make sure you have voicemail enabled to get the added benefits. Now you can connect virtually as many phone users as you want. Just make sure you set it correctly in your GUI based asterisk and don’t forget to assign an extension to each new added phone user. The extension would be unique and can only be assigned to one phone user.

Enjoy managing a large network of phones with a secure operating system such as Linux run by asterisk. You have to work hard but in the end. You will not need to invest as much money or effort.

To reduce the cost of the whole process and increase the joys, make sure you have a reliable internet phone service like Vonage, Axvoice, or Skype on the backend.