[Gloucs] VoIP- back to square one.

[Quentin Wright]

Glyn Davies wrote:
> David Corking wrote:
>> On Nov 30, 2007 Geoff Bagley wrote:
>>
>>  
>>> Did someone say that there was a Gloucester-LUG member who could supply
>>> a suitable Linux friendly phone instrument ?
>>>     
>>
>> I thought so, but if you did not hear from him, perhaps his business
>> plans are not going in the direction I thought.
>>
>>   
> You are probably thinking of Chris who gave the talk on Asterisk a few 
> months back. I don't think he's list member.
>> By the way - it does not need to be Linux-friendly.  A SIP phone
>> connects directly to Ethernet, so directly to the back of your
>> broadband router.  No Linux PC (nor Windows PC) required - except to
>> configure it with a web browser.
>>   
> You've made me stir from pedants' corner. SIP  (AFAIUI) is a protocol 
> much like HTTP so in truth, some SIP phones connect directly to 
> ethernet while many phones do not.
SIP hardphones are effectively autonomous devices usually with an 
ethernet interface. They register with a SIP server which may be your 
own Asterisk box or an Asterisk or equivalent box at a VOIP provider. 
Configuration is invariably through a web interface using the phone's IP 
address. So it's not really appropriate to talk about a "linux friendly" 
SIP hardphone. Well known brands are Grandstream - cheap and cheerful, 
easy to configure and used in examples in the various O'Reilly books, 
Linksys, Snom.

> A few examples of this are the SIP client on a Nokia N95 mobile phone 
> (which can use WiFi), and the many softphones (Linphone, etc) that are 
> just pieces of software that run on OSes (be they Windows, Linux, 
> etc). Some of the cheap USB phones (effectively a USB audio device) 
> 'support SIP' but that really means (I believe) the software client 
> (aka softphone) they come with does.
Other softphones are Ekiga - in Gnome, SJphone, X-ten lite (free, but 
not opensource, broken in Gutsy), Twinkle.

>> So here is another local firm that can take your order for a SIP phone
>>
>> http://store.gradwell.com/   (Peter Gradwell, Bath)
>>
>> There are others but I don't have their details to hand.
>>   
> For SIP phones, have a look at 
> http://www.ebuyer.com/search/?qfind=SIP&x=0&y=0
> If the link doesn't work, go to http://www.ebuyer.co.uk and type SIP 
> into the Product Finder.
>
> As said in previous posts, the other option is an ATA which is 
> basically a bit of hardware that does all the voip stuff but allows 
> you to plug a standard telephone into it. Have a look at Linksys' site 
> and search for the PAP2 and the SPA2002. Can't quite tell the 
> difference between the two of these (from a quick glance). My only 
> advice would be to make sure it is a UK model (so it doesn't have to 
> wrong phone jacks)
>
Unfortunately the UK models have RJ11 connectors so you need to get RJ11 
to BT tails from, say Maplin.
In my view a proper IP phone is superior to an ATA with an analogue phone.

> More info that you can shake a stick at here:
> http://www.voip-info.org/wiki-Analog+Telephone+Adapters
>
> And my final offering:
> Back to the USB phones. Have a look at 
> http://www.ebuyer.com/product/101480
> There is a chance that it will work with Skype on Linux.
> There is a chance that it will work with other softphones on Linux.
> It works with FC3 whatever that means. I guess it means it is 
> recognised as a USB audio device and (possibly) comes with an FC3 client.
>
> I'd suggest my final offering might be the easiest, especially if it 
> works with Skype. You won't have to get your daughter to change her 
> setup then.
>
Another option is the USB mono headset for Skype: 
http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ModuleNo=217829&doy=5m12
Note that this is just a USB headset which works with Skype software, 
but will be detected as a USB device and will work with the SIP 
softphones. As the sound processing is done in a small box which is part 
of the headset rather than in the machine this can be useful in older 
machines.

Q