Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

Least year, there was a thread discussing set up of an asterisk system, which included a description by Arik Baratz (see e.g. and ) I am planning to set up somet

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

On Sat, Jan 31, 2009 at 5:49 AM, Ori Berger wrote: > Least year, there was a thread discussing set up of an asterisk system, > which included a description by Arik Baratz (see e.g. > and >

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

On Fri, Jan 30, 2009 at 10:49:34PM -0500, Ori Berger wrote: > Least year, there was a thread discussing set up of an asterisk system, > which included a description by Arik Baratz (see e.g. > and >

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

On 31/01/2009, at 05:49, Ori Berger wrote: - VPSLink is still the cheapest VPS host at $8/month (or $80/year) for 64MB of memory. It seems like the OpenVZ package is better suited than the Xen package, being less resource intensive. And from past experience I would bet on Debian -- however, c

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

sammy ominsky wrote: Worse than that, asterisk will not work in an OpenVZ VE unless you have access to the underlying host to install the zaptel kernel modules. Is this the case now? I know is used to be the case that you only needed zaptel if you were going to use a device that needed it or

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

On 31/01/2009, at 23:12, Geoff Shang wrote: Worse than that, asterisk will not work in an OpenVZ VE unless you have access to the underlying host to install the zaptel kernel modules. Is this the case now? I know is used to be the case that you only needed zaptel if you were going to use

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

sammy ominsky wrote: Worse than that, asterisk will not work in an OpenVZ VE unless you have access to the underlying host to install the zaptel kernel modules. (Note that in another email, Sammy mentions that it works but some features don't). It looks like Xen would therefore be needed? T

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

2009/2/1 Ori Berger : > sammy ominsky wrote: >> >> Worse than that, asterisk will not work in an OpenVZ VE unless you have >> access to the underlying host to install the zaptel kernel modules. > > (Note that in another email, Sammy mentions that it works but some features > don't). > > It looks li

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

Hey Ori, long time. 2009/1/31 Ori Berger : > - VPSLink is still the cheapest VPS host at $8/month (or $80/year) for > 64MB of memory. It seems like the OpenVZ package is better suited > than the Xen package, being less resource intensive. And from past > experience I would bet on Debian -- how

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

(I contacted several people off list for personal requests, I'm moving the discussion back on-list because I think I saw interest in it expressed before). Someone basically said "I'll help you if you get yourself a server". I like to keep costs down, I like highly-available servers (doing this 24/

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

I have yet to take up Arik Baratz on his generous offer to help me setup my own Asterisk server, but in the meantime I learne a couple of things: 1. Amazon EC2 might contain surprises in the bill. I'm saying this VERY cautiously based on one test server we had for a few days with lots of disk spac

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

On Tue, Feb 10, 2009 at 03:44:14PM +1100, Amos Shapira wrote: > I have yet to take up Arik Baratz on his generous offer to help me > setup my own Asterisk server, but in the meantime I learne a couple of > things: > > 1. Amazon EC2 might contain surprises in the bill. I'm saying this > VERY cautio

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

2009/2/10 Tzafrir Cohen : > FreeSwitch developers have many bad words regarding Asterisk. So many of > them are unfounded (or no longer founded) that I generally distrust > them. This guy claims to be within the first tier of Asterisk commiters and to know its code through and through. Has Asteri

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

I've been using Asterisk for the last 4 years. Never had a reason to move to Freeswitch. Asterisk rarely crash, (we have more than 15M minutes) If you like perl so much (or any language for that matter) you could configure Asterisk dialplan using a script instead of asterisk regular dialplans...

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

2009/2/11 Ohad Levy : > I've been using Asterisk for the last 4 years. > > Never had a reason to move to Freeswitch. Asterisk rarely crash, (we have > more than 15M minutes) Thanks very much for your input. "rarely crashes" sounds a bit wacky but 15 million minutes is impressive. I think I'll sta

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

Amos Shapira wrote: 2009/2/11 Ohad Levy : I've been using Asterisk for the last 4 years. Never had a reason to move to Freeswitch. Asterisk rarely crash, (we have more than 15M minutes) Asterisk runs Codefidence IPBX for more then 5 years. Never seen a crash. Asterisk runs the Tel Av

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

2009/2/11 Gilad Ben-Yossef : > I and others can go on. Asterisk works. I donno about the other stuff Thanks for the testimonial. > (FreePBX etc.) but Asterisk is prodction level system *If you know what you FreePBX claims to be a nice web gui for Asterisk, that's why I asked about it. > are do

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

Amos Shapira wrote: 2009/2/11 Gilad Ben-Yossef : I and others can go on. Asterisk works. I donno about the other stuff Thanks for the testimonial. (FreePBX etc.) but Asterisk is prodction level system *If you know what you FreePBX claims to be a nice web gui for Asterisk,

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

Gilad Ben-Yossef wrote: Is 200ms ping time too much for SIP, or is it irrelevant. Very relevant. Callers usually notice roundtrip voice delays of 250ms or more.The recommendation for VoIP is a one way delay of less then 150ms. Anything more will become very noticeable in conversation and i

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

On Wed, Feb 11, 2009 at 01:38:39PM +0200, Gilad Ben-Yossef wrote: In your case, 200ms round trip time, assuming a symmetric distribution, of delay (but mind you that the internet isn't really symmetrical...) is 100ms one way delay so this is not excellent but not really bad either. In theory, a

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

Gilad Ben-Yossef wrote: Amos Shapira wrote: Is 200ms ping time too much for SIP, or is it irrelevant. Very relevant. Callers usually notice roundtrip voice delays of 250ms or more.The recommendation for VoIP is a one way delay of less then 150ms. Anything more will become very noticeable i

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

2009/2/11 Geoffrey S. Mendelson : > So while peak latency would be better a metric, IMHO ping time is a decent > average. Thanks Geoff and Aviram for the replies and pointers. I'll try to see how I measure the latency (maybe iperf?). Cheers, --Amos __

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

On Wed, Feb 11, 2009 at 10:21:20PM +1100, Amos Shapira wrote: > 2009/2/11 Gilad Ben-Yossef : > > I and others can go on. Asterisk works. I donno about the other stuff > > Thanks for the testimonial. > > > (FreePBX etc.) but Asterisk is prodction level system *If you know what you > > FreePBX cl

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

OK, So I've setup CentOS 5.2 on Xen VPS at VPSLink, compiled latest Asterisk (1.4.23) very smoothly according to the instructions at http://www.voip-info.org/wiki/view/CentOS+5+and+Asterisk+1.4.x+installation up to and including the "asterisk -...vvvc" and "stop now". Also installed the rest o

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

2009/2/12 Amos Shapira : > How do I test this? Write an extensions file and use http://www.didww.com/service_did.php to test DIDs for free. > I have a Nokia E71 with a built-in SIP client which I'd like to > connect to this thing. Set up the credentials in sip.conf and connect from the Nokia, v

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

On Thu, Feb 12, 2009 at 11:04:07PM +1100, Amos Shapira wrote: I have a Nokia E71 with a built-in SIP client which I'd like to connect to this thing. The easiest way to test it is to use a computer with a SIP client. Then you have access to network debugging tools, etc. From Windows and Mac I

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

Amos Shapira wrote: OK, So I've setup CentOS 5.2 on Xen VPS at VPSLink, compiled latest Asterisk (1.4.23) very smoothly according to the instructions at http://www.voip-info.org/wiki/view/CentOS+5+and+Asterisk+1.4.x+installation up to and including the "asterisk -...vvvc" and "stop now". Als

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

On Thu, Feb 12, 2009 at 06:15:50PM +0200, Ori Berger wrote: > Amos Shapira wrote: >> OK, >> >> So I've setup CentOS 5.2 on Xen VPS at VPSLink, compiled latest >> Asterisk (1.4.23) very smoothly according to the instructions at >> http://www.voip-info.org/wiki/view/CentOS+5+and+Asterisk+1.4.x+instal

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

2009/2/13 Tzafrir Cohen : > As I think I have mentioned before, I'm not sure how well it works under > Xen. > > E.g. http://wiki.vpslink.com/Compiling_ztdummy_on_Xen has a considerable > ammount of unneeded voodoo. The basic thing they do there is to use the > internal timing intead of RTC. But do

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

2009/2/13 Ori Berger : > Does that include the zaptel "ztdummy" server required for MeetMe and > MusicOnHold? I couldn't get it to work; I don't really need it either, but > it would be nice to have. I compiled the zaptel package without a problem but didn't install it. > > Lylix.net is priced co

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

On Fri, Feb 13, 2009 at 01:54:53PM +1100, Amos Shapira wrote: > 2009/2/13 Tzafrir Cohen : > > As I think I have mentioned before, I'm not sure how well it works under > > Xen. > > > > E.g. http://wiki.vpslink.com/Compiling_ztdummy_on_Xen has a considerable > > ammount of unneeded voodoo. The basic

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

On Fri, Feb 13, 2009 at 02:01:26PM +1100, Amos Shapira wrote: > 2009/2/13 Ori Berger : > > Does that include the zaptel "ztdummy" server required for MeetMe and > > MusicOnHold? I couldn't get it to work; I don't really need it either, but > > it would be nice to have. > > I compiled the zaptel pa

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

2009/2/14 Tzafrir Cohen : > On Fri, Feb 13, 2009 at 01:54:53PM +1100, Amos Shapira wrote: >> I saw somewhere that the Xen hosts provided by VPSLink already have >> 1000HTz clocks on them, saving a kernel recompilation. > > But is it actually 1000Hz? How can you tell without access to the kernel co

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

2009/2/14 Tzafrir Cohen : > On Fri, Feb 13, 2009 at 02:01:26PM +1100, Amos Shapira wrote: >> 2009/2/13 Ori Berger : >> > Does that include the zaptel "ztdummy" server required for MeetMe and >> > MusicOnHold? I couldn't get it to work; I don't really need it either, but >> > it would be nice to hav

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

On Sat, Feb 14, 2009 at 08:05:06AM +1100, Amos Shapira wrote: > 2009/2/14 Tzafrir Cohen : > > On Fri, Feb 13, 2009 at 01:54:53PM +1100, Amos Shapira wrote: > >> I saw somewhere that the Xen hosts provided by VPSLink already have > >> 1000HTz clocks on them, saving a kernel recompilation. > > > > Bu

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

2009/2/14 Tzafrir Cohen : > On Sat, Feb 14, 2009 at 08:05:06AM +1100, Amos Shapira wrote: >> 2009/2/14 Tzafrir Cohen : >> > On Fri, Feb 13, 2009 at 01:54:53PM +1100, Amos Shapira wrote: >> >> I saw somewhere that the Xen hosts provided by VPSLink already have >> >> 1000HTz clocks on them, saving a

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

BTW - About Israeli DID's - I just received an ad from Gizmo5 (I probably registered with them a while ago) advertising their new free SIP-to-Skype gateway. So I went to their web site and found that they offer a "callin number" for $12/3-months or $35/12-months, which is very close to the lost 077

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

Amos Shapira wrote: which is very close to the lost 077 numbers for $3/month with DIDWW. These are 03 numbers (http://gizmo5.com/pc/network/callin-numbers/). FWIW, I asked DIDWW about the disappearing numbers (03 numbers are not there either at this moment), and they replied both 077 and 03 be

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

On Sat, Feb 14, 2009 at 09:04:08PM +1100, Amos Shapira wrote: > 2009/2/14 Tzafrir Cohen : > > On Sat, Feb 14, 2009 at 08:05:06AM +1100, Amos Shapira wrote: > >> 2009/2/14 Tzafrir Cohen : > >> > On Fri, Feb 13, 2009 at 01:54:53PM +1100, Amos Shapira wrote: > >> >> I saw somewhere that the Xen hosts

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

Some information that may be useful if anyone is still interested: - I can recommend grnvoip's termination service: They have good routes, good rates, competent technical support. They do not officially support IAX2 termination (only SIP and H323), but they will provide it if asked (supposedly

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

2009/2/26 Ori Berger : > Some information that may be useful if anyone is still interested: Thanks for the info. > > - I can recommend grnvoip's termination service: They have good routes, good > rates, competent technical support. They do not officially support IAX2 > termination (only SIP and H

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

On Thu, Feb 26, 2009 at 03:21:54PM +1100, Amos Shapira wrote: > Why do you think OpenVZ might be better? Does it have a known > advantage in Asterisk hosting? Because your provider may be able to provide you basically the same resources for less money. So if OpenVZ is good enough for you: fine.

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

2009/2/26 Tzafrir Cohen > > On Thu, Feb 26, 2009 at 03:21:54PM +1100, Amos Shapira wrote: > > > Why do you think OpenVZ might be better? Does it have a known > > advantage in Asterisk hosting? > > Because your provider may be able to provide you basically the same > resources for less money. So if

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

On Thu, Feb 26, 2009 at 08:32:51PM +1100, Amos Shapira wrote: > 2009/2/26 Tzafrir Cohen > > > > On Thu, Feb 26, 2009 at 03:21:54PM +1100, Amos Shapira wrote: > > > > > Why do you think OpenVZ might be better? Does it have a known > > > advantage in Asterisk hosting? > > > > Because your provider m

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

On Thu, Feb 26, 2009 at 03:21:54PM +1100, Amos Shapira wrote: > 2009/2/26 Ori Berger : > > Some information that may be useful if anyone is still interested: > > Thanks for the info. > > > > > - I can recommend grnvoip's termination service: They have good routes, good > > rates, competent techni

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

2009/2/26 Tzafrir Cohen : >> But I'm actually stuck at a more basic stage - I can't get incoming >> audio on any of the software SIP clients I tried on my Ubuntu (8.10, >> i386). I tried Twinkle (recommended here for its better logging), >> Ekiga and Gizmo. > > Let's start with something simpler: a

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

On Thu, Feb 26, 2009 at 09:45:28PM +1100, Amos Shapira wrote: > 2009/2/26 Tzafrir Cohen : > >> But I'm actually stuck at a more basic stage - I can't get incoming > >> audio on any of the software SIP clients I tried on my Ubuntu (8.10, > >> i386). I tried Twinkle (recommended here for its better l

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

Amos Shapira wrote: Googl'ing for "asterisk hosting provider" Lylix.net indeed comes up near the top and seem to be asterisk-centric but their cheapest plan of AsteriskNow is $35/month. No competition for the $8/month from VPSLink. They do have a non-managed $15/month plan (that still includes

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

Tzafrir Cohen wrote: You mean in case that the hosting provider provides the necessary kernel modules in OpenVZ? Kernel modules? What kernel modules? :-) (See the second part. Well, maybe this is more for future installations than for now) Well, following Tzafrir's lead, I've just installed

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

2009/2/26 Ori Berger : >> OpenVZ consumes less resources. Hence you can use more instances per >> server. Hence it costs less. VPSLink seem to price them the same. Most >> others don't from my previous searches. > > Tzafrir, do you know of any OpenVZ provider that charges something > comparable to

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

In twinkle, try to use audio codec gsm. It is the most compressed out of all the audio codecs. I also have a ekiga account and want to try it with twinkle. If you have problems of bandwidth, then gsm should help. In most cases 128kbps upload is very problematic. On Thu, Feb 26, 2009 at 12:45 PM, A

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

On Fri, Feb 27, 2009 at 12:47:15AM +0200, sara fink wrote: > In twinkle, try to use audio codec gsm. It is the most compressed out of all > the audio codecs. I also have a ekiga account and want to try it with > twinkle. If you have problems of bandwidth, then gsm should help. In most > cases 128kb

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

Amos Shapira wrote: BTW - About Israeli DID's - I just received an ad from Gizmo5 (I probably registered with them a while ago) advertising their new free SIP-to-Skype gateway. So I went to their web site and found that they offer a "callin number" for $12/3-months or $35/12-months, which is very

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

Hello, >It is the most compressed out of all > the audio codecs As a matter of fact and as far as I know, the G.729 codec and G.729A codec are more compressed than gsm. (It could be that it is not supported by twinkle or other clients, I don't know ) See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G.729 Re

Re: Setting up a PBX for Israel<->US communication

Yes I'm very interested though I haven't got around to get my asterisk working for me, and family say that for now they are happy with skype so I don't need the Isareli number. Thanks for the update. On 3/19/09, Ori Berger wrote: > Amos Shapira wrote: >> BTW - About Israeli DID's - I just recei