If you’re using FreePBX or one of the distributions that use it such as Trixbox, Elastix, PBX-in-a-Flash and are having a problem with IVRs being slow to respond it it is worth checking that you do not have “Enable Direct Dial” enabled for the IVR.

This option allows a customer to dial an extension number rather than an IVR menu option but this means that FreePBX has to wait to see if an extension number is being dialled, which can introduce a delay.

If you don’t need callers to be able to dial extensions from an IVR then you can turn this option off.

You can now pay for Sysadminman hosted Asterisk systems with regular PayPal payments as well as PayPal subscriptions.

Click here for more details – http://sysadminman.net/uk-voip-vps.html

If you’re looking for a reasonably priced SIP handset to use with your Asterisk system then the Linksys SPA-941 could be a good choice. I ordered one from ebuyer and delivery was within a few days.

Here is a picture of mine -

Linksys SPA-941

Continue reading ‘Using a Linksys SPA-941 handset with an Asterisk VPS’ »

I’ve been testing an application called SipPhone for the Iphone (http://www.vnet-corp.com/iSip.htm)

It works over WiFi only (obviously, as the mobile providers don’t want you using VOIP rather than paying for their minutes!) and it works pretty well. It was easy to get it registered as an extension on my Asterisk server and start making calls as you would with any other SIP or softphone.

The quality was very good although it will obviously depend on how good your Wifi connection is. I had some trouble getting it to stay registered with my Asterisk server although that will be to do with my setup. My Asterisk server is on a public IP address and my Iphone was on my home WiFi connection, which is behind a NAT router.

I probably could have got it to stay registered by playing around with port forwarding on the router but is wasn’t really worth it due to a bigger problem. Apple do not currently allow 3rd party apps to run in the background on the Iphone. That means as soon as you come out of the SipPhone application it’s no longer running, so you’re no longer connected anyway.

So while it’s great for firing up and making outgoing calls it’s probably not practical for incoming calls. This may change in the future if Apple allow applications to run in the background.