Currently, Asterisk runs on any Linux or BSD based OS (which means Mac OS X) but doesn't run to well on Windows so no Windows version has yet to be released. Or AsteriskNOW is where Asterisk packages are built right into a Linux distro (looks like it's RedHat based).
Now, the difference between the two (Asterisk and AsteriskNOW) besides the built-in OS and no built-in OS is the GUI. AsteriskNOW comes with a web GUI (which only works with Firefox, ironically enough) and it's brother, Asterisk, is configuration file editing on the Asterisk PBX server.
Another nice thing about Asterisk(NOW) is that home users can use any old computer that can at least run Linux to use as the PBX server. Larger entities such as companies will obviously have to use higher grade equipment to support more users, but all in all, it's pretty much the same software. I'm playing with AsteriskNOW on an old computer.
Ok, now I'm missing something from the picture which is how to get the copper phone line to the ethernet. If anyone knows what this device is called, I'd much appreciate it.
If you're thinking about getting VoIP, get Asterisk or AsteriskNOW because you'll still be using your copper telephone wires, but isn't it nice to know you can call forward, voicemail and all that other stuff for FREE? Oh yeah, you don't have to port your phone number over to another provider, such as Vonage, either. So it becomes much more simple!
You can get AsteriskNOW at http://www.asterisknow.org (NOTE: The download is VERY slow! I have a 320Kbps line and I was downloading at 21K to 31K and the x86 ISO image is 420MB (about) so it may take 3-4 hours to download. You can get Asterisk at http://www.asterisk.org
Happy Telephony!
[N]F
