Practical Asterisk 1.4 and 1.6: From Beginner to Expert [Paperback]

Stefan Wintermeyer (Author), Stephen Bosch (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0321525663 | ISBN-13: 978-0321525666 | Publication Date: December 30, 2009 | Edition: 1

Using the open source Asterisk platform, you can deploy a state-of-the-art VoIP PBX on a low-cost PC or server for a fraction of the cost of conventional PBX systems. The only drawback to Asterisk is its notoriously poor documentation. Practical Asterisk 1.4 and 1.6 is the solution to that problem. This book provides all the detailed, real-world, ground-level information you need to plan, install, configure, and reliably operate Asterisk in any environment.

 

This tutorial and reference systematically introduces each of Asterisk’s key building blocks and shows how to use them to implement a full spectrum of communications solutions, from conferencing to call queuing, voicemail and fax to IVR. Leading Asterisk consultants Stefan Wintermeyer and Stephen Bosch draw on their extensive experience, presenting detailed usage examples and practical tips not available anywhere else.

 

Coverage includes

• Detailed instructions for configuring a basic Asterisk system
• A start-to-finish business case example demonstrating Asterisk design for real-world deployment
• A thorough introduction to dialplan applications and functions
• How to use the new Asterisk Extensions Language to build concise, readable, and maintainable dialplans
• Using Asterisk’s diverse network and IP telephony protocols, audio codecs, and wire transports
• Configuring Asterisk’s powerful voicemail features
• Building a sophisticated Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system with Asterisk
• Defining and utilizing call queues in call center environments
• Using Asterisk’s built-in conferencing functions
• Controlling Asterisk from external applications, scripts, or the system shell
• Interacting with external applications through the Asterisk Gateway Interface
• Setting up extension monitoring and hints for SIP telephones
• Upgrading existing systems to the latest versions of Asterisk

Whether you’re a network professional, telephony expert, software developer, or power user, Practical Asterisk 1.4 and 1.6 will provide you with the most thorough detail and practical Asterisk guidance available anywhere.

 

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Stefan Wintermeyer is founder and director of AMOOMA GmbH, a leading provider of Asterisk telephony solutions in Europe. He was Germany’s first Digium-Certified Asterisk Professional and continues to share his knowledge through conferences, seminars, and workshops. Stephen Bosch is an Asterisk consultant and writer who divides his time between Calgary, Canada, and Aschaffenburg, Germany.

Product Details

• Paperback: 840 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional; 1 edition (December 30, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321525663
• ISBN-13: 978-0321525666
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #842,108 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must have book for asterisk users, January 10, 2010

By 

K. Binder "kbgva" (Plan-les-Ouates, Geneva Switzerland) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Practical Asterisk 1.4 and 1.6: From Beginner to Expert (Kindle Edition)

I am fairly new to asterisk and have tried to find my way around the asterisk product with web searches and howto's.

This book is like a real user manual. The concepts are well defined and easy to understand it reads very easily and covers a lot of topics. I have not completed this book yet but after 3 chapters It is already worth it.
I got many of the "now I get it" moments while reading so far. I was doing some changes in asterisks not always knowing exactly what they did mean or how they fit in the broader picture.

The examples are very clear and cover the very basic asterisk without a front-end like freepbx, ... even if you never plan to work with the base packaged it is helpful by explaining the underlying architecture.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical Asterisk for the practical beginner to advanced user, January 11, 2010

By 

A. J. Ligas (Ohio, USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Practical Asterisk 1.4 and 1.6: From Beginner to Expert (Paperback)

I received this book a week ago and have slowly been going through it but have not made it all of the way so I cannot give a full review of the book but to this point I am impressed. I am fairly new to the world of Asterisk only using it for the last year or so and I was looking for a book that could easily explains some of Asterisks functions along with giving clear examples. This book does both.

I feel like the authors really went all out in trying to make you feel like they wrote the book for people. Not just throwing all of their information in to one place and letting you sort it out. The chapters and well placed and when I am in the need of finding something quickly the index fully lists where everything can be found at with ease.

Out of my IT books that I've accumulated over the many years this book is in my top 10 right now and would recommend this book to anyone just beginning with Asterisk or someone needing a desktop reference guide.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Most Current Book Out There, May 18, 2011

By 

Steven C. Schoeneman (APO, AE United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Practical Asterisk 1.4 and 1.6: From Beginner to Expert (Paperback)

I purchased this book when I became responsible for the Asterisk PBX at my last job. It was the most current book I could find on the subject and did a great job of introducing a great variety of subjects within the realm of Asterisk. The examples were thorough and relative to tasks many Asterisk administrators face.

I would have liked to seen better coverage of hardware, specifically FXO, FXS, T1/PRI and DAHDI drivers. The information presented was not sufficient to get past some of the hurdles that I encountered in getting my Digium hardware to work. The best source I found for that was Digium's Advanced Asterisk class.

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who doesn't want to wade through all the outdated information that's available on the web. The information is out there, but it takes some time to separate the relevant from the rest. The information that was presented was clear in which versions it applied to and differences between versions was documented as well. All dialplan applications were documented for a handy reference in case you are not in front of a console as well.