voipcowboy

I added a quick tutorial explaining how to loop through multiple rows on a MySQL table using Asterisk.

- the evil genius

After a week of using GC, I’ll admit it:

I’m hooked.

The concept is pretty solid.

I started this week thinking that I wouldn’t find a need for another local number in my life and I [actually] put GC aside for the first couple of days.

I really liked the control panel, I breezed through the feature list and it was intriguing, and the service actually expands any telephones capability in some amazing ways. I just didn’t really think I’d find a use for it.

I started giving the number out to a few friends. People asked if they could still SMS me. That was one of the biggest reasons I couldn’t make the switch. So I didn’t sign in for a day or two.

I brought up GrandCentral in conversation this morning with a friend of mine. He had an excellent usage for it.

Now - Please let me preface this part of the story with a fact: I hate phone-accessed voicemail.

I hate listening to the menus, pressing the keys, remembering how to delete or save. All of it.

Hate it. Completely. For ever.

So anyway, it turns out that with Verizon Wireless [which I have] you can dial *71 and any ten digit number to set up a 1 step call hunt. I put my Grand Central number in there, and turned off the forwarding on my GC account. Done.

An easy switch to Grand Central voicemail system.

If a call comes in, and I miss it - The hunt rings GC [which goes directly to voicemail]. I get a txt letting me know I have voicemail. Web access, phone access, email access - Whatever you like.

Now I’m the only one who needs to know the number, so I can check my vmail when I don’t have web access. And I can apply filters that are applied for who can leave a message, what folder it goes into, etc. The control panel is great. I think with a little google magic it will be phenom come official release-time. There are still some features that I need to mess with a bit, before deeming them useful or not; However I’m convinced that this will be [at the very least] my voicemail for the rest of my Verizon days. I am so thankful that I was made aware of this ninja tactic. It’s perfect.

So far, that’s what I’ve got. When you look at it from start to finish - I really picked up most of this satisfaction today.

Get yourself an invite. Yesterday.

_MWhite

Setting up an adapter this morning, to work using the VTWhite origination/termination service so I figured I’d type out a how-to.

All you need is an account with VTWhite, spare ip address, a switch and an unlocked pap2….

1. Log into your vtwhite account at cp.vtwhite.com

2. Click on Node Manager.

Name your Node [this is for labelling purposes only]

The Source IP should be the IP address of the adapter.

Plug your adapter into the switch and give it around 1 minute to obtain an IP. You’ll know the IP has been assigned when the power light stops blinking and stays solid.

Pick up the handset, dial **** and [after hearing ‘Configuration menu…’] dial 110 #. The IP address that plays is your node.

Note: This should never be a 192.168… address.

The Destination Hostname should be the same - Unless you have a domain pointed at the IP you are using.

Leave the port at 5060, unless you have a good reason to use an alternate.

Click on SUBMIT QUERY.

When the page refreshes and you see your node has been updated, return to the main menu.

3. If you are planning on using VTWhite for termination only - You can skip this step, otherwise read on…

Click Add Number. The page will refresh. Search for a new number by State or Area code.

When you find the number you’d like, attach it to the new node by choosing it from the drop-down menu.

Click Get Number.

4. Bring up the adapter configuration GUI by visiting the IP of the adapter in a web browser.

Click on the Line tab [either Line 1 or 2]

Most of the default settings will work. Only the following changes need to be made:

proxy: sip.vtwhite.com:5060

register: NO

make_call_without_reg: YES

ans_call_without_reg: YES

user ID: 15551231234 [any 11 digit number will work. 11 digit numbers with a CNAM listing will pass]

pref_codec: G711u

DTMF tx Meth: InBand

Click on Save Settings at the bottom of the page. You will return to the main screen of the Linksys configuration.

You should now have full service. Remember - With VTWhite you always have to dial with 11 digits and there is no need to dial 011 for international calls.

Oh and… Don’t worry, the Line light isn’t supposed to be lit.

Enjoy.

_MWhite

Hey - I found this blog post a couple of days ago and it outlines [a supposedly reliable] way to use your Sunrocket gizmo for ViaTalk. I’ll quote it for you below, but this guys blog is actually pretty interesting. Find it at http://gandhi.wordpress.com/

Step 1: Enable line 2 on the Sunrocket/Innomedia MTA6328-2re Gizmo.

a) Enabling the 2nd line is not available via the web interface - it is only available from telnet. Telnet to 192.168.251.1 (in windows, you can do this by going to START -> Run. Type in “telnet 192.168.251.1″ and click OK)
b) Log in using the username ‘admin’ (all lower-case) and password ‘7UprUtew’ (case-sensitive).
c) Type in ‘Mp’ (without quotes, case-sensitive). This option will allow you the configure the phone ports.
d) Follow the on-screen prompts to enable both the ports. When prompted whether you want to save the configuration permanently, select ‘y’.
e) Power-cycle the gizmo by unplugging the power cord, wait 20 seconds, and plug the power cord back in the gizmo. At this point, your gizmo should have both lines up and running.

Step 2: Configure the second line

a) Go to http://192.168.251.1/Voice_adminPage.htm and login using ‘admin’ and ‘7UprUtew’ as the username and password respectively.
b) From the menu bar, go to VoIP -> User Account. For line 1, your ‘username’ must be set to your 11-digit phone number (starting with country code 1). The password was sent to you by viatalk in the activation email. All other fields must be blank (user name, authentication ID, Hot Phone number). Select ‘No’ for the ‘Use hot phone number’ option, and ‘Yes’ for the ‘Fax T38′ option. Click the “Save” button.
c) Repeat step (b) above for line 2 and click the “Save” button.

Step 3: Reboot/Reset/Power-cycle everything

a) Power cycle your cable modem
b) Power cycle your gizmo (If the gizmo is behind a router, then power cycle the router, then the gizmo)
c) Power cycle the phone connected to Line 1
d) Power cycle the phone connected to Line 2

Now everything should be working! Try it out and let me know how it works. One forewarning: For the first few calls, both my phones were ringing. This issue auto-corrected it self after a few calls. So if this happens to you, just wait 10 minutes or so and try again.

ENJOY!

Thanks ghandi.

_MWhite

GrandCentral station.

Thanks to The Evil Genius - I got an invite to Grandcentral BETA this morning. So far it looks pretty legit. I’ll post an update with some review of the service when I get a minute. Also - I’ve got some invites: If you want one, let me know.

_MWhite

Man - First he takes Demi off the market: Now he’s jumping into the voip market. Their equipment is seriously expensive. I hope this isn’t some huge episode of Punk’d.

An ambitious and long awaited new consumer VOIP startup - Ooma - launches on Thursday morning. Much like Vonage and the ill-fated SunRocket, Ooma allows consumers to use their normal phones to make and receive telephone calls, but at drastically reduced prices. LINK

_MWhite

Offers free shipping coupon in light of todays announcement that Sunrocket will be closing its’ doors.

“We’re expecting an uptick in sales over the next few days as a result of whats been going on over at SunRocket. To help out those affected, we’ve made available a coupon good for free ground shipping…” LINK

_MWhite

This really can’t be a good sign…

SunRocket appears to be refusing to accept new customers. Try calling the call center to sign up. LINK

_MWhite

EDIT:

Digg this: http://digg.com/tech_news/SunRocket_Out_of_Business

Maybe we can get some real answers….

Oh noes…

Attorneys for Mikhail Rozenberg, of Edison, filed the suit in federal court on June 26, alleging Rozenberg was fired after the company refused to allow him to observe several holidays and the Friday evening Sabbath. LINK

_MWhite

I’ve been struggling with Asterisk on Feisty off and on for a few weeks now. It compiled perfectly, but then tossed an error when I attempted to use the debian init script to launch.

Turns out, there is a bug of some sort - either in Asterisk or Feisty (or in my compiling) that prevents safe_asterisk from running. I simply changed the start section of the init script to call asterisk rather than safe_asterisk.

Hope it saves someone some time.

– the evil genius