newbie to SIP, voip etc 1

[codefreak]

Hello as the title suggest I'm very new to the VoIP world. I've studied the registration protocol for SIP but that's about it.
Saying that I'd like to setup a SIP server behind a firewall and have someone from the outside talk to a voip phone behind the firewall.
Some general questions, there are a good amount of windows SIP servers that look pretty straight-forward and simple to setup. But some of my friends have told me to setup an asterix server if I want a real sip server (not sure what that really means other than the linux v windows debate of what's better). I'd like to register soft and real phones (polycom,etc) with this server as well.

So any initial advice would be great to get me started in this world

Thanks in advice and forgive me for any stupid questions I might post along the way.

 

[holdmusic34]

I am biased because that's what I am trained in, but what you describe can be accomplished by the Avaya IP office platform.
When you're dealing with voice- analogue, digital, H.323 or SIP, the call server is the phone system. It does not necessarily need to be installed on a server platform to function. It can be a piece of hardware.

As an end user, this is not something you should do by yourself. You do not know the ins and outs of the industry. I don't do your job and don't pretend to. You can better spend your time for the company doing what you do best and leave the implementation of something like this to a professional.
At the worst, you can expose yourself to toll fraud, stuff up emergency calls and cost your company big money. At the least you will not get the best out of your new implementation.

I will post an excerpt of a thread from another forum on tek-tips:
(Gunnar)
"Working on any PBX system should not be performed by an untrained person.
It might work just fine for years, but how will it perform in times of crisis? Or have the owner lose income due to faulty configuration?

One example:
An emergency occurs in the office, dialling 911 sends you off to the wrong state.
While wasting precious time due to messed (a) up SCN config, a person dies 1 minute before ambulance gets there.
(This is not a hypothetical scenario).

Apart from that, training people in an online forum like this is a not how it's done.
Manufacturer bothered to set up a complete set of training courses to ensure everyone dealing with a communication infrastructure has the sufficient qualifications to do so. The certificate only lasts 2 years before you need to take the exam again.
Failing at this, you are banned from the official channels, sent off to the grey market, (and maybe) providing a less than adequate service.

Looking at the last years posts, there are people out there far from capable, messing around with things way out of their league. (If you stick around long enough, you smell the sulphur from the first sentence.)

I've nothing against an eager fella', trying to learn how the system works.
But spend a few bucks on training, get certified, and buy a demo kit to try out your ideas instead of making the customer a Guiney (sic) pig."


Dulce et decorum pro Avaya mori

 

[codefreak]

Hey thanks for the reply, but this setup is in our lab and for my own educational purposes and not something I am setting up for the company.
Basically I want to learn how to test SIP and having a setup in the lab would be the first start. I'd rather software for the sip server since I do have some polycoms in our lab along with using softphones

 

[Sympology]

If you want a dead easy Windows one, look at 3CX Free edition. It's fully functional and give you the basics.

http://www.3cx.com/ip-pbx/

BTW your next question will be why do I get one way audio: Answer it will be your firewall ;-)

Arm yourself with Wireshark as well, you can learn a lot from the messaging.

Have fun.

Robert Wilensky:
We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true.

http://alvechurchlounge.org.uk

 

[Sympology]

PS have had plenty of rows with "pros" that can't grasp the fact a CODEC is not a Protocol. Some even think SIP is a telephony protocol ;-)

Robert Wilensky:
We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true.

http://alvechurchlounge.org.uk