Kerry's Garrison

Call BS on that!!

2008-01-06T21:53:00.000-08:00

Do you ever need to call BS on some company for bad business practices? A new site is now up to help call out corporate stupidity. Go visit CallBSonThat.com and read some new entries. If you have had a bad experience with a company and need to speak out about it, that’s what this site is all about. Don’t put up with companies who screw people over or do stupid things….Call BS on that!!

Website http://callbsonthat.com

trixbox CE 2.4 released

2008-01-04T07:26:00.000-08:00

Much awaited and long overdue due to technical and staffing issues, we have finally got trixbox CE 2.4 out the door and the response has been fantastic. With tons of little problems that have been around for ages fixes and boatloads of changes from the previous versions, trixbox CE 2.4 is certainly THE distribution to be using for your Asterisk implementations these days. To find out about some of the major changes, read the write up of trixbox CE 2.4 features at voipspeak.net

Fonality launches trixbox Pro

2007-08-12T22:42:00.000-07:00

Virtually the entire company at Fonality has been working day and night for the last couple of months to release our newest product, trixbox Pro. trixbox Pro is a departure from the completely open source compilation that trixbox CE has been, although it is still based on Digium's Asterisk Open Source PBX software. While many people have wanted a more reliable, stable, and supportable PBX system that they could easily resell, a few vocal people in the forums have had a difference of opinion of wether or not Pro is a good fit for their business model.

Why some people feel so compelled to go off the deep end about something that they don't even want to use is really beyond me, but hey, that's the nature of the beast and we deal with it and move on.

In the end, we hope that many people do find that trixbox Pro is a better product than they are used to using and that they can make money selling it. We are not killing off trixbox CE, there has never even been a discussion of slowing down development, let alone killing it off. trixbox Pro is not for everyone and for those people, we have trixbox CE.

How will the public react to the new trixbox Pro? Who knows, it only has launched today, and within two hours we already had a first call center sell. Hopefully, that is a good sign.

L7 Foto Blog

2007-05-17T15:32:00.000-07:00

In case you didn't know it, I also have a photography blog. We do tutorials, reviews, news, and other things that are of interest to beginner and amatuer photographers. Find the best place to save money on equipment, how to take better photos and much more. Check it out at http://L7Foto.com.

Win tickets to FtOCC training!

2007-05-17T11:52:00.001-07:00

There are a few contests going on to win tickets to the June trixbox FtOCC training that is happening in Boston June 4-6. If you are able to attend, do yourself a favor and try to enter the contests.

http://voipspeak.net
http://freepbx.org

trixbox 2.2 released

2007-05-03T12:15:00.000-07:00

The trixbox team has released the final version of trixbox 2.2 today. This is a much improved version of trixbox 2.0 featuring the following:

Easier upgrades to future versions
Enhanced call data reports
New network interface manager
Enhanced Dashboard
New System Status administrator screen
The latest versions of Asterisk/Zaptel
Support for all Digium/Rhino/Sangoma hardware
Enhanced Endpoint Manager (now supports Polycom, Linksys, Aastra, Snom, Grandstream, and Cisco)

Be sure and check it out at http://www.trixbox.org/

trixbox training june 3 - 6 in Boston

2007-04-27T11:04:00.000-07:00

Our first FtOCC (Fonality trixbox Open Communication Certification) training in March was a huge success so we are moving it to Boston on June 3 - 6. We have room for about 60 people but seats are filling up fast. Get over to http://www.trixbox.org/ftocc for more information.

trixbox 2.2 RC2

2007-04-27T11:02:00.000-07:00

We have just posted release candidate 2 of trixbox 2.2. This is looking to be VERY solid. At this pace we will have 2.2 final on Monday unless something really serious comes up.

Lots of bug fixes
Improvements to endpoint manager
Improvements to network manager

trixbox 2.2 beta 5 released

2007-04-11T17:56:00.000-07:00

The beta 5 build of trixbox 2.2 was released today. This was mostly just a lot of bug fixes from beta 4 but also added provisioning support for Linksys and Polycom phones. This is probably the last beta build before the release candidates start coming.

Source: trixbox

Review: Polycom Communicator CS100

2007-03-25T18:29:00.000-07:00

While there are bajillions of USB Skype phones available now and more are coming out every day. While they may work well with Skype, they typically don’t work very well with regular SIP or IAX softphones, and even then, most have simply horrible call quality. Quite some time ago we reviewed the Duet 250 speakerphone which blew our socks off and has ever since had a permanent home in my laptop bag. Recently, Polycom released the Communicator C100 which is also a USB speakerphone that works with both Skype and regular softphones. While our first thought was that Polycom had finally jumped the shark with such a low-end device, we decided to try it out and see how it really performed.

Read my review at VoIPSpeak.net

trixbox announces hardware appliance and paid support

2007-03-25T18:26:00.000-07:00

Fonality has just announced a new trixbox-powered hardware appliance to make getting an Asterisk-Based PBX system up and running instantly. The new platform is going to be available in June and starts at $999. Also announced are a series of paid support options ranging from hourly to yearly depending on your needs. These new products are available through a new e-commerce store and combined with the recent trixbox training program really make trixbox a viable telephony platform for business users.

Source: http://www.trixbox.org/

VoipSpeak.net - Grandstream GXW-4104 Review

2007-02-27T05:40:00.000-08:00

Over at VOIPSpeak.net I have just posted a review of the Grandstream GXW-4104 SIP Gateway complete with setup instructions for trixbox/FreePBX. If you are looking for a 4 or 8 port PSTN interface, you might want to take a good look at this new product line.

VoipSpeak.net - Grandstream GXW-4104 Review

SmithOnVoip Interview with me

2007-02-18T19:02:00.000-08:00

Garret Smith over at http://smithonvoip.com did a quick interview with me about the upcoming trixbox training program I am putting together.

The dark side of the force is more powerful Luke!

2006-11-21T14:39:00.000-08:00

Yes, I have joined the Fonality team as the Sr. Product Manager for trixbox. I am extremely excited about the Fonality vision and direction and couldn't think of a better opportunity. I will admit I was wondering what they were up to when they announced they had aquired the trixbox project and after several very lengthy talks with the power-that-be there, I decided that they were going to do what they say they are going to do. The trixbox project is going to live on as an open source application platform to enable users to quickly bring solid, reliable systems to the market. This is an exciting time for the industry and I am very happy to be with a company that is moving in the right direction.

Link: Fonality - trixbox

VOIPSpeak podcast finally launches

2006-10-01T21:08:00.000-07:00

Its been a long time coming but we have finally launched the podcast for VOIPSpeak.net! Every week will will bring the latest in VoIP news right to your computer or portable media player. Head over to VOIPSpeak.net and check it out or use the Odeo shortcut.

TrixBox Book Announced

2006-09-14T06:24:00.000-07:00

Barrie Dempster and Kerry Garrison have written a book on using TrixBox.

Further information:

TrixBox is a telephone system based on the popular open source Asterisk PBX (Private Branch eXchange) Software. TrixBox allows an individual or organization to setup a telephone system with traditional telephone networks as well as Internet based telephony or VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). SugarCRM can be integrated with Asterisk, and is bundled with Trixbox offering real power and flexibility.

Asterisk Tutorials Site Launched

2006-09-04T08:10:00.000-07:00

I am happy to announce the launch of AsteriskTutorials.com. This site is a collection of quality video training tutorials for different aspects of Asterisk, TrixBox, and FreePBX. Please check it out if you are looking for good training material.

http://asterisktutorials.com

RhinoXtreme.com Launching

2006-08-28T10:27:00.000-07:00

Ever wish you had a killer off-road vehicle that didn't cost a bajillion dollars, was small enough to fit in the garage, and could be towed behind pretty much anything? The Yamaha Rhino 660 is just this vehicle. Yours truely is involved in launching a new site for these awesome vehicles. Check it out at http://rhinoxtreme.com.

Bulk Provisioning Linksys Devices

2006-05-12T16:14:00.000-07:00

The people asked and I delivered. I have posted a guide to bulk provisioning any Linksys Voip device. All you need is a DHCP server that can push option 66, a tFTP server, and a text editor.

VoipSpeak - Bulk Provisioning Linksys IP Devices

VoipSpeak - Home

2006-04-30T14:01:00.000-07:00

Been really busy lately but I have just finished up a handful of articles at VOIPSpeak.net.

Asterisk Follow-Me Function
Have you ever called someone that has a really top-of-the-line PBX system and when they did not answer after ringing the person a few times you found that the system then tells you to stand by while the person is located and then rings remote land phones and cell phones as it attempts to locate the person you are calling? This is a very cool example of a follow-me function

Linksys SPA-942 IP Phone Review
Linksys is certainly paving the way with their VoIP products lately and we certainly were impressed with the SPA-941 phone although it was a bit lacking in a few features that we considered to be key items. The new SPA-942 is now readily available and addresses several of these key features.

Linksys Wireless G Phone Bridge
Linksys is undoubtably skyrocketing to the top of the VoIP product hill and products like the WBP54G are proof that Linksys is listening to their clients and coming out with products that people want. The WBP54G Wireless bridge allows placement of an IP phone in locations where pulling CAT5 cable isn't feasible. As long as you are within range of an 802.11G signal, the WBP54G can connect up and allow your phone to register. Are there pros and cons? Of course, so let's get down to it.

VoipSpeak - FreePBX 2.0 Preview

2006-03-20T15:13:00.000-08:00

The Asterisk GUI Wars are going to heat up soon and the venerable Asterisk Management Portal (AMP) looked like it was going to get sidelined early on. While AMP was a worthy contender for a long time, its architecture just wasn't going to cut it long-term. This past weekend, the successor to AMP was released as freePBX 2.0. This is a complete re-write of the AMP code in a new modular format that will make updates much easier than before. Of course, we are the first out of the gate with a writeup on this hot new tool.

FreePBX 2.0 Preview

Daughter's Car Stolen

2006-01-26T13:10:00.000-08:00

Yes, even in Irvine, one of the safest cities in the country a car can get stolen. Our daughter's 94 Saturn was bagged from right in front of our house on a street that the police described as "the most obscure street in the entire city". If that doesn't give a nice warm fuzzy feeling of security nothing will. So much for being safe and obscure.

Lola on Dogster

2006-01-12T09:36:00.000-08:00

Ok, I couldn't help myself and created a profile for my dog on Dogster. I don't know what I was thinking, but hey, you have to admit, she is a great looking dog!

Southern Califoria Asterisk Users Group

2006-01-11T07:49:00.000-08:00

In order to help provide local support and education as well as to help interested people get a feel for what Asterisk is and what it can do, a new Southern California Asterisk User's Group has now been created. Based in Irvine, Ca. the group will meet on the third thursday every month at the Heritage Park Library from 6pm - 9pm. Everyone is welcome, there is no fee to attend.
The Library is llocated on the northwest corner of Yale and Walnut in Irvine.
From the 5 south, exit Culver and turn right. Turn left on Walnut, and turn left on Yale and make an immediate left into the parking lot.

From the 5 north, exit Jeffery and turn left. Turn right on Walnut, and turn right on Yale and make an immediate left into the parking lot.

The following dates are already secured:

Thurs Jan 19
Thurs Feb 16
Thurs Mar 17

Meetings are from 6pm - 9pm

Irvine Heritage Park Library
(949) 936-4040
14361 Yale Ave
Irvine, CA 92604

Linksys SPA9000 IP Key System

2006-01-05T08:55:00.001-08:00

Voice over IP PBX systems are being brought out by all the major companies and Cisco’s own Call Manager has been around for a couple of years now. Besides systems like the Asterisk Open Source PBX, there really isn’t anything available for the VSB (very small business, 1 – 16 users) market. That is, until now. When Linksys acquired Sipura last summer, we predicted that within nine months some embedded systems PBX system would hit the market. Well, Linksys beat that mark a few months early with the SPA9000 Telephone Key System.

For more information visit VOIPSpeak.net

VoiceOne Callware

2005-12-20T11:41:00.000-08:00

Callware VoiceOne is an easy to use web based GUI for the Asterisk PBX.
It gives full control over PBX settings from the admin configuration panel. You can manage extensions, VoIP trunks, users queues and rules sets, and dynamically create a IVR.

Features

- Client/Server architecture based on Web services
- Relies on Asterisk Realtime Architecture (ARA)
- SIP extensions management (support for Zap/IAX/mISDN soon added)
- Remote offices via IAX with RSA public key encryption
- Supports VoIP and traditional Telco providers
- Powerful IVR creation system
- Queues system management
- Customizable user's profile
- Powerful configuration of mISDN ports/interfaces
- Policies system for users/groups management
- SIP, IAX and mISDN general/default options configuration
- Static-like text editor for conf files
- Easy setup wizard
- lots more...

Check out the demo at: http://www.voiceone.it/demo/

Source: http://www.voiceone.it/

Comment: This is an early alpha and not all of the features work. However, if they can finish this up, it looks like it could be a major player in the Asterisk GUI market.

Newbies Guide to Asterisk@Home 2.2

2005-12-15T09:58:00.000-08:00

Our good friends over at Nerd Vittles have just published a new 'soup to nuts' guide to setting up Asterisk@Home 2.2. This comprehensive guide covers everything you need to know to get your system up and running, tweaked for best performance, tightended down for security, and a few really cools tricks that you probably didn't even know were possible.

VoipSpeak - Newbies Guide to Asterisk@Home 2.2

IP Communications Provides Local Number Service

2005-12-15T09:57:00.000-08:00

ATLANTA, Ga. / December 14 / IP Communications, LLC, a leading provider of voice over the internet protocol (VoIP) based solutions for application service providers and call centers worldwide announced the launch of its online provisioning portal in support of it industry leading IPDID ™ local number service. The provisioning portal enables any service provider to order and provision any number of direct inward dialing (DID) numbers with a flexible combination of voice paths within minutes. The ordering portal addresses network provisioning as well as DID ordering in a logical and flexible manner.

VoipSpeak - IP Communications Provides Local Number Service

GPL Hardware Project for Asterisk

2005-12-13T08:07:00.000-08:00

David Rowe has mailed details of a new GPL hardware project for Asterisk:

uCasterisk (you-see-Asterisk) is a set of scripts, makefiles and patches to build Asterisk for uClinux. The target is the Blackfin BF533 STAMP board, although it should be portable to other uClinux platforms.

uCasterisk is one part of a project to build a completely open telephony hardware platform. Both the hardware and the software will be freely available under the GPL. The target cost for a complete IP PBX (including multiple analog ports or a T1) is $200 to $400. Imagine an Asterisk-powered IP-PBX in the form factor of an ATA - no PC required.

VoipSpeak - GPL Hardware Project for Asterisk

Coalescent Systems Unveils Gabcast Service

2005-12-13T08:06:00.000-08:00

Coalescent Systems, developers of the Asterisk Management Portal, have announced a new web service that allows users to call into their system over toll free numbers, local numbers, or Free World Dialup numbers to record their audio programs. This will help people who want to do a podcast but dont have recording equipment a simple way of getting started.

VoipSpeak - Coalescent Systems Unveils Gabcast Service

Updated Guide to using the SPA-3000

2005-12-10T14:57:00.000-08:00

My original article on using the SPA-3000 was extremely popular but with new versions of Asterisk and Asterisk@Home, the original instructions don't work quite right. After finally upgrading my own system to Asterisk@Home 2.1, I needed to get the SPA-3000 back working again. This new article is all updated and tested, so if you use the SPA-3000, you can now get it back working properly.

Updated Guide to Setting Up The SPA-3000

AMP: Using Users and Devices

2005-12-06T20:18:00.000-08:00

AMP (Asterisk Management Portal) has a number of hidden features, one of which is the "Users and Devices" mode. Using this mode you can seperate users from devices unlike the standard "Extensions" mode which associates one user to one device. For an overview of this feature and how to enable it, check out the latest article at VOIPSpeak.

AMP: Users and Devices

Technorati tags: VoIP : Asterisk : Asterisk@Home

Running Asterisk@Home Under Windows

2005-11-20T13:26:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Jean Eeden, we have posted up a new article at VOIPSpeak on how to use the new VMWare player to install and run Asterisk@Home in a virtual PC environment on Windows. This setup uses all open source and free software. Be sure and use a high end machine for this as its a little harsh on system resources. I tried it on a Compaq NX7010 laptop with a 1.7 Pentium M and 512mb RAM. It ran just fine but the machine was pretty useless during the installation process.

Running Asterisk@Home Under Windows

Technorati tags: VoIP : Asterisk : Asterisk@Home

Asterisk@Home 1.2 beta 6 Released

2005-11-18T20:37:00.000-08:00

Asterisk@Home 2.0 BETA 6 - 11/18/05
Features:

Asterisk 1.2
Flash Operator Panel 0.24
Festival Speech Engine version 1.96
weather agi scripts
wakeup calls
Integrated WebMeetMe GUI
AMP-1.10.010 BETA
CentOS 4.2
SugarCRM with Cisco XML Services interface + Click to Dial
Music On Hold (mpg123)
Fax support (spanDSP)
xPL support
Digium card auto-config

This is looking to be very solid, expect to see a final release shortly.

Link: http://asteriskathome.sourceforge.net

Linksys SPA-941 SIP Business Phone Review

2005-11-17T08:06:00.000-08:00

Amazing how many people in different forums have opinions of this phone without actually seeing it, most people are calling it an SPA-841 in a new shell. I took a good hard look at it to see if that was the case and it most certainly is not. The SPA-941 is a major step up in quality and features and should be right at home in any office. For the price, it holds its own quite nicely against the Polycom 301's and, in my opinion, is a better looking device as well.

Read the full review at VOIPSpeak.net

Technorati tags: VoIP : Asterisk : Linksys

Photography by Esquire Photography

Andi Garrison - Makeup Artist

2005-11-12T23:17:00.000-08:00

I know it's nothing technical but I just finished a website for my daughter. If you are in California and need a makeup artist for a photo shoot, wedding, film, or theater, give her a call. She is doing work for prominent photographers in southern California such as Esquire Photography.

Andi Garrison - Makeup Artist

Technorati tags:
Makeup
: Weddings

Linksys SPA-941 Preview

2005-11-10T11:36:00.000-08:00

Just released is the first real fruits of the aquisition of Sipura by Cisco-owned Linksys. The SPA-941 SIP Business Phone picks up where the original Sipura SPA-841 left off. The new SPA-941 is very similair in look to it's big brother, the Cisco 7960. At a retail price that is easily $100 less than the 7960, the SPA-941 still boasts a number of great features and is extremely high quality. With a Cisco logo, Linksys name brand, and Sipura branded web interface, the SPA-941 may be suffering a small indentity crisis while the different companies try to figure out the best market positioning, but dont let that stop you from taking a serious look at this new phone. Finding a sweet spot in the mid-range price point between budget phones and higher dollar "name brand" phones, the SPA-941 looks well positioned to be a major player this year.

Technorati tags: VoIP : Asterisk : Linksys

Phoenix Audio Duet PCS Review

2005-11-05T14:34:00.000-08:00

It seems like every day some new microphone or headset comes out that claims to be the hottest thing in voice since humans learned to speak. With that attitude, we weren't overly excited when Phoenix Audio told us about their new USB Speakerphone. However, once it arrived and we plugged it in to find out that it was properly detected and didn't even require a driver, it was time to take a good long look at it. With full duplex operation, echo cancellation, and noise suppression, the Duet PCS is one serious speakerphone.

Read my complete review at VOIPSpeak.net

Technorati tags: VoIP : Asterisk : Skype

How Asterisk Kept Businesses Running

2005-10-18T20:59:00.000-07:00

An amazing day today, large parts of southern California were without land line or cell service as the telephone grid dropped offline. However, DSL circuits stayed up. This was a perfect time to show off an Asterisk PBX system to one of our clients. Using Asterisk@Home and VOIPJet, we were able to bring phone service to our client while thousands of businesses were still down.

To document exactly what we did, i wrote up an article and posted it at VOIPSpeak.

Technorati tags: VoIP : Asterisk : Asterisk@Home

O'Reilly Asterisk Book Available For Free Download

2005-10-17T11:41:00.000-07:00

O'Reilly Media's latest book, Asterisk: The Future of Telephony, written by Jim Van Meggelen, Jared Smith, and Leif Madsen is the most complete book on the Asterisk PBX system to date. The new book, announced at Astricon 2005 covers many of the new features of Asterisk 1.2. In the spirit of open source, O'Reilly has licensed the book under the creative commons license making it free to download and distribute.

Visit VOIPSpeak.net for complete details.

Technorati tags: VoIP : Asterisk : SIP : IAX

VOIPSpeak - Asterisk@Home Tutorial Presentation

2005-10-13T13:12:00.000-07:00

I have posted the powerpoint presentation of my Asterisk@Home Tutorial I did at Astricon 2005. The slides are available at VOIPSpeak. If you have questions or comments, please let me know.

VOIPSpeak - Building Telephony Systems with Asterisk

2005-10-11T12:57:00.000-07:00

Looking for an simple getting started guide for Asterisk? Building Telephony Systems with Asterisk from Packt Publishing may be just the book you are looking for (assuming you already know Linux). The book takes you through downloading, installing, configuring, and maintaining your Asterisk PBX system in only 156 pages. Advanced topics really aren't covered in such a small book, but you will end up with a working system that you can easily expand on.

VoipSpeak - Book Review: Building Telephony Systems with Asterisk

The Naked Computer Guy

2005-10-07T22:33:00.000-07:00

The Naked Computer Guy is here to help! The Naked Computer Guy stripes down tech talk for the average guy. If your just the kind of guy who wants to know about the latest toys and how to keep your system running smooth and don't know what l33t sThe Naked Computer Guy is for you. A weekly computer tips podcast is coming soon as well.

Source: The Naked Computer Guy

VOIPSpeak

2005-10-05T22:45:00.000-07:00

The VOIP Revolution is upon us and the Geek Gazette just isn't specific enough for my tastes. GG will continue to host VOIP articles but will also feature many general IT articles like it has already. To create a site that really is aimed at the VOIP market, we have launched a new site today called VOIPSpeak. Please tell everyone you know about the new site.

VOIPSpeak.net

Had to turn on word authentication

2005-10-03T07:57:00.000-07:00

Due to this blog getting hammered with automated comment spam, I have been forced to turn on word authentication for new comments. Blogger.com doesn't have a good way of removing all posts from a specifc user or even a good way to report the abuse so the only thing anyone can do is to make it harder for people to post comments. I apologize for the inconvenience, but its the best I cant do for now.

Astricon 2005 :: AAH Turorial

2005-10-02T17:28:00.000-07:00

I will be giving a 90 minute tutorial on Asterisk@Home at the upcoming Astricon conference in Anaheim October 12-14. If you are planning on attending the conference, please stop by my lecture and say hi.

New Asterisk@Home Guide

2005-09-01T21:43:00.000-07:00

I have posted some new guides for Asterisk@Home for getting the lastest version up and running with both Broadvoice and Iax.cc/SixTel. If you are trying to get started with this services, this will get you running quickly. If you haven't checked out Asterisk@Home lately, the current 1.5 version is very cool.

Creating a Windows Backup System

2005-05-18T21:07:00.000-07:00

Just posted to GG is the method I use at clients to provide a backup system to removable hard disks. Most of my clients have outgrown their old 30gb tape drives and new systems are stupidly expensive. Instead, they purchase 5 or more external hard drives and rotate them every day. It is FAR faster and more reliable than tape systems. Using some free tools and some cool scripting, I show how to create a custom backup solution that even includes e-mail notification.

Creating a Windows Backup System

Geek Gazette - Sipura SPA-3000 Review

2005-05-09T13:41:00.000-07:00

We have posted a review of the Sipura SPA-3000 ATA/VoIP Gateway at Geek Gazette. This awesome little unit is not only an analog telephone adapter for using a VOIP service with a regular analog phone, it is also a VoIP <-> PSTN Gateway device. Where it really shines is allowing you to push your phone line into an Asterisk PBX very easily. We not only review the SPA-3000, we also show how to set it up with Asterisk.

Not surprisingly, this article made Slashdot today, the server actually started croaking at 2,200 concurrent users. This tells you how far this topic has come in just the last few months.

Kerry to appear on Cyber Line

2005-04-24T19:29:00.000-07:00

Thats right folks, my 15 minutes are not up yet. This coming Saturday at 8:00pm PST, yours truely will appear on Mick William's Cyber Line talk show to discuss the current state of VOIP PBX systems. If you are interested in putting up your own VOIP PBX or are looking to find out the costs as well as the pros and cons, be sure and tune in. You can check out the stations on the Cyber Line website. If you are not in one of the available markets, the show will be broadcast live via the Cyber Line website.

Sipura SPA-1001 Review

2005-04-16T11:24:00.000-07:00

How do you solve the problem of setting up remote VOIP phones with minimul hassle, good quality, and reasonable cost? Our answer was the Sipura SPA-1001 Analog Telephone Adapter mated to a cheap ($14.99 w/$12 rebate) cordless phone. Now I can travel from client to client and my office extension is with me wherever I have internet access.

Sipura SPA-1001 Review at Geek Gazette

Sipura SPA-841 Phone Review

2005-04-10T11:31:00.000-07:00

Over at Geek Gazette we have just posted a review of the Sipura SPA-841 2 or 4 line business phone. Being Sipura's first entry into hard phones we were very curious to see how it stacked up. As a smal business/SOHO phone, it looks to be dead on. Be sure and read the complete review.

The Geek Gazette - Sipura SPA-841 Phone Review

Book Review: VoIP Telephony with Asterisk

2005-04-02T11:46:00.000-08:00

The Geek Gazette - Book Review: VoIP Telephony with Asterisk: "The book bills itself as a beginner's guide to Asterisk and Voice over IP (VoIP). Even with over 270 pages, it isn't possible to go through every single feature that Asterisk has to offer but the book does give enough information to get you started and even apply a few advanced features to your phone system. For those of you not familiar with Asterisk, VoIP, or PBX's we will need a little bit of background for you to know if this book is for you. "

Setting Up Asterisk@Home 0.8

2005-03-31T08:21:00.000-08:00

The Asterisk@Home team has released version 0.8 of their Asterisk PBX install kit. This new version has introduced some signifigant changes to the management tools thus confusing a lot of people and outdating all existing documentation. The Geek Gazette to the rescue with the first article on Setting Up Asterisk@Home 0.8. Now everyone can get a PBX up and running in about an hour.

The Geek Gazette - Updates

2005-03-28T08:22:00.000-08:00

We have all of the RSS feeds working now, we have added a new forum section, and Christopher Bolton has given us his latest version of his Asterisk@Home Step By Step Guide to publish. I really appreciate all of the positive feedback and encouragement I have got from everyone.

Configuring Asterisk@Home For BroadVoice

2005-03-17T20:07:00.000-08:00

As a followup to the very popular article on Building Your Own PBX, we have added a new article to GG on setting up your Asterisk PBX system to work with a BroadVoice VOIP service account.

The Geek Gazette - Configuring Asterisk@Home For BroadVoice

The Caddy She Is No More

2005-03-15T11:41:00.000-08:00

The poor Caddy just couldn't take it and succumbed to nature, age, and a lead foot. The Caddy is being donated to a good cause and I am driving this nice set of wheels now. The new ride is a very nice 2002 Ford Taurus. So no more mocking me about my ugly ride.

Building your own PBX - Update

2005-03-07T17:47:00.000-08:00

I have updated my Building your own PBX article with some additional information and a simple network layout of my system.

A little irony - 15 minutes of fame

2005-03-07T12:54:00.000-08:00

20 years ago I pieced together an Apple //e, AppleCat modem, and a tape recorder to build a computer controlled answering machine. It had some basic speech synthesis and DTMF decoding (to leave a message, press 1). This got me some notoriety at the time and I hooked up with a lot of the southern California hacker community. Names like The Gonif, The Anarchist, Dead Banshee, The Freeze, The Jerk, and others turned into a first name basis.

Twenty years later, my recent PBX project gained me another "15 minutes" by making the headlines at Slashdot. Ironically (to use the term loosely), one of the same people I had known 20 years ago contacted me to ask if I was the same guy from back then.

The fact that it was originally an answering machine and now a PBX is quite interesting I think. In 20 years will I be posting about a build it yourself holographic receiver that you can build from those spare emitters you stored away out in the garage?

Anyway, for those of you who are wondering but didn't ask, yes, I am the same Kerry that went to Anaheim High School, graduated in 83 and went by "Mordo". So if you knew me then, drop me a line.

Kerry Garrison - Building your own PBX

2005-03-06T10:48:00.000-08:00

What would it mean to you to have your own full-featured PBX system at your home or small office? What would it mean to you if you could build an entire PBX system (minus the phones) on hardware you probably have laying around, AND that it can probably also save you money on your phone bill? Sounds too hard to believe doesn't it, but using old hardware and some open source software, you really can build a commercial quality phone system that would normally cost thousands of dollars.

For the complete article, go here

FCC strikes against VoIP blocking | The Register

2005-03-04T06:41:00.000-08:00

FCC strikes against VoIP blocking | The Register: "Federal Communications Commission chairman Michael Powell backed enforcement action to protect VoIP traffic as the agency yesterday announced a settlement with a carrier that blocked internet users' voice calls.
Local telco Madison River LLC has pledged to refrain from blocking VoIP calls over its network and ensure that such blocking "will not recur". It will also pay $15,000 to the US treasury as part of the settlement."

On-Going Teleo testing

2005-02-22T23:30:00.000-08:00

In the never ending quest to keep from giving Sprint one extra dime over my plan minutes. After paying over $120 over my plan for two months, I had it with Sprint. After looking at a number of options, I settled on Teleo (see story below). In one week, I have racked up 209 minutes of free inbound minutes versus 29 minutes of usage on my cell phone. The only problems during the past week were a phone call experienced a stuttering problem on circuit that was running some major downloads. One morning the service was out for a while but was restored quickly and before business hours. The latter problem was described by their support group as server maintenance that was required during the beta program.

Overall the service, quality, and reliability have been first rate. If you are looking to dramatically reduce your cell phone minutes or land line charges and have good internet access a good amount of the time, Teleo may just be the service for you. If you make a lot of phone calls and need more of an unlimited plan, check out the prices at BroadVoice.

Please keep newbs off the net

2005-02-22T21:57:00.000-08:00

I swear, one of the things that tick me off the most is that on the web, even a well intentioned gesture can bring about dire results. My dad just got his first computer, for a birthday surprise he went to a website and send me some eCard. This means that not only did he give them his email address, but he also gave some website MY email address. Every time I have got one of these dumbass cards, I then have to jump through hoops to get off some damn spam email list.

So for all of you that think sending eCards is a great idea, think again, you are just adding to the crap mail that both you and your intended receipient are getting. Great present!

Teleo - internet calling for everyone

2005-02-15T19:53:00.000-08:00

I have been saying it for some time now that 2005 will be the year that VOIP becomes killer app. Sure pure "phone" services like Lingo and Vonage and PC-to-PC/PC-to-Phone services like Skype (w/SkypeOut) have been around for a while now, but none have really grabbed the attention that hard core users really need. That is until now.

Teleo is a new service, so new in fact that it is only in version 0.9, that combines PC-to-PC, PC-to-Phone, AND Phone-to-PC in a simple to use and very affordable package.

In its simplest form, Teleo is a voice messaging system very much like Skype. Making calls from PC to PC is simple and painless. Tested behind a number of firewalls and routers, it has performed perfectly each time.

As a PC-to-Phone system, Teleo charges only 2 cents per minute to dial any standard phone number. Where Teleo stands out from the crowd is in the Phone to PC mode. When signing up, I was able to get a telephone number in a local area code (actually one very central to myself and all of my clients). Place a call to my virtual land line and my laptop rings. Using the onboard microphone and speakers (HP Compaq nc6000 laptop) the sound is exceptionally clear on both sides of the conversation. The only downside is loud noises overwhelm the onboard mic. Using a good quality headset sounds as good or better than most telephones. You will to have some decent bandwidth however. Using a 768k line, a download from Microsoft's site was taking the majority of available bandwidth making the Teleo conversation cough, sputter, and skip. The moment the download finished, voice quality instantly improved.

As a consultant, I am on the road all day visiting on average of 2-3 client sites a day. The cell phone bill is getting larger every month so I set out to see how I could reduce that bill. The "dial tone" services required me to carry around extra equipment (VOIP adapter and a phone) while Skype didn't provide me with inbound calls. Teleo provides everything I need. After a little practice and researching the billing impact, I found the best solution is to give out my cell phone number (Sprint PCS). When I have internet access, I forward my cell phone to my Teleo number. Each call forwarded from Sprint is a flat 10 cents charge. This is better than the opposite as Teleo dings you the 2 cents per minute charge for forwarded calls. So as long as my average phone call is greater than 5 minutes, than this works out. If I see that my average call is less than five minutes, then its best to give out the Teleo number and forward that to my cell phone when no access is available.

The Teleo install allows you to install just the soft phone application or optionally install an IE and Outlook plugin. The IE plugin allows quick dialing of phone numbers listed on web sites while the Outlook pluging allows quick dialing of phone numbers in emails. What would be much better would be a TAPI driver to allow for dialing from Outlook contacts.

While inbound calls use basic Caller ID to display the phone number, there is no extended Caller ID information nor a phone book to save numbers to. While the technology is great, the lack of an address book is a major setback.

Overall, for this beta the product itself is pretty solid. While it is missing some key features that a more refined program would have, its a great start.

The Endless Wireless Highway

2005-02-09T13:23:00.000-08:00

In a totally unscientific experiment today I decided to see how many wireless networks I could see, attach to, and get internet access from during a 29 mile drive from a client's office back to my office. The trip utilized a handful of mile of surface streets through Long Beach, Ca and Irvine, Ca and over 20 miles of freeway driving using the 405, 22, and 5 freeways though a number of towns.

During the entire trip, there was only a lack of signal for less than 1 total minute of drivetime. There was also a total of 2 minutes in which the only networks available we secured. During the remaining ~45 minutes of driving, I averaged 3 unsecured wireless networks at any time with a minimum of 2 bars (Windows Available Wireless Networks screen). I completely lost count of how many were named either Default, SMC, or Netgear as it was well over 90% of the networks. On at least 8 occasions, 10 different networks were detected at the same time.

With access like this, if one could seemlessly move from one wireless point to another, my laptop would have faired better than my cell phone.

No special equipment was used. A new Compaq nc6000 laptop with internal 802.11g wireless card was sitting on the top of my laptop case in the passenger seat.

AVG Updates Update

2005-02-09T12:22:00.000-08:00

Just two days after my letter to Grisoft, I started getting reports of updates coming in faster than ever. It turns out that Grisoft had already been in the works to switch the updates of AVG Free from a single update server to Akamai's caching network. This has DRAMATICALLY improved the reliability and performance of their update mechanisim and once again, we are happy to recommend AVG Free to all consumers.

An Open Letter to Grisoft

2005-01-31T10:09:00.000-08:00

For the better part of the past year I have been recommending AVG to both my consumer clients and business clients alike. With the release of AVG Free 7, you have completely left the home users to rot. I have been getting nothing but complaints from home users that they havent been able to get updates for over a week now. I also have a large seminar for a consumer group that AVG was going to be highlighted as a free/low cost anti virus solution. How am I supposed to recommend a product that you feature prominently on your website but dont allow people to get updates? What about mirror sites? What about using torrents? Anything? Not one of these clients is going to buy the professional version for their companies if the free version they use at home doesn't work.

What am I supposed to tell these people now?

Kerry Garrison
Tech Data Pros

Get A Free Mac Mini

2005-01-30T19:44:00.000-08:00

Well I just qualified today for the free iPod so its time to turn attention to the next coolest toy on the planet, the Mac Mini. You just need to sign up, complete one of the final offers (such as signining up for Video Professor and then canceling within 10 days, or signing up for Blockbuster online, stuff like that) and get 10 people to do the same and a $500 Mac Mini is all yours. Please start by clicking on my referal link as I need one for testing purposes.

http://www.FreeMiniMacs.com/?r=14667110

Burning the iPod Oil

2005-01-26T23:55:00.000-08:00

MattX calls me tonight from Microcenter to tell me there are 13 shuffles in stock and nobody there. I grab the wife's Focus and blaze a trail to the store 5 miles away. They still have 10 left when I get there but only th 512mb size. I decide to forego spending the extra dough and end up buying two of the 512mb versions (one for me, one for wife).

So all of you in search of iPod shuffles, be sure and check the smaller stores that dont have so many distribution center to go through before the product hits the shelves. Give up on the Apple stores unless you like spending a few hours before they open with 200 total strangers that all want to be ahead of you.

Installation was a breeze, the CD installed a small updater for the iPod and in no time we were filling our new toys with tons of music from iTunes.

For testing, I took the dog out for a long walk. The sound quality is awesome! The walk went by very quickly while jamming to some hits of the 80's.

The iPod Adventure Continues

2005-01-23T09:14:00.000-08:00

The Apple Store opened yesterday at 10am, I was on the phone with them at 10:15. They tell me that they had 100 in stock and 200 people in line. Sure makes me think somebody was telling people that there would be stock on Saturday even though thats not what they told me. Worse, the customer-non-service person tells me they have had them all week even though they had told both my wife and I they havent come in yet. The Apple person tells me its not a lie, its that they are trying to be discreet. What the hell does that mean. This is the WORST service I have ever had from Apple.

FreeOfficesApps.com Launched

2005-01-20T20:33:00.000-08:00

Software costs are increasing every year, its extremely difficult for small businesses to stay current with software. The best kept secret around is just how good some free software is. To help push this point further, I have launched a new site called Free Office Apps. From replacements for Photoshop to Office and much more, you can outfit your home or office with these incredible pieces of software. Check it out.

Doing The iPod shuffle dance

2005-01-20T20:07:00.000-08:00

Being a technogeek my entire life it now takes quite a bit to impress me so it is a rare day when a new product announcement gets me excited. Both my kids have iPods and so do all of their friends, I myself have been content with an early Creative Nomad that runs though 4 AA batteries in 2 hours, is sensitive to shock and vibration but generally plays well. Its only use is in my car that I spend about 90 minutes a day in. I have never wanted an iPod since the excess of "disk" space on it was far more than my feeble music collection could do any justice to.

Along comes Apple with a new iPod the size of a stick of gum and weighing only 3/4 of an ounce. Ok, this is cool. I want one. Thus the quest for finding one in stock begins. Best Buy continuously says "two days" and every day you call its "two days". The truth is, nobody at Best Buy has a clue when they will come in. The Apple Store says "this saturday", this remains to be seen.

Today I find myself in a CompUSA and low and behold, an iPod shuffle is on display. I grab the counter person and sure enough, they are in stock. When she returns from the back empty-handed, the second counter-help-person reminds her that he told her they sold the last one two hours ago. Strangely enough, the actually got stock on January 17th which appears to be the only store on the planet I can find that has actually got them in so far.

Tomorrow is another day and hopefully they will arrive somewhere and still be in stock when I get there.

Here goes

2005-01-20T19:39:00.000-08:00

Alrighty then, time for me to finally get blogging and spill forth my wisdom, knowledge, and opinions for the world to see. Why now? Lord knows, but what the hell, maybe a simple way of me being able to puke my words out easier will get t out of my system. If you are entertained, I'm glad, if you are educated, I will be ever happier, if you are bored or dislike anything I say, tough patootie,