I have been using Asterisk for a long time.  Since I started before many support, configuration and management tools were available, I was forced to develop my own.  So, I have stuck with the base Asterisk disto from Digium and written various support programs to help me.  I have deployed many Asterisk servers, ranging from high availability, cluster configurations to Raspberry Pi Google Voice interfaces.  For PBX installs, I always use MySql / ODBC as a database / interface for most of the configuration files that drive the Asterisk server.  Voicemail is handled by an IMAP server, either on the same machine or on a remote server.  I have written front end interface scripts mostly in PHP that are delivered by a WEB server on the same machine.  These scripts allow you to easily configure extensions, voicemail, Polycom phone configurations, SCCP configurations, instant messaging and so forth.  Mailboxes can easily be added or changed since all of the scripts interact with the same Asterisk and Dovecot  databases.

I have used many VOIP providers, but recently I have been experimenting with Twilio.  It works very well, either as a SIP interface or through their elastic SIP trunking.   And the ability to send and receive text messages is an added bonus.

For our staff, friends and family, we use  a SIP client on smart phones.  This client,  Groundwire by Acrobits works very well and allows G.722 audio as well as SIP SIMPLE messaging.  After so many years of piece meal VOIP offerings, finally a provider seems to understand what we need!

So, just wanted to throw out my thoughts and also post a few programs that make life with Twilio easy.  I also included a simple PHP script that demonstrates a Polycom phone remote reset should the Asterisk server not be operational.  Nothing new, but I like it!

I don’t do this sort of thing for a living, but I do love it and any help I may be to someone, either seasoned or a newcomer, don’t be afraid to ask.