www.stuartelvish.com
Need a consultant to do some of this stuff for you? This is a link to our commercial web site where we have people available for almost any VoIP or database related project as well as some other IT related projects: www.stuartelvish.com.
www.voip-info.org
A website full of information about all sorts of VoIP systems, www.voip-info.org also provides highly technical information in relation to configuring Digium's Asterisk PBX software. A trade secret: most Asterisk consultants I know use this site heavily when they need to do some advanced configuration or check if Asterisk can do something.
www.fairtel.org.au
www.fairtel.org.au have a web site that provides lots of advice on matters relating to mobile phones, fixed lines, internet connection and VoIP services. They are probably also a good start if you are having problems dealing with one of your existing communications suppliers.
IP Phone Manufacturers
Ok, maybe just the major ones. There are heaps of cheaper brands out there, but keeping track of them all the time is quite hard.
- Aastra. You will need to select 'Terminals' and then 'SIP Terminals' and then 'Products' to be able to view their range.
- Linksys. This links to the global site. The Australian site seems to lag behind in product release details slightly.
- Polycom. This link takes you directly to the Australian SoundPoint IP product range which is their SIP phone range.
- Snom.
- Grandstream. Straight to their home page; they only manufacture SIP based telephones.
Digium / Asterisk
Digium are the 'sponsors' of Asterisk PBX which is an open source, community driven PBX software package. It is very widely used and some other 'all in one' VoIP PBX installers use Asterisk at the back end. Mark Spencer is the original creator of the software. Digium have trade marked 'Asterisk' and provide PCI server cards which are compatible with the Asterisk PBX software. Even if you aren't ready to purchase yet, have a look at the hardware available as it may give you a good idea of what you can achieve.
Outcall
This is a Microsoft Outlook plugin. I haven't played with it but it sounds interesting. You can access the page at http://outcall.sourceforge.net/. It looks like it can even search your address book when there is an incoming call. I have to say that I don't normally like Outlook, but if you are in business and need Outlook integration, this may be the program for you.
OpenX Ad Server
So I was searching the web for an ad serving system to use on this website (advice.stuartelvish.com) to promote our professional services at www.stuartelvish.com and found this program called OpenX. Their website www.openx.org gives you a bit more information about this program and why it looks so cool. I will update this website soon and let everyone know if I think the program is worth it or not.