Design a complete VoIP or analog PBX with Asterisk, even if you have no previous Asterisk experience and only basic telecommunications knowledge. This bestselling guide makes it easy, with a detailed roadmap to installing, configuring, and integrating this open source software into your existing phone system. Ideal for Linux administrators, developers, and power users, this book shows you how to write a basic dialplan step by step, and quickly brings you up to speed on the latest Asterisk features in version 1.8. Integrate Asterisk with analog, VoIP, and digital telephony systems Build a simple interactive dialplan, and dive into advanced concepts Use Asterisk's voicemail options--including a standalone voicemail server Build a menuing system and add applications that act on caller input Incorporate a relational database with MySQL and Postgre SQL Connect to external services such as LDAP, calendars, XMPP, and Skype Use Automatic Call Distribution to build a call queuing system Learn how to use Asterisk's security, call routing, and faxing features