Project:VOIP

A few members have been interested in doing something with VOIP/SIP things, mostly involving connecting the space phone line to the internet and doing voice menus, sip accounts for members, group chat, joining the Hackerspaces Call in, getting linked up to eventphone so we have a permanent extension and so on.

Tom recently got hold of a pair of linksys/cisco SPA942 phones which are currently without power adapters. Will look for alternatives nearby. ciborg_ is looking into getting some Cisco 7940/7970 phones donated.

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Functional features:

 * System built on a tiny low-power RaspberryPi computer - minimising operating costs
 * Internal dialing between floors  (really easy rather than going back and forth back and forth to talk with someone / do something) 
 * External incoming calls
 * Conference room function
 * Toll-Free Outgoing dialing (0800 style numbers?)
 * General telephone information provided (address, nearest tube/train stops, membership information pointing to the website)
 * Paging / Intercom functionality (need to experiment with the actual physical phones to implement this)
 * Dialing of Emergency 999 / 112 functionality (outgoing call can be recorded and email alert sent to trustees and/or mailing list for safety)
 * Semi-secret comedy extensions (I'll document them in the wiki alongside the other stuff)
 * Easy networking to other Hackspaces and other projects (who entered the door last? Do we want a fortified intercom doorbell?)

(Above features in bold text have already been tested and enabled on the test PABX system)

Proposed extensions/ locations (specific locations to be appropriately and tastefully determined:

  * Basement
  * Main floor
  * Radio Shack
  * Cordless Phone (Hmm...)
  * Biohacking Lab (maybe not?)

kraptv comments about some possible concerns about disturbing the peace: If people are annoyed at the phones nearby - they can press the "Do Not Disturb" button and it won't ring. In this design - I am mindful to keep a productive peace - I helped implement the phone system at a large cartoon company and was mindful to the variety of edge cases and balancing of sensitive users and collaborative users.

The best part of this: I've already built the majority of this on my home RaspberryPi with an 0845 number (I got it for free from sipgate.co.uk) so if people are interested in providing feedback on how the system works, I would love it. Word of warning, if you're expecting to actually ring something at 447 Hackney Road, it won't be 'online' for maybe a month or so, but please test and provide suggestions. There's the chance I will answer the extension if I notice my soft-phone ringing.

If it is completely crap and everyone hates it, we can scrap it easily and say 'man, corded phones are so 90's! Good riddance!' - but there are still many valid uses and an example of fun infrastructure enhancement. Noone is obligated to answer the phone. Noone has to touch it. It's a co-operative, not some sort of business that has a telephone response service level agreement. ;-)

Dial 0845 594 7597 to test the LHS phone system, please send feedback directly via email to kraptv or leave a voicemail!

• http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/csbpipp/ip_phones/administration/guide/spa_wip_admin.pdf
• http://voipq.nl/downloads/handleiding/spa9xx_userguide.pdf