[*] Asterisk and Katrina

[Bill Reid]

 From the NW on Linux newsletter:

Today's focus:  LAMP/Asterisk-powered voicemail keeps Katrina
victims in touch

By Phil Hochmuth

Linux, Apache Web server, MySQL and PHP - the widely used LAMP
platform - are key parts in a recently-built voicemail system
that is helping displaced residents of the Gulf Coast keep in
touch with family and friends around the country. LAMP
technology is the engine running contactdlovedones.org, a
project that provides freely accessible voicemail services to
people who had to evacuate their homes due to Hurricane Katrina.

The system works like this: displaced people call
1-866-78CONTACT (866-782-6682). At the voice prompt, callers get
the option to leave messages for other people, or to retrieve
messages left for them. Mailboxes are based on old New
Orleans-area phone numbers; to leave a message for someone,
callers enter that person's 504 area code number and then leave
the message. Displaced persons can get their messages by calling
into the system, choosing the "retrieve messages" option, then
entering their old phone number to access the mailbox.

Currently, the system consists of five Debian Linux servers
running the open source Asterisk IP PBX platform for voicemail,
auto-attendant and call processing applications. The MySQL
database back end is used to create mail boxes on the fly, based
on phone numbers callers punch in (any seven-digit number can be
used, not just New Orleans-area exchanges). Files are stored in
compressed WAV format, which also allows users to access voice
messages via the contactlovedones.org Web site.

The Debian/Asterisk servers tie into the public switched
telephone network through gateway ports donated by VoIP service
providers PalTalk, WorldCall and SIP Media, which terminate the
866 calls, translating the signals into TCP/IP session running
the Session Initiation Protocol (Asterisk's native control
protocol). Yaakov Menken, CEO of Capalon Internet Solutions, and
one of the founders of the project, along with Dan Schoeffle and
Asterisk creator Mark Spencer.

"Because asterisk is open source ... programmers can use the
language with which they are most fluent to develop the
applications," Menken says. This allowed the group to build the
system for around $10,000, while it would have cost around six
times that if traditional telephony and voicemail platforms were
used.

"Raw power and stability, ease of use and cost," were among the
reasons Menken went with Linux, he says. "What, you want me to
build this on a Windows box? Yea, Asterisk runs on Windows, but
no, I want this service to be up," he says.