[Tfug] USB Phone Recommendations

[John Gruenenfelder]

On Wed, Feb 15, 2006 at 03:20:48PM -0600, John Morrow wrote:
>I have struck off on yet another meaningless adventure to keep me
>entertained until spring when I can watch the corn and beans grow...cheap
>VOIP. I have succesfully installed skype under linux and actually talked to
>another human being (hopefully my rescue is imminent). Now I am looking for
>a cheap usb phone or adapter that is linux compatible. I suppose an adapter
>would be more fun since then I'd be able to use my tyco lego-esque phone but
>cheap is really the operable word here...
>
>John Morrow

This seems like an opportune time to share my adventure.  :)

I too was looking to geek out my phone on the cheap.  After asking here on
TFUG, somebody suggested Teliax.  So I signed up with them.  Good service and
exceptionally cheap prices.  I'm paying $5/month to have a phone number and
then $0.02/minute for all calls in or out.  For somebody who makes infrequent
use of the phone, this is a good deal.

The next step was to set up Asterisk on my closet server.  There is a lot of
documentation on the web for this but even then Asterisk is a large and
powerful program (and thus complex) so setting it up properly did take a
litte effort.  But it wasn't too bad.

So, the phone provider is set up... what I now need is some sort of phone.
Since I have a computer in the closet which is always on I can use that.  It
runs mail, web, MythTV, Asterisk, and a host of other bits.  I settled on
Iaxcomm.  It's an IAX protocol softphone which works great with Asterisk.
More importantly, it allows you to use separate audio out devices for the
ringer and the phone call itself.

But I still need something to talk into.  To that end I picked up a USB
Bluetooth adapter and a Plantronics Bluetooth headset.  This is where my
trouble began.  Though it didn't seem so at first, Linux support for Bluetooth
audio is pretty lacking.  After quite a bit of effort I got the headset
functioning and was able to use it for my phone.  I chose this particular
headset because of it's range.  In that respect, it worked great.  I could put
it on and be anywhere in my apartment and talk fine.

Unfortunately, this solution ended up not working out.  The first problem was
the softphone.  Iaxcomm works well, but it is very hard to control it with
anything other than a mouse.  My original goal had been to work things such
that I could press the button on the headset to answer or hang up a call.
Such a task is possible with the Bluetooth software, but support was, at the
time, lacking in Iaxcomm to receive the signal.  After speaking to the author,
though, he had planned to add that in before too long.

The real show stopper, however, was the Linux Bluetooth headset support
itself.  To set up the audio channel from headset (which works like a network
device) to the ALSA subsystem, you need to run a daemon called 'btsco'.  This
program needs a fair bit of work sadly... it does not handle
connects/disconnects well at all and this happens frequently with a headset
since you must turn it off to conserve battery.  It also had a problem with my
particular headset.  At entirely random times it would completely drown out
the outgoing audio signal with maximum strength static noise.  This was hard
for me to debug since I never heard it.  Only the unfortunate person I was
talking to could hear it and they didn't exactly find it enjoyable.  Indeed,
it took a while to track this down to the btsco program.

And so, with my headset plans down it flames I had to give it up.  I went
online and bought an "IAXy" phone adapter.  It's a very tiny little box into
which you plug an ethernet cable and your phone.  I think I got it for about
$70.  I set up Asterisk to use it and that's what I've been using since.

P.S. I've still got the USB bluetooth adapter and headset... if anybody is
interested...  :)


-- 
--John Gruenenfelder    Research Assistant, UMass Amherst student
                        Systems Manager, MKS Imaging Technology, LLC.
Try Weasel Reader for PalmOS  --  http://gutenpalm.sf.net
"This is the most fun I've had without being drenched in the blood
of my enemies!"
        --Sam of Sam & Max