Sometimes I see technical terms that cause me confusion. So it was when I saw Matt (@calltopology) tweet about “Using a GoIP with A2Billing for outbound calls.” My initial reaction was , “WTF is a GoIP? It sounds a bit…
A short while ago Nir Simionovich noted an interesting new piece of hardware on his blog. It’s the embodiment of a novel approach to adding GSM based cellular trunks to an Asterisk server. As opposed to a freestanding external SIP-to-GSM gateway that I installed last year, someone has devised a new TDM-GSM module that emulates that FXO daughter card on a Digium TDM400P card. According to the companies web site two modules can be installed to a TDM400P card, providing Asterisk with two GSM trunks. No drivers are required beyond those loaded for the TDM400P.
In the spring of 2008 I installed a SIP-to-GSM cellular gateway as a means of backing up our wholly IP-based home and office phones. The installation of the cellular gateway allowed me to route calls to and from T-Mobile should our DSL circuit go down. In addition, it provided us access to 911 and 411 services that were not at the time provided by our ITSPs.
The one thing we wanted that it did not address was access to 311 service. In Houston a 311 call rings a non-emergency city call center that is intended to take notifications about city services. For example, we call 311 when we see a street light out, a broken fire hydrant, large fallen trees in the roadways or packs of wild dogs roaming dangerously.