On Mon, Oct 16, 2006 at 11:20:53AM +1000, Penedo wrote: > On 16/10/06, Jon Teh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > >I'm curious as to why using desktops as telephones is "bad"? > > > >I understand it is unnecesary complication for a lot of non-technical > >users. > > > >But I find I prefer using a desktop with a headset especially for longer > >phone calls, it is more comfortable than holding a phone to your head > >for ages. > > > Of course it's a matter for personal preferences but: > > 1. You can get phones with headsets too (e.g. ones which have a headset > socket to attach to their handset), so this can't be a serious advantage for > the computer. > 2. You can get up and walk over somewhere else in the office to do other > stuff while talking (e.g. check something in a cabinet, make a cup of tea). > 3. You are not 100% bound to the computer in case you HAVE to take it down > or it is otherwise not available while you want to make a call. > > Personally - I shelled out 130AU$ for an ATA (A Sipura 3000, and I consider > myself to be as cheap as you can find) just to be able to talk over an > el-cheapo regular wireless phone using VoIP. >
Penedo, 1. Well I believe the serious advantage there is ~$12 for a headset vs. over $150 for an FXS port plus phone with headset. 2. This is true, but you still need to shell out for a cordless phone to do this. You can also get bluetooth adapters for PCs which could perform a similar function. An ATA sounds like a good solution for what you need to do, some people are too cheap even to spend that sort of money. :) I personally think softphones come into their own for testing setups with Asterisk and what not, as you can get them for quite a few different VoIP protocols and are easy to reconfigure. At the moment I just use a softphone for my home use, but I should be getting some telephones in once I've configured up my new T1 PCI card and channel bank. Regards, Jon2. This is true, but you still need to shell out for a cordless phone to do this. You can also get bluetooth adapters for PCs which could perform a similar function. An ATA sounds like a good solution for what you need to do, some people are too cheap even to spend that sort of money. :) I personally think softphones come into their own for testing setups with Asterisk and what not, as you can get them for quite a few different VoIP protocols and are easy to reconfigure. At the moment I just use a softphone for my home use, but I should be getting some telephones in once I've configured up my new T1 PCI card and channel bank. Regards, Jon -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
