Asterisk installed at home. Looking for cool ideas

[Troy Bowman]

On Mar 16, 2007, at 7:39 PM, Chris Carey wrote:

> I've finally got a working Asterisk install at home, and I'm trying to
> think of how to add some pizzazz. Any suggestions?

I know this is late to the game, (I read this list when I get to it),  
but I've been having lots of fun with Asterisk.  A couple of things  
I've done:

If the call is between 9pm and 8am, it gives one of the two  
variations of "Do you know what time it is?" and then proceeds to  
give the current time.  It then tries to elude their call by giving  
them the first option of leaving a message, or, "If this is an  
emergency," they can *really* ring our phone.  My wife really likes  
this feature, as she hates it when the phone rings after 9pm :)

My parents live in mexico, and it costs a lot to call across the  
border.  So, when I saw them last, I gave them one of those cheap  
budgetone barbie phones to plug into their DSL connection.  When they  
got home and plugged it in, it connected right up to my Asterisk  
server!  Now I can call them whenever I want for free.  In fact, I  
made a menu option for when people call my qwest phone line to allow  
them to forward to my parents in Mexico if they want.  Great for  
family members here who would like to talk to them for free.  And of  
course, my parents can make free local calls, too, not to mention  
cheap-as-in-dirt long distance calls across voicepulse.


../troy