[sf-lug] Centralised phone number for Linux Support

Sat Sep 15 18:57:42 PDT 2007

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Nathan Hoover <nathan at foo-o-rama.com>
Date: Sep 15, 2007 6:55 PM
Subject: Re: [sf-lug] Centralised phone number for Linux Support
To: jim stockford <jim at well.com>

Asterisk in and of itself is pretty easy to set up. Those products (trixbox,
asteriskNOW) are meant to install a whole system from scratch, via an ISO.

I have some limited experience installing and configuring it (I have a
working system here at home...) for whatever that's worth.

Nathan

On 9/15/07, jim stockford <jim at well.com> wrote:
>
>
>    My first hope is that VoIP, probably in the form of
> Asterisk, will answer the need. What can we do to
> explore that possibility? I can volunteer a machine
> with static IP internet accessible address. I dimly
> remember a product offering that lets one install
> Asterisk, pretty much ready to go, anyone know
> of this?
>
>    Can we use the SF-LUG colo box for web access
> to support info in the time being?
>
>    Do you need more help from SF-LUG folks?
>
>
> On Sep 15, 2007, at 11:01 AM, Tom Haddon wrote:
>
> >
> > On Sat, 2007-09-15 at 10:47 -0700, jim stockford wrote:
> >> by "put in time" i mean people who answer the phone
> >> and/or respond to phone messages and provide help
> >> to callers.
> >
> > Hi Jim,
> >
> > This is already happening for the HVLC project. Currently Gloria, Ruby
> > and Kami have my number and are calling me with issues (I've had three
> > calls so far for tech support issues). I don't have a problem with
> > answering their calls, but I'm trying to think of ways to make the
> > system more reliable if I'm away on holiday/unable to answer the phone,
> > etc. Currently we could just set up a call tree (Jason has volunteered
> > as an alternate person they could call if I'm unavailable), but that
> > means them having multiple numbers, knowing who to call when, and if
> > any
> > of us changes our phone number then they need to be updated.
> >
> > Obviously this will require time from those interesting in offering
> > support to projects like these. What I'm trying to figure out is, if
> > there are people who are interested/able to provide that support,
> > what's
> > the best way of managing that.
> >
> > Thanks, Tom
> >
> >>     seems like installing and config'ing would need time
> >> and expertise. as to maintenance, i don't know, but a
> >> tho't is how phone messages are stored, queued,
> >> removed--standard filesystem stuff, probably.
> >>
> >>
> >> On Sep 15, 2007, at 9:04 AM, Tom Haddon wrote:
> >>
> >>>
> >>> On Fri, 2007-09-14 at 17:25 -0700, jim stockford wrote:
> >>>> a reaction: great idea.
> >>>>     someone has to pay for the phone and some ones
> >>>> have to be willing to put in some time.
> >>>
> >>> I guess I should have specified - another criteria would be low cost
> >>> if
> >>> not free. However, I actually don't think the cost is the real issue
> >>> -
> >>> I
> >>> think if it was cheap enough it would be easy enough to find funds to
> >>> pay for it.
> >>>
> >>> How do you mean someone would have a to willing to put in some time?
> >>> For
> >>> what aspect - the management of the system? I think that would be
> >>> outweighed by the benefits of a system like this.
> >>>
> >>>>     this might best be done using VoIP and software
> >>>> such as asterisk.
> >>>
> >>> That would be cool. Perhaps some VoIP/asterisk experts could weigh in
> >>> and let me know if all this is possible using asterisk. If so, I
> >>> think
> >>> this would probably be a better way to go since then you're not
> >>> dependent on some outside provider. What I'm not sure about is how
> >>> you
> >>> hook up asterisk to the regular phone network so that people can all
> >>> into it from a regular phone. If anyone has some experience on this,
> >>> would they be willing to discuss at a LUG meeting?
> >>>
> >>> Cheers, Tom
> >>>
> >>>>
> >>>> On Sep 14, 2007, at 5:01 PM, Tom Haddon wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>> Hi Folks,
> >>>>>
> >>>>> I've been mulling over an idea that came up in my head after
> >>>>> reading
> >>>>> about Grand Central:
> >>>>>
> >>>>> http://www.grandcentral.com/
> >>>>>
> >>>>> The idea is related to phone support for the Hayes Valley Learning
> >>>>> Center project that a few members on the list have been working on,
> >>>>> but
> >>>>> could related more generally to a number of other projects. I was
> >>>>> thinking that often non-technical users need support, especially in
> >>>>> something they're as unfamiliar with as Linux, and that ongoing
> >>>>> support
> >>>>> is pretty vital to the success of any project like that. Preferably
> >>>>> phone support, because if they could get online and/or get to a
> >>>>> ticketing system to enter a problem for a support team to deal
> >>>>> with,
> >>>>> chances are they don't have a problem in the first place :)
> >>>>>
> >>>>> So, are there any sustainable free centralized phone services like
> >>>>> Grand
> >>>>> Central out there (or Grand Central itself) that anyone has
> >>>>> experience
> >>>>> with and could recommend? What I'm looking for (in an ideal world):
> >>>>>
> >>>>> - One phone number that could be relied upon to last for a good few
> >>>>> years at least
> >>>>> - You could subscribe multiple phones to this number at will
> >>>>> - Voicemail if no forwarding numbers are subscribed
> >>>>> - Email notification of messages and online storage of voicemail
> >>>>>
> >>>>> This would allow for a fairly nebulous group (like the SF LUG) to
> >>>>> provide a project with one support phone number to call, and behind
> >>>>> the
> >>>>> scenes (and without too much administration) to turn that into a
> >>>>> phone
> >>>>> support system that would be reliable enough to cope with members
> >>>>> leaving/joining the project and/or being away on holiday or
> >>>>> something.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Any ideas or recommendations?
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Thanks, Tom
> >>>>>
> >>>>> P.S. All I know about Grand Central I read on their website. I
> >>>>> haven't
> >>>>> used them and while I tried to sign up, it seems like they're in a
> >>>>> closed beta at the moment.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> --
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>> ----------------------------------
> >>>>> Tom Haddon
> >>>>> mailto:tom at greenleaftech.net
> >>>>> m +1.415.871.4180
> >>>>> www.greenleaftech.net
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>> _______________________________________________
> >>>>> sf-lug mailing list
> >>>>> sf-lug at linuxmafia.com
> >>>>> http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug
> >>>>>
> >>>>
> >>> --
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> ----------------------------------
> >>> Tom Haddon
> >>> mailto: tom at greenleaftech.net
> >>> m +1.415.871.4180
> >>> www.greenleaftech.net
> >>>
> >>
> > --
> >
> >
> > ----------------------------------
> > Tom Haddon
> > mailto:tom at greenleaftech.net
> > m +1.415.871.4180
> > www.greenleaftech.net
> >
>
>
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