[thelist] VOIP / Project Question (UPDATE)

[Jeff Wilhelm]

Thank you all again for your help. I think I've got it now!

I've spent a lot of time researching the various pieces of this project,
hoping to find some way to accomplish all of the goals. I've looked into 30
different VoIP packages, hundreds of telephones, and at least 100 different
software packges. I've had about 12 different ideas, many of which meet all
but one of the requirements. A few hours ago I decided that it was
impossible to do this cheaply using off the shelf software (auto-dial from
imported CSV), and VoIP. So I wrote my own software.

I don't think attachments are allowed, but basically it was done in Access
using VBA. It shows the fields on the left, and a large Phone icon on the
right. Hitting the large Phone icon will cause the phone to automatically
dial whatever number is displayed out the modem. There will be a regular old
$10 analog phone next to each laptop, which can be used just as a normal
phone would be, except that the program does all the dialing. The arrows at
the bottom allow the caller to increment forward and backward through the
records. The program can also import any CSV file to be used as a source for
this information. 

The only thing we don't know is the speed of the broadband that is available
in Kosovo. We need to estimate that each phone will require about 100kb/s of
upstream and downstream traffic. If there are four phones being used, there
should be at least 400kb/s upstream and downstream. Two connections may be
required if the broadband is too slow.

The basic network infastructure will be like this:

| ISP | -> | Cable Modem | -> | Router with 4-Port Switch |

And then for each phone / laptop combination we'd set it up like this:

 -> | Vonage ATA WAN Port   |
    | Vonage ATA LAN Port   | -> Laptop LAN Port
    | Vonage ATA PHONE Port | -> Phone Jack Splitter -> Laptop Modem Jack
						                 -> Any
Analog Phone

This will enable the laptop and phone to be on the same phone line, which is
why the laptop can do the auto-dialing, and the phone can be used as a
normal phone. All calls will be completed using VoIP through Vonage. They
have assured me this will work, even overseas.

Thanks again!
Jeff