Back to the original intent of this topic...
Sure like to see more of the regulars on CRPF also join C*NET.
It is so great just being able to pick up the phone and call a gentleman in Ireland and have a very long chat with him and to have it cost nothing.
Or to have people to call the museum or the phone at my desk in the other house from around the world.
In its simplest form, all you need is an ATA (such as the Grandstream which I love), and a telephone to plug into it, and of course a computer and good internet connection.
I don't recommend a Motorola VT1000 - It is very difficult to set up. Most of these were dedicated Vonage units, and need to be reconfigured and unlocked before using. I got a couple, and I finally had to give it to my own network administrator (literally my son who won the Skills Canada Network Administration category in Edmonton a month or so ago), and it took several weeks before he got it going with my Asterisk server (having to find configuration software, etc.).
Some ATAs, including the Grandstream will allow the use of a ROTARY phone. Imagine that! Wouldn't that be great to call other members using a real vintage phone! Others won't support rotary, but either way, you can have a great time, and you don't need a long distance plan.
Our Internet connection isn't the fastest available, yet the sound quality of a C*net call is excellent - even with the call coming from another continent.
You don't need an Asterisk server if all you want to do is make and receive the odd call. I have one because I intend to set up a number of systems including the Strowger demos in the museum. However if using an ATA to connect, it can be hosted on someone else's system within the system. More info on the main C*Net page:
https://www.ckts.info/First step is to get an ATA (I bought the Grandstreams on eBay for about $30 each). Then you need to reserve an office code by following the instructions on the C*Net page.
The interesting thing, is you can have any office code available. If you are lucky as I was, you might even be able to get the same office code as your normal number. Resulting from that, my office number here is the same as my home phone number which is kind of neat. You can only call other C*net members, but I find that great, as I find those are the ones which would cost me a lot of $$$ to call in I weren't using C*net!
Anyway, sure would love to see more people using C*net! Something for people to look into!
Dave