Can I make free long distance VoIP calls with asterisk.org software?

If I am not mistaken, Asterisk is a PBX emulator--ie it is for handling and routing calls within some local environment.

VOIP requires two things:
HW and/or SW at your end---either to adapt to a regular phone or ot work thru you computer's sound system
HW and/or SW **somewhere else** to do the same thing.

If you sign up with someone like Vonage, they connect you to the phone system at their end, and then give you an adapter that interfaces your phone to the net. Your computer is not involved/

Asterisk is perfectly capable of doing VOIP and in fact there are phones for interoperating with Asterisk over the 'net. However, at some point you need to get that call into a land line, so Asterisk will need some kind of land line connection, be it a voice T1 (which is itself VOIP), PSTN, or carrier pigeon.

If the goal is to have an office extension in your home served over your corporate T1 or business DSL line, this is easily accomplished with Asterisk.

Asterisk in conjunction with voipuser will allow you to make free long distance calls in countries where voipuser supports free pstn termination ( such as the US).

Voipuser is a community pool though, so don't abuse if you have no means of adding to the community pool. I think, the revenue from inbound calls pays for outbound calls.


You can receive free calls to your home using asterisk as well from PSTN using free PSTN to VOIP service providers such as IPKALL, Notaduck which interconnect with FWD. The catch is the people calling you will have to dial numbers which may incurr long distance charges if they are not in the immediate area of the service provider's access number.

I have free long distance on my cell phone and this is how I access my VOIP line.

If I misplace my cell phone in the house, I use my VOIP line to call it via voipuser, or to brag to friends about being able to place a call without a landline.