Grandstream BudgeTone 101

The single-line Grandstream BudgeTone 101 is one of the most economical choices for use with Asterisk and VoIP chores, with a street price considerably lower than most of the competition. I purchased mine on the Internet for $50 plus shipping. In spite of its low price, the BT-101 is a full-featured phone with all the features I need for an Asterisk PBX in a SOHO environment.

The BT-101 has an LCD display that shows the date, time, volume setting, and connectivity of the unit while it's not in use. When an incoming call arrives, it displays the caller ID. When you pick up the handset to dial, the LCD changes to a light blue background and the number you enter appears where the date had been displayed. Beneath the LCD, a pair of up and down arrow buttons allow you to raise or lower the volume, or cycle through menu options, depending on context. Next to them are buttons to display incoming and outgoing call logs, a menu button, a message waiting light, and a large button you can program to check your voicemail. Hold, Transfer, Conference, and Flash buttons are arranged in a column to the right of the BT-101's keypad. Beneath the keypad there are Speakerphone, Send/Redial, and Mute/Delete buttons.

Getting the BT-101 working with Asterisk requires configuration on both sides of the equation. You can do some configuration of the BT-101 from the phone itself, by pressing the Menu button and negotiating the items in the menu with the up/down arrows, but you can't configure it all from there. For complete access to configuration, you'll need to use the admin pages on the BT-101's built-in Web server. I used both: first configuring the BT-101 with its and the router's IP addresses from the phone, then using the Web interface to complete the configuration.

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