Step by Step - is it possible?

Dear Guru's

I first came across this site over the Christmas break, with a little challenge to extend my small business analogue pbx to a remote sales guy via VOIP.

We are now so excited by the prospect of what VOIP has to offer we (well I!) have invested in a few Grandstream GXP2020 phones, and breathed a new Linux life into an old AMD Duron PC and installed AsteriskNow on it.

Having been in and around technology for the last 24 years, I believed what I read on the AsteriskNow website, and believed I could get a small ip based pbx up and running in mo time.

Yes AsteriskNow is running, and yes I can access its easy to use web based configuration capability - but it seams that this is only the tip of the setup iceberg.

Whenever I read the posts on here to get past my problem, everyone refers to config files, and CLI's - I can't seem to put my hand on a stepped procedure.

E.g. Install AsteriskNow, connect IP phones, create users, enter the following config on handsets, etc.

Everything seems very fragmented - typically involving seemingly 100's of config files, chock full of very cryptic syntax. I have never felt so overwhelmed by technology before!

So - my challenge is simple. How can a complete newbie like myself:
1. install AsteriskNow (if indeed this is the right platform to start with),

2. add a few Grandstream GPX2020 phones, and make extension to extension calls. (currently we just get voicemail answering the extensions)

3. Next step maybe locate an extension outside of our private network and prove we can talk to extensions outside the office.

4. Then we could go crazy - and route an inbound PSTN to VOIP and our new pbx via our voipuser's 'My Numbers' section.

5. Hey and maybe if the stars are in complete alignment, and I manage to get that far without hanging myself with an old Cat5 patch cable - even make an outbound call using my voipuser SIP account, from one of our IP phones!

Is this achievable, or do we need to set our sights lower? Where does someone like me start?

Have I missed something very significant? Is anyone still reading? Where is that old patch cable?

Come, come old chap. Only 24 years!
You are still a beginner

The whole reason for using the packaged versions of Asterisk is that it spares you from looking at those horrible gnomic settings.
I don't honestly know what idiot guides there are for AsteriskNow, I've never had real cause to test it. But if you want to look at Trixbox then I would heartily commend Trixbox without Tears as the most comprehensive manual in any form.

The trick is to take one problem at a time and don't be afraid to reinstall when you really cock it up.
Get a couple of extensions operating, you can't do anything without that!
Connect to a VoIP service (or two) and work out how they work (they are all different to a greater or lesser degree). Even this has two stages- Inbound then outbound and you will find Webmin and Putty are invaluable tools to help sort out the network settings for this.
Then you can get big ideas and start confusing yourself with ISDN, FXO and FXS.

The Asterisk CLI is Asterisk's control screen and can be accessed from the server terminal, or preferably by a remote SSH terminal like Putty (You can scroll up and down), by typing asterisk -vvvr (the more v's you use the more comprehensive the information). It will (usually) tell you exactly where things stop working and in something approaching English.
If you are stuck, we usually ask for the config file entries because they are much easier to read here than on webpages we can't access.

Really appreciate the encouragement. I've kept at it... quietly (at times not so quiet), and am genuinely pleased I have.

We've managed to complete a small business setup of an IPBX using AsteriskNOW, which is taking calls via SIP and PSTN - and the biggest benefits are:
1. We now have a truly virtual office. We can hook in our remote workers, transfer calls, consolidate calling costs and communicate for free.
2. We have a more professional appearance to the outside world with proper voice mail, IVR capability and voice conference facilities.
3. We now have the opportunity to expand our business internationally without incurring extra startup costs and commitments to equipment and offices.
4. We have a system that can grow with us at little additional cost (as opposed to our previous legacy PBX solution).

So - many thanks for the endless number of tips and advice available through this forum - its the best we've seen, with the most number of questions actually answered! Its clear there are people that spend an awful lot of their time helping others through this forum.

We still have some things to tidy up, and get working - but I will post those in the appropriate sections of the forum.

So - thanks again for your encouragement, help and advice provided through this site.