Six businesses. Six phone numbers. One server. Zero monthly phone system fees.
Here is exactly how I built it.
The Problem
Every business needs a phone line. Business phone systems charge $30 to $80 per line per month. For six lines that is $180 to $480 every month just to receive calls.
I refused to pay that.
The Stack
- Asterisk 18.10 — open-source PBX running on lb-telecom-01 (Vultr Dallas VPS at 45.32.198.24)
- VoIP.ms — SIP trunk provider, KYC approved, six 832-area-code DIDs at $4.95/month each
- VAPI — AI voice agent layer sitting in front of Asterisk
Total monthly cost: $29.70 for six lines. Not per line. Total.
The DIDs
Six numbers provisioned on Flat Rate through dallas1.voip.ms:
- 1315 — Load Bearing Capital
- 1316 — Load Bearing Demo
- 1317 — Quiet Hours Valet
- 1318 — Luchin Credit Repair
- 1319 — Petroleum Noir
- 1321 — Load Bearing Detailing
How VAPI Connects
VAPI sits as the public-facing layer. Calls come in, VAPI answers with a brand-specific AI voice agent, qualifies the caller, and routes or logs based on intent.
Asteisk handles the SIP registration and trunk. VAPI handles the intelligence.
The PJSIP trunk is registered to account 528502 on VoIP.ms.
What This Replaced
Grasshoppa: $49/month. RingCentral: $99/month. Dialpad: $75/month.
I pay $29.70 and own the entire stack.
Build It Yourself
- Spin a VPS (Vultr or Linode, 1 vCPU / 1 GB RAM is enough)
- Install Asterisk 18 from source
- Create a VoIP.ms account, complete KYC, provision DIDs on Flat Rate
- Configure PJSIP trunk in Asterisk pointing to your VoIP.ms account
- Register your VAPI agents to the SIP endpoint
- Test inbound call flow per DID
If you want AI on the phones, VAPI is the fastest path. If you want pure routing only, Asterisk dialplan handles it natively.
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