Gregory Merriweather

Your VoIP Systems Builder with Natural Language Observability

Talent

Rolling Meadows, ILMember since August 30, 2026

FounderVoIP Business Subject Matter ExpertPurple Team FounderVoice / Real-Time Comms: Asterisk, FreePBX, FusionPBX, FreeSWITCH, Kazoo, Kamailio, OpenSER/OpenSIPS, SIP, RTP, SDP, TLS/SRTP, SBC behavior, trunks, DID routing, dial plans, IVR, voicemail, BLF, call parking, E911, carrier interconnects, Cisco gateways, Cisco 8851, NAT traversal, codec/transcoding Carrier / Interconnect: Carrier DID provisioning APIs (search/order/route/release), Skyetel, multi-carrier routing, provider interoperability, PSTN gateways, toll-fraud prevention, SIP scanning defense, registration abuse mitigation Linux / Cloud / Automation: Linux, Rocky Linux, Apache, MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, PHP, Python, Flask, Node.js, Bash, OpenVZ, Docker, Podman, Cloudflare Tunnel, coturn, systemd, GitHub CLI, iptables/ipset, tcpdump, Wireshark, packet/log analysis Observability: OpenTelemetry, Loki, Grafana, Qryn, OTLP (protobuf), structured logging, incident runbooks, health endpoints, MTTR reduction, call telemetry (incoming_call, did_not_found, dtmf, call_ended)

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About

GREGORY C. MERRIWEATHER

Senior VoIP / SIP Platform Engineer | Asterisk, FreeSWITCH, Kamailio, Carrier Interconnects, Production Reliability

Ottawa, ON (Canadian PR) | Open to remote US (US Citizen) shido6@gmail.com | linkedin.com/in/voipmonk | github.com/shido6

PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

20+ years production VoIP/SIP engineering across Asterisk, FreeSWITCH, Kamailio/OpenSIPS, carrier interconnects, UCaaS/CCaaS, and contact-center platforms. In 2026 took a live SIP security platform from 56% degraded to 100% healthy, shipped end-to-end carrier DID lifecycle automation, and ran real end-to-end carrier acceptance tests. Evidence-first: logs, traces, packet captures, measurable health before conclusions.

SELECTED 2026 PRODUCTION IMPACT

Production SIP Security & Observability Platform (private, in production) | 2025 - Present

Took platform health endpoint from 56% degraded to 100% healthy across Asterisk, AMI, database, carrier interconnect, and TTS integration; marked intentionally disabled services accurately instead of reporting them as failures.
Corrected carrier DID provisioning API to the official v1 contract: search -> order -> route -> release, with 10-minute inventory hold and filtered number lookup.
Added DID lifecycle safety: purchase exactly one number per request, reject invalid/duplicate numbers before carrier contact, require active billing subscription before purchase (unpaid -> HTTP 402, no number ordered), compensate failures by deleting local record and releasing carrier number.
Ran real end-to-end carrier acceptance test: searched inventory, purchased 1 DID, routed, created local DID + billing event, released carrier number, cleaned up; verified 0 residual test artifacts.
Kernel-level geo-IP SIP blocking: 79,248 US/CA CIDR ranges via ipset/xtables, persisted across reboot via systemd, live probe-drop counters confirm drops in real time.
Shipped OpenTelemetry + Loki pipeline to Grafana; fixed OTLP 500s by switching from http/json to http/protobuf; HTTP request logs + call telemetry (incoming_call, did_not_found, dtmf, call_ended) visible in production dashboards.
Automated test suite passing: 20/20 DID lifecycle, 11/11 auth, 2/2 tenant middleware, 4/4 health.
Version-controlled production deployment with documented rollback images and reproducible redeploy scripts.

OPERATING STYLE

Evidence first: logs, traces, packet captures, telemetry, ticket history, customer symptoms, vendor documentation, direct system behavior before conclusions.
Reproduce when needed: controlled VM/lab environments to isolate variables when observability is weak or production data is incomplete.
Reproduce -> Isolate -> Prove -> Restore -> Improve -> Document.

Experience

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Senior VoIP / SIP Platform Engineer | Production SIP Security & Observability Platform | 2025 - Present | Remote

See SELECTED 2026 PRODUCTION IMPACT above.

VoIP Engineer (Contract) | 05/2025 - 08/2025

VoIP.ms | Remote / Canada

Supported carrier-grade VoIP infrastructure for global users across SIP/RTP behavior, production reliability, customer-facing diagnosis, provider interoperability, and multi-carrier troubleshooting.
Correlated operational evidence across logs, traces, tickets, signaling behavior, routing anomalies, call-quality issues, registration behavior, and customer symptoms to support root-cause analysis.
Handled escalation paths involving call routing, media delivery, service-impacting incidents, provider responses, and operational restoration while preserving evidence for handoff.

Application Engineer / Sr. Asterisk Developer (Contract) | 10/2022 - 11/2022

Resolve Tech Solutions / Akorbi | Remote

Reviewed and improved Asterisk-based application and communications workflows; isolated recurring deadlocks, media-path defects, latency patterns, and routing issues.
Optimized RTP signaling and media-flow behavior across Asterisk and OpenSER/OpenSIPS environments; produced diagnostic findings from logs, traces, packet captures.
Documented status, architecture questions, and handoff notes so stakeholders could move from symptoms to evidence-backed remediation.

Asterisk Integration Developer | 2018 - 2019

AnswerNet | Willow Grove, PA

Delivered Asterisk-based omnichannel contact-center and voicemail workflows spanning voice, SMS, email, chat, routing, APIs, and reporting for 200+ agent workstations.
Implemented platform controls for provisioning, backup, maintenance, security, and customer-facing operations.
Designed MySQL-backed voicemail and messaging workflows integrated with live contact-center operations.

VoIP and Secure Communications Infrastructure Contractor | 08/2015 - 10/2015

CellTrust / IntraEdge | Scottsdale, AZ / Remote

Supported secure communications infrastructure across regulated mobile messaging and voice environments, including encrypted softphone behavior, backend voicemail, SRTP/media considerations, and SIP/RTP call flows.
Prepared architecture materials around Kamailio/Asterisk integration, perimeter signaling reliability, gateway/transcoding behavior, and secure voice paths.

Chief Engineer / VoIP Engineer | 02/2014 - 06/2014

Telnexus LLC | Oakland, CA

Supported Kazoo and FreeSWITCH-based voice infrastructure, provider configuration, SIP endpoints, Cisco Meraki MS/MX/MR networking, and startup production operations.
Date range grounded by email trail: interview confirmation Jan 2014, offer/equity Feb 2014, Telnexus welcome Feb 17 2014, termination/equipment handoff Jun 2014.

Founder and Consultant | 2009 - 2015

VoIPMonk | Remote / North America

Operated telecom consultancy focused on VoIP modernization, Linux operations, Asterisk/FreeSWITCH troubleshooting, provisioning, PBX systems, production support, and cost reduction.
Delivered architecture support, deployment planning, carrier escalation, security-aware configuration, and advanced debugging for enterprise and service-provider voice systems.
Mentored practitioners on fault isolation, runbooks, operational reliability, and customer-impact communication.

Senior Telecom Engineer | 08/2010 - 05/2013

Yahoo! Inc. | Sunnyvale, CA

Served as technical SME for enterprise telecom operations, international VoIP initiatives, carrier coordination, escalation, global rollout support, and high-visibility production communications.
Supported Avaya/Nortel-to-Asterisk modernization, Cisco gateways, ring groups, short codes, reception consoles, inventory lifecycle, internal tools, and change management.
Built and supported operational tooling and communications workflows where reliability, user experience, and business continuity mattered.

VoIP Software Developer | 08/2007 - 04/2009

Lightyear Network Solutions | Louisville, KY

Built and maintained multi-platform voice services using Asterisk, Apache, MySQL, PHP, Linux, and OpenVZ.
Replaced legacy voicemail infrastructure with a custom Asterisk architecture that materially improved reliability and reduced telecom operating cost by approximately $200K/month.
Improved transcoding behavior, voicemail features, and production service reliability across customer-facing systems.

Senior VoIP Solutions Architect and Sales Engineer | 2001 - 2007

The NuFone Network | Mecosta, MI

Founded and operated an early Asterisk service provider with coverage across 1,700+ cities/countries, multi-carrier routing, billing, provisioning, training, customer support, and production operations.
Designed high-volume voice systems supporting 300+ concurrent calls, custom Asterisk modules, MySQL/PHP billing workflows, and provider relationships.
Balanced engineering decisions against customer experience, carrier cost, fraud exposure, marketability, availability, and business viability.

Earlier Technical Experience | 1994 - 2003

Ambit Technology / Ford Global Network; Backwoods Communications; Ford Motor Company; Detroit Public Schools; YMCA