“By partnering with innovative companies like Critical Links we can offer the business community more options and features when building high-end telephony systems based on Asterisk,” said Jim Webster, director of software technologies at Digium. “We look forward to working together with Critical Links to expand the VoIP market and at the same time, communicate the important role open source will play in furthering the telecom market.”

“We are pleased to be partnering with Digium, the recognized world leader in developing Linux based VoIP technologies," said Joao Carreira, Critical Links CEO. "We have been incorporating their technology in our products since the start of 2005 and, as a result, the interest in edgeBOX has grown tremendously. We can now provide a complete voice and data networking solution in a single box which greatly simplifies VoIP deployment, is cost effective, and addresses the concerns that users have over security and call quality," he added.

Source: Critical Links 

My suggestion is that we start 10 AM on Monday, nov 20th, and continue to 3 PM (15:00) on Wednesday, November 22nd.

This is going to be a very practical meeting with interoperability tests between various devices, SIP debugging and coding. We need to figure out a way to add proper handling of video attributes in Asterisk and maybe look at additional features I know that you are working on out there

- Video on hold (streaming)
- Video prompts for IVRs
- T.140 text in addition to video
- Integration with 3G video
- Video conferencing

Let's investigate these areas together, trying to find solutions that we can work forward on - integration with other Open Source products or just experience in connections to commercial products.

There will be a very limited amount of seats. Mail me off list if you want me to keep a seat open for you. You will have to cover your own costs, but if everything works out we will have access to the conference center sponsored.

Have a nice weekend. I'm sure I will - going to the Asterisk beachcamp on the beautiful beach outside Malaga in Spain!

Cheers,
/Olle
 

Ranch Networks, provider of networking appliances designed to facilitate carrier and enterprise grade VoIP deployments, today announced the availability of its VoIP Matrix Technology(TM), the company's patent-pending clustering technique developed to increase scalability, reliability and security across Asterisk server farms.

The VoIP Matrix Technology enables enterprises and service providers to combine one or more Asterisk servers with a Ranch Networks' (RN) appliance - forming a virtual IP PBX that supports large number of simultaneous calls. Like a web server farm, theoretically the VoIP Matrix Technology could support tens of thousands of simultaneous calls using an Asterisk server farm. The VoIP Matrix Technology, bridged with the RN appliance ensures zero dropped calls on a VoIP network, prioritizing calls over data. The RN appliance bridges the RTP media between the SIP end points, allowing for media to continually flow without interruption, even if an Asterisk server is unplugged. All new calls then become distributed among the remaining PBXs in the cluster. This technique is a seamlessly scalable solution which enables customers to add more PBXs as their needs grow.

"Ranch Networks understands the needs of VoIP customers," said Alex Pavlovsky, president of Ranch Networks. "When using the VoIP Matrix Technology solution, customers do not have to worry about the security, quality, and scalability of their VoIP systems. Through the clustering technique, call centers, enterprises and service providers can easily increase network capabilities as their businesses grow."

Users can access the virtual IP PBX, including any one of the servers involved, using a single IP address and MAC. Each Asterisk server used to form the virtual IP PBX within the cluster is monitored using SIP health messages. When a PBX stops responding to the SIP health monitoring messages, it will be taken out of the cluster in real-time. As soon as it starts responding to the SIP health monitoring messages, it will be added back to the cluster. The VoIP Matrix Technology allows for users to also add a new IP PBX in real-time, as well as remove an existing IP PBX can for maintenance purposes.

The VoIP Matrix Technology is available with the RN 20, 40, and 41. The RN series of appliances can be purchased through leading Asterisk distributors and resellers worldwide. For a list of resellers or additional information, please visit www.ranchnetworks.com.

The kit is aimed to help Digium customers quickly reach businesses with two to 50 users, a group for which traditional IP PBX solutions tend to be too large and expensive, and for which lower-end solutions are typically lacking in features, said Bill Miller, vice president of product management and marketing. He added that more than 87 percent of all PBX office systems still use traditional PBX phones, so the “hybrid” solution – which accepts both analog phones and Ethernet routers – offered by Digium, presents a more feature-rich and flexible solution. Because the appliance is based on Asterisk, service providers and others get all the popular PBX features already offered by the Open Source PBX solution, and they can build specialized features and applications on top of that.

And because the appliance is small and, unlike PC-based solutions, has no hard drive and no power requirements, it has a lower failure rate and takes up less real estate at the customer premises than existing popular IP PBX solutions, Miller explained.

The stackable appliance includes a full Asterisk server; eight analog ports (FXS, FXO); five Ethernet ports (four LAN, WAN); hardware echo cancellation; compact flash for voice mail or wireless; a built-in router; a craft port for debug; a commercial Asterisk license, so any applications developed on the box don’t have to go back to the open-source community; and built-in uCLinux.

Also in the kit is Release 1.4 of the Asterisk Business Edition software, which will be publicly available the first week of October. The new release will dramatically improve performance, interoperability and call quality handling; offer connectivity to GoogleTalk; have the ability to store voice mail in an IMAP server to enable unified messaging; and more, said Kevin Fleming, senior software engineer.

In addition to the appliance and Asterisk software, the kit includes 2-4 port FXS cards; 2-4 port FXO cards; multimedia add-on cards; an 8MB flash; cables for all port types; an IP phone; and a CD containing software, documentation/specs, how-to manuals and Digium support details relating to Asterisk, which Miller said had not been available in one place previously. Also new with the kit is a GUI for Asterisk, said Miller, making it more simple to use, and more easily allowing customers to specialize screens for different business verticals. He added that any changes to the GUI are reflected immediately in the configuration files, and vice versa.

The kit has two options relative to the service piece, one of which includes a day of training with Asterisk inventor Mark Spencer.

The kit will be available directly from Digium in October for $3,995. Production units are expected to be available at a later date with volumes of 10,000 for under $500.

This VON is going to show the direct impact of Asterisk in the market. Besides the sessions and activities below we have many companies and groups who are using Asterisk to develop new services. With all these activities we have decided one more part of the program should be highlighted.

NuFone, the world's first commercial provider of IAX-based VoIP services, announced today the creation of a new management and support team to further solidify its dedication to providing reliable VoIP solutions to carrier, enterprise and residential environments.  Composed of 5 executive team members, who are highly experienced in the areas of business, sales and support, will provide the necessary leadership to properly manage NuFone.

"In the past, NuFone always had trouble properly managing and supporting our customer's needs. It has always been my goal to form a proper team to deliver the support our customers demand," Jeremy McNamara, founder and CTO of NuFone, said. "By listening to our customers, we were able to determine our weaknesses and have formed a proper team to bring NuFone to the next level."

The following are the executive members of the NuFone management and support team:

Allan Noorda, President and CEO. Noorda has been engulfed in the advancement of the Telecommunications Industry for over the past 10 years. Noorda recently comes from Newman Telecom, where he was the VP of Sales and Marketing. He brings energy and an understanding of customer needs as well as technology to direct the daily operations of NuFone.

Jeremy McNamara, Founder and CTO. Over the past 10 years, McNamara has assisted in the development and deployment of several ISPs, ITSPs and Application Service Providers around the United States. McNamara also has extensive development, testing and deployment expertise with Asterisk PBX-based solutions.

Greg Merriweather, Support Specialist. Merriweather has been providing operating system, hardware and application support for the past 10 years including working as a support engineer for Ford and Global-Crossing before assisting in the operation of NuFone beginning in early 2003.

Leon Salisbury, Senior Engineer. Salisbury has over 20 years of programming and engineering experience with a wide assortment of programming languages including Assembler, Perl, HTML, C and hardware including PICs, 68xx Series, various DSP and embedded x86 platforms.

Krystina Patterson, Customer Relations. Patterson has been working with the public for the past 4 years in marketing and customer relations. Patterson is well versed in problem solving and determining customer needs.

About NuFone

NuFone was originally deployed by Jeremy McNamara in January 2002, as an IAX-based solution for Asterisk PBX based users. NuFone has since grown into a leading provider of SIP and IAX based VoIP solutions for thousands of customers in the United states and more than 60 countries world-wide. NuFone is a privately held corporation based in Eugine, OR.

Ranch Networks, provider of networking appliances designed to facilitate carrier and enterprise grade VoIP deployments, today announced it has received $1 million in funding from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority's (NJEDA's) Techniuum Initiative. The funding further establishes Ranch Networks' credibility and continued growth in the IP telephony industry.

"It is always exciting to watch an emerging business develop and succeed in New Jersey and we are pleased that Ranch Networks will use our Techniuum investment to meet its growth needs and move its technology forward," said NJEDA Chief Executive Officer Caren S. Franzini. "The broad resources the NJEDA makes available under Techniuum support Governor Corzine's initiatives to encourage the location and growth of technology and life sciences companies and related jobs in New Jersey. Early-stage and advanced companies can learn more about Techniuum by visiting www.njedatechniuum.com."

Ranch Networks' technology is designed to work with leading IP PBXs and supports all sizes of enterprise and carrier deployments. In January, Ranch Networks launched its RN series of appliances and the first security code for Asterisk, the open source PBX. Ranch Networks' IP PBX controlled appliances provide dynamic, protocol independent, per-call authenticated network access. This unique approach both simplifies and increases network security, scalability, and reliability.

The NJEDA is an independent, self-sustaining state financing and development agency that works to promote economic growth, job creation and the revitalization of New Jersey's communities with financing assistance, technical support and entrepreneurial training, and real estate development activities. Techniuum provides a continuum of customized, streamlined, long-term support to technology and life sciences companies as they advance through their life cycle of growth and expand their products and services. Through this innovative initiative, the NJEDA can assist with financing, angel and lease guarantees, access to venture capital and incentive tools as well as affordable office, laboratory and production facilities.

"The NJEDA recognized the potential in VoIP," said Ram Ayyakad founder and CEO of Ranch Networks. "As a result, NJEDA identified Ranch Networks as an integral part of the IP telephony industry. The funding will help us continue to advance our product offerings and expand our team."

Like most startups, Digium has humble beginnings. Founder and CEO Mark Spencer had launched a small company to provide Linux support services, and the story goes that he wrote Asterisk to save money on his phone system. "It wasn't like he had this grandiose opinion of open source," Miller said.

Spencer made all of Asterisk's technology available to the open source crowd. Today it boasts a community of developers 400 to 500 strong, and Asterisk receives about 1,000 downloads per day. "It's … unique," Miller said, "in the fact that we have such a following whose entire lives and businesses revolve around Asterisk."

In fact, echoing that phone system strategy, startup Switchvox, before it began making its own Switchvox PBX, changed from cell phones to a phone system based on Asterisk because it was a low-cost solution. The question was: What advantages does an open source PBX provide? The answer -- other than the usual one of lower cost of ownership -- was: New features make it into the product faster.

"We are able to leverage the open source community," said Joshua Stephens, president and CEO of Switchvox. "If someone wants to put in some crazy feature, we take it and make it presentable."

Digium has accrued 130 partners that have production-class solutions around Asterisk. For its part, Digium sells Asterisk Business Edition, the Digium-certified, professional-grade version of open source Asterisk, along with hardware and software products that enable telephony applications including legacy PBX, IVR, auto attendant, gateways, media servers and application servers.

The company also offers a full range of professional services, including consulting, technical support and custom software development services. In addition, Digium leverages VARs to help distribute its products.

Digium's challenge today is to move into the enterprise, where it hasn't yet done much damage. SIPBox, a Digium VAR located in Tinley Park, Ill., primarily counts education and municipalities among its customers.

"I don't have anything at the enterprise level right now," said Chad Agate, co-founder and CEO of SIPBox, a provider of end-to-end telephony solutions for companies with 200-plus users. "Asterisk is a good option for SMBs [small and midsized business] or branch offices."

One of Digium's most recent customer wins was the University of Pennsylvania, which is deploying a campus-wide unified messaging system using Asterisk.

Digium has its eye on the enterprise prize, however. According to Miller, Matrix's stake will be used for developing applications and enhancements to Asterisk to make it more appealing to the enterprise audience.

"We took [the investment] on because we want to take the company to the next level and use that cash to fuel our growth and to scale into the enterprise," Miller said. "It will create more of an opportunity for enterprise-class applications like email."

To that extent, Digium faces a challenge among picky enterprise shoppers who want to shop by brand and also match products to technology skills within the company, according to Yankee Group's Vanessa Alvarez.

"Only the most tech-savvy companies can do open source, otherwise the cost structure is too high," Alvarez said. "But the question is: Has Digium achieved enough customer base so that if you're not a brand shopper, but you are the type to do due diligence, should you also consider Asterisk?"

Source: Amanda Mitchell

If you have another specific topic and would like to set up a developer meeting, please mail me off list and I will see what I can do. I am planning a SIP specific meeting too, of course ;-)

Looking forward to meeting you in Boston!

/Olle

---
* Olle E. Johansson - oej@edvina.net
* Asterisk Training http://edvina.net/training/

 

 To be perfectly honest this was personal because of certain comments made to me by Mr. Riddell.  I think that seeing the above post was the tipping point.  I apologize if anyone else was offended and I am refraining from ever doing that again.  I do this site for my love of Asterisk and VoIP technology.  I would also like to add that Mr. Riddell is correct about Sineapps being ad-free but I would have to say his "asterisk consulting" business most likely pays the "bills". Asterisk VoIP News is ad-supported and thankfully pays for it's hosting.  Thanks for you support.

-Dal 

Last Update(08/24/2006):

Well I for one have way too many more tasks to do than go back and forth.  If I am not doing anything for Asterisk than our traffic logs must be lying.  It's funny how Matt asks about "has Dal done anyhting for Asterisk"?  Personally I think if you have following this site for the last 19 months than you would see AVN is just another source to get information about the entire Asterisk Family.  Well this seem time better than any to announce that I will be starting a Asterisk Self-Help and Common Issuse article series continung from where we left off. (Voicemail.conf I think??).  If anyone would like to submit ideas or draft aritcles please contact me (email addy below).  To close, I am not going to deny that when I was first learning to blog I didn't know proper online etiquette.  Everyone have a great day and please feel free to interact with the site or tell me if something is missing.

-Dal 

Asterisk Jobs (www.asterisk-jobs.com) is always upgrading and changing the site. Look forward to more announcements in the near future. The next planned release is a complete revamp of the site to include tags and other fancy stuff that will make searching for that dream job involving open source telephony a reality - quicker, and easier!

For more information or to start looking for Open source Asterisk VoIP employment head over to: http://www.asterisk-jobs.com

Thanks,
Asterisk Jobs Staff
 

As a result of this agreement, Digium and BandTel will partner in marketing initiatives to resellers interested in the cost and flexibility benefits of an open source telephony solution.

The alliance provides Digium and BandTel's channel partners worldwide to expand their portfolio of VoIP service-offerings and provide customers with a highly fault-tolerant, cost-effective and feature-rich VoIP solution. BandTel provides SIP-based VoIP solutions that fully support the Digium open source platform.

Source: Digium 

For the Asterisk@von agenda, see http://www.pulver.com/asterisk/ - there will be additions coming up soon.

Mark Spencer, the creator of Asterisk, will speak on Wednesday, September 13th:
----------------
Industry Perspective: An Open Source Carol: The Ghost of Open Source; Past, Present and Future
Wednesday, September 13, 2006, 4:45pm - 5:15pm

As the creator of Asterisk, the industry's first open source telephony platform, Mark Spencer, president of Digium, will discuss the phenomenal growth and industry acceptance of open source 
telephony since last year's Fall VON. Companies (from the enterprise to the SMB) as well as carriers and developers have come to realize the benefits of open source solutions go far beyond cost savings. In fact, flexibility and competitive advantage are two of the main drivers behind moving to an open source solution. Taking a glimpse at the past, present and future of open source telephony, Mark will discuss the role this industry has and will play in the development 
of next generation VoIP services.

------------


For the full agenda of the conference and the exhibition, see: www.von.com/index.html


I am looking forward to meeting you at Von - the premium VoIP and Asterisk conference & Trade show!

/Olle
 

Digium is the latest amongst a growing list of VoIP-related venture investments, and perhaps the most prestigious. David Skok, a general partner at Matrix Partners who won his VC stripes by backing JBoss, an early Open Source software company joins the board of the company. Digium is one of the early pioneers of the open source telecom movement.

This also marks the latest chapter in the amazing story of Digium founder Mark Spencer and by extension, the Asterisk PBX software. In 1999, Spencer started the Huntsville, Alabama-based operation with his savings and a few thousand dollars in investment from his parents.

Since then, the simple little PBX he wrote has become a rebel yell for telecom hackers, and Spencer a rock-star at VoIP conferences such as VoN. While it is not the only open source PBX, it certainly is one of the most popular.

The company turned profitable in 2002, and remains so. Digium has experienced break neck growth over past few years. Today Asterisk boasts over one million users. Nearly, 1000 copies of the software are downloaded every day. The profitable status of the company, however made me wonder why does Digium need VC dollars?

Spencer explains that the company will use these funds to expand its operations by selling a variety of Asterisk-based IP-PBX systems to small business and large corporations. In doing so, the company might end up competing with others who base their products on Asterisk. Fonality, a Los Angeles-based company, for instance sells Asterisk-based PBX systems to the very same small and medium sized businesses.

“To me, Digium has the same, perhaps even better characteristic than that of JBoss,” says Skok, “It has a highly seasoned product, market leadership, and is profitable.” And it is also one of the hottest VoIP plays around.

Skok may have scored a coup, even if it might have cost Matrix some serious dollars in terms of valuation. Digium, he says has everything to make it one of Matrix’s most successful open source companies. With many old-styled PBX phone systems being replaced by new VoIP-based systems, a low cost offering based on Asterisk can be very attractive for buyers. Fonality, for instance, has quickly garnered 10,000 users for its ultra low-cost Asterisk-based devices.

Though he only has known Spencer for a few months, Skok says his big epiphany came when he downloaded and installed Asterisk on his computer, went overseas, and plugged into his broadband connection. He was soon making calls all over the US, as if he never left his Boston office. The Asterisk became his extension, and he was hooked. “Digium is definitely in a position to become the next big open source company, behind Red Hat, JBoss and MySQL,” says Skok, clearly smitten by his latest investment.

Source: GigaOM 

Talks at the show explained just how easily an Asterisk-based PBX can be used to launch attacks, notably "vishing" attacks, in which hackers use VoIP calls instead of phony Web links to steal personal and financial information.

Asterisk has become the hacker's favored tool because it's free, easy to use, and works with cheap, off-the-shelf hardware. Install Asterisk on an inexpensive PC, do a little tweaking, and you've got a full-blown PBX, something that previously would have been extremely expensive and time-consuming to do.

A vishing attack is simple to launch using Asterisk. War-dial using an Asterisk-based PBX, and send a recorded message to thousands of people, telling them their credit card number has been stolen, and that they need to call a phone number to solve the problem.

The number, of course, is the Asterisk-based PBX set up by the hacker. An automated message tells them to enter their credit card number and other personal information, for verification purposes. The PBX records the number and information, and the hacker now has a credit card to use.

Other hacks can be launched from Asterisk as well. There's the "man-in-the-middle" attack, in which a PBX-initiated call lures someone into calling a bank, credit card company, or other financial institution. The PBX answers, and forwards the caller to the real customer service number --- and then listens in and records the entire call. Again, the hacker comes away with personal and financial information he can use.

The upshot? Just as you shouldn't trust any unsolicited email, you also shouldn't trust any unsolicited phone calls. Asterisk-based vishing and similar attacks make fraud too easy these days.

We've got about 80% of the speaking slots at AstriCon Dallas filled. We do, however, have a few developer slots available (one 1.5 hour tutorial and three 45 minute case study/keynote presentations). If anyone out there would like to do a development-related talk, please fill out the "Speak At AstriCon" form on our web site as soon as possible.

Thanks,

Steve

“Our partnership with NetLogic shows the great potential of open source in providing voice over Internet services,” said Mark Spencer, president of Digium and creator of Asterisk. “By certifying NetLogic’s VoIP product with Asterisk Business Edition, we can ensure a positive VoIP experience to our combined customers.”

In addition, NetLogic has certified Asterisk Business Edition to work with its VoIP Choice product. Mike Morey, president of NetLogic, explains, “Our certification ensures users of Asterisk-based phone systems that they can enjoy voice-optimized, high quality connections, thereby eliminating the jitter and garble associated with many VoIP deployments.”

“We view Digium as a driving force in the deployment of open source PBX systems,” said Mike Young, CTO of NetLogic. “We look forward to working closely together to continue to expand this market.” VoIP Choice offers better call quality than other VoIP services because NetLogic manages the connection from its origination at the phone system until it is delivered to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) using Quality of Service (QoS) technology. This continuity across the entire network helps to maintain the highest quality of call service.

Source: NetLogic 

Inc. selected the top 30 entrepreneurs based on their proven ability to run a successful company, manage a company with a novel approach, create a successful or innovative product, and/or otherwise demonstrate their innovative idea in the world of entrepreneurship. Inc.’s article can be found at www.inc.com/30under30.

“I am honored to be included in Inc.’s 30 under 30,” said Mark Spencer, president of Digium and creator of Asterisk. “Work has become quite a passion for me and it is very rewarding to receive such recognition.”

“Like many of the successful young entrepreneurs on our list, Mark didn’t just excel within an industry – he’s helping to shape a new one,” said Inc.com Senior Editor Rod Kurtz. “Technology has transformed the American economy, and it’s idea people like Mark who are leading the charge.”

Mark Spencer created Asterisk, the industry’s first open source PBX, while still a Computer Engineering student at Auburn University. When faced with the high cost of buying a PBX for his company, Linux Support Services, Mark simply used his Linux PC and knowledge of C code to write his own. This was the beginning of the world-wide Asterisk phenomenon, and caused Mark to shift his business focus from Linux support to supporting Asterisk and opening up the telecom market. Linux Support Services is now known as Digium, and is bringing open source to the enterprise market while gaining a foothold in the telecom industry.

In addition to Inc. Magazine’s recognition, VoIP Magazine listed Digium as one of the top 20 companies to watch in 2006 and Network World named Mark Spencer as one of the “50 Most Powerful People in Networking”.

About Digium
Digium is the original creator and primary developer of Asterisk, the industry's first open source PBX and Asterisk Business Edition, the professional-grade version of Asterisk. Used in combination with Digium's PCI telephony interface cards, Asterisk offers a strategic, highly cost-effective approach to voice and data transport over IP, TDM, switched and Ethernet architectures.

Digium provides quality hardware and software products that enable telephony applications including legacy PBX, IVR, auto attendant, next generation gateways, media servers and application servers. Digium also offers a full range of professional services including consulting, technical support and custom software development services. Additional information can be found at www.digium.com.

About Asterisk
Code for Asterisk, originally written by Mark Spencer of Digium Inc., has been contributed to from open source software engineers around the world. It supports a wide range of TDM protocols for the handling and transmission of voice over traditional telephony interfaces, and VoIP packet protocols such as IAX, SIP and H.323. It supports US and European standard signaling types used in business phone systems, allowing it to bridge between next-generation voice-data integrated networks and existing infrastructure.

Source: OpenPress 

You can find more information about the group at http://www.kcaug.net/ .  Currently there is a mailling list for the group, but if enough interest arises we will probably look into doing meet-ups.  If you are in the KC area and at all interested in Asterisk please join up.

Thanks,
Kyle
 

How old are you and when did you start to use Linux and becoming a part of the open-source community?
I am currently 29 years old and got involved with Linux in 1994 at the age of 17.

When, why and how did you start the Asterisk project?
I started Asterisk in 1999 for the purpose of being our internal PBX for "Linux Support Services", now called Digium. It wasn't until 2001 that the company changed its name to Digium and refocused around Asterisk.

Tell us something about your company digium. Is is a typical New Economy company?
It's a small company, with a very casual culture and a very passionate team. Changing the world is hard work and I'm very proud to have a team that is so dedicated to what we're doing.

How many people are working for digium and what kind of people are these?
There are about 60 people ranging from sales to engineering to testing.

How come you are located in Huntsville, Alabama?
We received some investment from Adtran, who is also based in Huntsville and moved at that time. Huntsville is a small technology town in Alabama. I call it "Sillicotton Valley".

What is your favorate OS? What OS do you run on your laptop?
Linux of course for both!

What is your favorate Linux editor?
nedit

And what is your favorate E-Mail client? ;-)
pine

Let's jump to the old licence discussion. As other successfull Open-Source-Companies you have two different software licences for Asterisk. Why not just GPL?
While Open Source is an effective model for much comodity software, I feel it's an important feature to be able to allow people to play by both Open Source and Proprietary rules. However, unlike the LGPL, I think there *should* be a cost associated with using Asterisk with a proprietary product. Also, the GPL does not allow linkage to both other Open Source products under different licenses (e.g. OpenH323) nor to patent encumbered technologies like G.729. Again, I think it's important to have choice, but to be sure there is economic incentive to support Open Source.

What should a developer do who wants to add something to your GPL version but who doesn't want to give you all the rights for it?
This is actually a misunderstanding. When people contribute to Asterisk, we need them to grant us rights to use their contribution freely, but it does not take away their own rights to the code. We do not do copyright assignment (although we plan to offer an option for that, sould people prefer it). If you don't want to make such a disclaimer, you can always distribute your own GPL derivative work, but you cannot have your changes placed into what we distribute as Asterisk.

What do you think about the GPL licenced BRI-Stuff of the Junghanns people in Berlin?
I think it's an important technology -- to support BRI, but because we cannot integrate it in and still support technologies such as G.729, we have to use mISDN for that instead. Also, because there is no tracking of contributers, we do not know the source of the code in BRI-Stuff, so we cannot have as much confidence that it was appropriately sourced.

Let's come back to the normal Asterisk user. Everybody who uses the stable version has been in the situation to be forced for an update every 4-6 weeks in the last couple of month. Many people feel distressed about this. How does it come that you still find so many bugs in a stable version of such an important software?
Asterisk is a very complex product, which is used in an extremely wide variety of environments. With the exception of the recent denial of service attack against IAX, there are few of these issues which affect a broad range of users, yet it's important that they be fixed. For a more conservative release cycle, built upon formalized testing, BE is the proper product.

What is your Business Edition? What is the difference to the normal version?
BE is built entirely from source code originating in Open Source, with the exception of the copy protection and some partner products which are available for it. The primary differentiators with BE are the testing/release cycle, support and explicit commercial license. BE's cycle is extremely conservative, even in relation to "stable" releases like 1.2 and 1.4.

The first beta of version 1.4 is going to be released in the next couple of days. What will version 1.4 bring to the user? Does the normal admin who is happy with version 1.2 want to upgrade to 1.4?
As we say in Alabama "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". I would upgrade to 1.4 if you have a bug or if there are some features in 1.4 that you don't have on 1.2.

How long will you provide bugfixes for the 1.2 version?
So long as the 1.2 release maintainers are willing to do so.

Why are you planing to release a new stable version every 6 month? Many people have the feeling that a PBX software should be more conservative.
There is a balance between having a faster release cycle ("Release early, release often") which is associated with Open Source and a slower cycle associated with typical commercial packages. We believe it is important to release Asterisk in Open Source once per 6 months or so, and to use the Business Edition as the primariy platform for slower, formally tested releases. In this sense we can address both needs.

Click Here to Continue the Interview 

"trixbox 2.0 beta will be available for download on Wednesday. This release will be Fonality's first big contribution to the trixbox/Asterisk community after the recent Fonality acquisition of trixbox. which certainly caused a stir within the Asterisk community. I spoke with Chris Lyman, CEO of Fonality, to find out more about this major new release of trixbox." 

First, I should point out that while previous version of trixbox have always been the easiest way to get Asterisk up and running in just minutes, trixbox 2.0 is much more than that.  First and foremost, trixbox 2.0 includes a new 'overall' web GUI to make the whole process "point and click". From this new web GUI you can simply select the modules you want (HUDLite, FreePBX, PHP, lame, etc.) and the web interface will automatically install them. Some of the packages are directly related to Asterisk such as HUDlite or FreePBX, while other options are ancillary, such as SugarCRM. The idea is you shouldn't have to know anything about the command line interface (CLI). In addition, many users wishing to install trixbox want to keep the server as unbloated as possible and not add any unnecessary modules/packages.

Click Here for the Full Story

For the benefit of those outside of the USA or those unable to make it to Astricon 2006;

I wanted to send out this email. For those of you who attended Astricon in Dallas last week what was the one thing that you saw that made the trip worthwhile? (if we post enough information or comments it will be of benefit for those that didn’t attend) For me personally it was the volume of neat add-on applications that the Asterisk community are developing; Over time I’m hoping that this leads to something like AppExchange from Salesforce.com were people can choose from over 300+ applications or addons for SF.

Since I'm looking for a cheap appliance for Asterisk and IPCop/Copfilter, it's just my luck to see this deal on a refurbished Dell OptiPlex PC.  You'll note that the listed price is $47.91 but I've added the $12.95 for the memory bump to 256 MB and the $31.95 FedEx ground shipping to come up with a rounded up $93 figure for the title of this blog so I don't deceive anyone about the price.  This is a 700 MHz Celeron which is plenty fast for building your own VoIP server with Asterisk and your own gateway level antivirus scanning system using IPCop and Copfilter.  Some of you may have noticed how much I despise desktop antivirus solutions because they pose their own security risks and slow you down like crazy and this is the perfect cure for anyone who hates a slow PC.  Gateway level protection protects all your PCs at the same time and it caches websites which accelerates Windows Update like crazy.

Sure this isn't as nice as a tiny fanless appliance which is the ideal solution for something like this, but this is three times cheaper.  The only other option is running a virtual IPCop/Copfilter machine within a powerful media center PC that also serves as a gigabit terabyte file server.  Since there are free versions of VMware Server and Microsoft Virtual Server, this has become a very feasible option as well so long as you don't mind the dependency where a reboot of the media center PC also takes down your gateway.

Source: zdnet Blog 

Asterisk, the leading open source telephony platform, is flourishing and AstriCon – the annual Asterisk conference and exhibition – has become the place to learn about it. Developers, resellers, IT managers and contact center managers grabbed their ten gallon hats and headed to Dallas to learn or to showcase their own Asterisk innovations. There were sessions for all levels, novice to expert, and intimate networking opportunities to meet a literal “who’s who” of open source telephony. 700 attendees packed sessions given by key evangelists covering everything from “An Introduction to Asterisk” to “How to Build an Asterisk-based Call Center”.

 Excerpt:

"

VoIP-News talked with Bill Miller, Vice President of Product Development at Digium, the company that oversees development on Asterisk.

" 

VON Enterprise will provide one-stop-shopping for companies looking to set strategic directions, evaluate the latest IP communications technologies, deploy solutions to their employees, and quantify the return-on-investment for IP voice and video.

"VON Enterprise is the Southeast's first and only IP communications event dedicated solely to the enterprise," said Bill Sell, vice president and general manager of VON events for pulvermedia. "We're looking forward to providing the VON community with an intimate event that provides unprecedented access to the information and best-practices needed to address Enterprise VoIP issues." Numerous Industry Perspective sessions will be delivered by Atlanta's industry leaders including:

* Beach M. Clark, Jr., Vice President of Information Technology, Georgia Aquarium - Clark will discuss the ramifications of implementing VoIP at the Georgia Aquarium. He will focus on the lessons learned, and will also discuss the technology and system features that bolster business.

* Kevin Fleming, Senior Software Engineer, Digium and Co-Maintainer of Asterisk, Digium/Asterisk: will discuss how enterprises, non-profits and government agencies - which were once hesitant to use IP-based networks - are now embracing VoIP solutions around the globe.

* Sandy Malcolm, CNN's Executive Producer, CNN.com Video - Malcolm oversees all of CNN.com's video content. She developed and launched CNN Pipeline and CNN.com's premium on-demand broadband video news service. Malcom will discuss the issues shaping CNN's video on the Web content, as well as CNN's content provided to Comcast and Time Warner Cable for on-demand usage.

* Jeff Pulver, Founder & Chairman, pulvermedia - Jeff plans to discuss numerous advances that have brought Video-on-the-Net to the forefront of the communications industry. Jeff will share his vision for how this disruptive technology will effect, and enhance, the way we work and socialize in the months and years ahead.

* Christopher Rouland, Chief Technology Officer, Internet Security Systems: will discuss VoIP security threats, including the steps that organizations and individuals should take to protect themselves. Chris will address a variety of topics, including: encryption, VoIP phishing, VoIP caller ID spoofing, and access points for network intrusion.

* Lance Walton, VP - IT Operations, HomeBanc Mortgage Corporation. Walton manages infrastructure and operations for HomeBanc and is currently planning a significant VoIP rollout, which he'll discuss in this Industry Perspective.

Details on the conference schedule, featuring more than 50 speakers, can be found at: http://www.von.com/enterprise06/schedule.html . In addition to the first-rate conference program, VON Enterprise also includes an exhibitor showcase featuring many of the leading equipment and service providers delivering enterprise IP Communication solutions.

“Kerry is a huge addition to our trixbox project. He represents the trixbox community and will insure that the Asterisk ecosystem has an open, stable and easy to use application platform on which to build their businesses,” said Chris Lyman, founder and CEO of Fonality. “I’m very pleased to have him as a part of our organization, and his hire shows our continued commitment to supporting the trixbox project.”

“Kerry is a well-respected Asterisk expert and well-known within the trixbox community. His background brings real-world knowledge of the Asterisk market to the trixbox team,” said Andrew Gillis, founder of trixbox and director of community development at Fonality. “His insider knowledge and technical understanding will help with our goal of making trixbox the number one application platform for open source telephony.”

Garrison has spent more than two decades as an IT professional and entrepreneur who has worked with the Asterisk open source platform since its inception and has been a speaker at the AstriCon Asterisk conference and exhibition. Garrison is the founder of VOIPSpeak.net, an online portal designed to share VoIP-related news, reviews and tutorials, as well as AsteriskTutorials.com, which provides highly educational video training tutorials to help individuals gain additional instruction on setting up their Asterisk-based telephony applications.

Source: Fonality 

One World chose to implement the Indosoft Contact Center solution to obtain a truly open technology platform. Asterisk is changing the landscape of the call center Industry by its incredible ability to meet complex demands. Its seamless integration of TDM and VoIP is far ahead of its peers in technology.

The Indosoft Contact Center solution for Inbound has three important components, namely the Q-Pump (session manager), the multi-connector (CTI interface to the Asterisk Manager Interface) and the GUI tool-set. The Indosoft Inbound GUI tool-set is an advanced tool to setup an Enterprise grade Inbound call center with priority based skills routing on an Asterisk PBX.

It takes the mystery out of setting up the most complex campaigns, call routing, dial-plan, queues and agents. With access to detailed reporting, the Indosoft Inbound solution based on Asterisk PBX is an ideal solution for small and medium call centers. Selection of Asterisk PBX as a backbone of the contact center will have a positive long term impact in many ways like, the future growth, reduced effort in expansion, lesser deployment and service cost. The rapid advancement of VoIP makes this choice of technology more critical.

Source: One World and Indosoft 

This is a list compiled from several sources. I have purposely skipped some of the obvious open source projects such as all the different Linux distributions, Apache, MySQL, etc. because these are all very well know. What I am trying to do is bring some of the lesser known gems to light so that everyone can benefit from them.

"15. 

Asterisk

If you have a small office but would like the ability to transfer calls, call others in the office, etc., Asterisk could be the answer you are looking for.

" 

Click Here to See the Full List 

I was talking with CJ Rayhill, our CIO, the other day, and she pointed out that when evaluating new PBX alternatives, we'd gotten several $200,000+ proposals for proprietary systems. Asterisk was not only free, the VoIP switch has allowed us to increase our network bandwidth fourfold to accomodate the voice traffic (and more data traffic) yet still save $5000/month.

I've been puzzled why there isn't more focus on asterisk in the open source world, as it seems to me to be one of the really big new open source success stories.

It seems a bit like the early days of things like Perl and Linux, when they were happening under the radar, known to all the hands-on practitioners in the industry, but not covered much by the mainstream press.

Click Here to Continue Reading the Full Article