Asterisk 123 Opens Up ITEXPO

The reach of Asterisk is far and wide, but one thing it is not is a VoIP-in-a-box solution to enable companies to compete with Vonage (News - Alert). That’s the word from Derek Peloquin, who spoke at The Asterisk 123 event today co-located with ITEXPO in Austin.

Peloquin, dCAP certified training specialist for Digium (News - Alert), said that even after all these years, at least half of the questions on the Asterisk site ask how it will enable a Vonage-like service. But Peloquin explained that Asterisk (News - Alert) is not a VoIP appliance; rather, he said, it’s more like Apache. And it can serve many useful purposes.

Asterisk can be used to power traditional PBX (News - Alert) and VoIP-only PBX solutions. It can also enable hybrid PBX solutions that combine VoIP and traditional telephony. In this scenario users can put Asterisk in front of an existing telephone switch and route calls across the Internet to avoid toll charges. Asterisk can also be leveraged as a feature server, by connecting Asterisk to an existing phone switch and simply using Asterisk for its features. It also can be used in call center/contact center implementations to do automated call distribution; remote agent solution; call monitoring and recording; service on hold; skills-based routing; geographic distribution and routing; and failover and contingency solution; and more.

“Asterisk is everywhere,” Peloquin said. “If it has phones, Asterisk is doing it.”

Any software comes with a license that dictates what you can do with the software in terms of distribution; alterations and enhancements; commercialization and resale; restrictions on business use; warranty, indemnification and remedy, said Peloquin. There are three ways to license Asterisk. Users can open-source asterisk, which is freely available under the GPO, and for which support is available on a subscription-based model. Another option is to go with the Asterisk Business Edition, which is a highly tested version of Asterisk available via a commercial license from Digium; it includes support. The third option is to OEM Asterisk, which is designed for third-party resale and customer development.

Those that contribute code to Asterisk must give Digium the rights to redistribute the source code either by giving Digium a license to use the code in Asterisk, or by releasing the code into the public domain. Even if you give Digium a license, however, you retain the copyright to your source code. This is necessary to keep Asterisk protected from the claims of copyright infringement.

If you’re in Austin and want to join us at Asterisk 123, come on over to the convention center. The event is in room 1 and runs through the late afternoon.