Telephone Systems based on Asterisk

The telephone system technology paradigm has been changing, and the Asterisk-Based systems are proof of progress. The move from proprietary, closed systems to open software and open competition for hardware elements has driven the cost down over the years. There are thousands of systems in use today, using either the 1.4 or the 1.6 system versions.

On the Positive: Features are available for no extra charge that cost thousands on other systems. Voicemail to email, call recording, call reporting, call center technology, and find me-follow me, are examples of some of the advanced features that are just included with the base package. Flexibility is the key to the solution, so there is rarely a business model that cannot be supported with this system. Additionally – many different phones are supported by the system.

On the Negative: Some features, such as voicemail, are missing some features that other systems may have. For instance, other voicemail systems have had delivery of messages to groups of users for years. Since the Asterisk was developed during the age of email, there was less effort put into voicemail blasting as most of those communications take place today via email. The Asterisk is best installed as a PBX type of system. What that means to you is that you have a button on your phone mapped to each line. Since the Asterisk system can easily use analog lines, PRI lines, or VoIP trunks, it is counter-intuitive to focus on the individual lines. Your company may use more than one line type, and the PBX functionality makes it easier to use whatever lines make sense.

In Summary: The Asterisk platform offers a feature rich system, without the baggage of having to support proprietary legacy equipment. You can choose the best of breed in hardware platforms and telephones to build a system that suits your business.