Abstract
Through the Asterisk Open Souce PBX IVR  Linux  TDM , and Open Source software enter new markets, allowing people to extend the quality, extensibility freedom, and programability of Open Source solutions to their telephony needs. Asterisk, distributed under GNU GPL, is a full-featured PBX (Private Branch Exchange) and (Interactive Voice Response) server which allows a company to not only build a powerful phone system with voicemail, conferencing, caller*id, and other advanced features, but also to deploy content over the telephone in a way similar to how CGI permits a company to deploy content through a web browser. Asterisk supports, both traditional and analog services (FXO, FXS, T1, E1, PRI) and VoIP technologies (IAX, SIP, H.323), on boards from a variety of hardware vendors, allowing it both to seamlessly mix with currently installed systems and expand to support future deployments. Asterisk even includes a graphical call manager, allowing an operator to graphically manipulate the active calls in a system, moving them from one extension to another, or building conferences with multiple participants. And of course, by utilizing Open Source software and inexpensive hardware, phone systems can be built at a fraction of the cost of more conventional systems. |