Digium and Dicar Partner Up

person on phone
In the world of business, partnerships can make or break one’s endeavors. More often than not, entities come together to complement each other’s strengths. In doing so, they are able to provide better and more services and grow their businesses.

It seems that Digium and Dicar Networks are seeing things in the same light as the news is that they are intending to come together to set up something that would offer practical telephony solutions for a reasonable price. The target of this partnership? The vast state of California. They are sure to attract a lot of customers in this area, especially with their intent of providing excellent service at reasonable costs.

TMCNet reports:

The companies said the recognize that small and medium businesses have certain specific communication needs and they are looking to address that particular requirement. They are promoting the latest generation ofSwitchvox IP PBX (News – Alert) products, supplying advanced communication systems with improved versatility and more freedom.

“We are thrilled to be chosen as Digium’s select partner,” said Armando Garcia, CEO, Dicar Networks. “Switchvox is an exceptional product, backed by a world-class organization.”

Switchvox is today compatible with high speed networks and as well as the traditional telephony infrastructure. This allows businesses the option of bidding farewell to the old PBX systems, previously being used. Additionally, the technology is increasing the potential of a small business to grow larger into a global network, without straining finances too much.

“It seems unfathomable that in order to get something better, businesses are replacing expensive systems like Avaya with a solution that costs half as much, but that’s exactly what’s happening,” said Dicar Networks CEO Armando Garcia.

The latest version of Switchvox serves as a highly advanced telephone solution that creates a link between a business phone system and the Web 2.0. The switchboard runs in the web browser itself (IE or Firefox) has been proven to save time, save money and provide enhanced customer service.

All manner of employees can use the system effectively. Whether they are receptionists and need to perform telephone tasks quickly and efficiently; supervisors would need to monitor the productivity of his subordinates; or salespeople who can integrate the system with existing software to provide a better Customer Relations Management, the system is very useful.

An additional feature that Switchvox has is that it can integrate with Google Maps, placing a map pin to identify where a call originated, thus allowing businesses to provide locally relevant information instantly. The system can also present key information about a client when the call is received, allowing the operative to be responsive much faster than usual.

I am sure that once more word gets out in the market, a lot of business entities will be lining up to avail of this service.

Asterisk Training For South Africa

 training

Are you based in South Africa?  Are you in IT?  Is your work focused on VOIP and related areas?  If your answer is yes to all of these questions, then you would be delighted to know that Connection Telecom is conducting a training course on Asterisk this month.  The idea is to inform and train individuals on how to install, configure, and maintain a complete Asterisk system.  I heard of this event from Tectonic.  The entry joyfully announces the training course:

Want to be an Asterisk guru? Then sign up for the first bootcamp to be run by Asterisk gurus Connection Telecom. The five-day course costs a whopping R23 400 but if you can get your company to cover the fees the course will be well worth attending. Connection Telecom has been involved with Asterisk since it first broke onto the IT scene.

Rob Lith, director of Connection Telecom, says this training course will assist participants with gaining a high-level knowledge of Asterisk and its potential, with particular focus on the SIP network. The course will focus on a combination of theory and practical labs, and participants will learn how to setup and configure Asterisk in a scalable enterprise or service provider network. Participants will also be able to achieve a dCAP-certification (Digium-Certified Asterisk Professional), a globally recognised programme that will be offered at the end of the Asterisk Bootcamp training course or can be taken separately, bringing a new skill set to their career or company. Various kinds of setups will be covered, giving participants insight into the design of real SIP networks using Asterisk, providing participants with a real competitive advantage in today’s demanding software environment.

The course will run from 14 to 18 April 2008 in Johannesburg.

Indeed, the course fee is a bit steep for an individual.  However, I think that if your company is even remotely interested in Asterisk and the potential that it offers your business, then I am pretty sure that you can convince your bosses to set you up for the course.  More so, compared to the potential savings that your company can make with Asterisk, the fee would become negligible.  Also, considering that this is the first ever training of its kind to be offered in South Africa, it is a very big thing to be able to complete this course.  It would definitely give an edge to the individual and to the company.

So what are you waiting for?  Visit Connection Telecom’s page for more information.

Digium Updates

Switchvox

If you remember, I posted the press release on the Second Digium|Asterisk World a week ago. Well, that week is over and it seems that there are a lot of new and exciting things for Digium on the horizon. I visited their blog to see what’s going on and here are some bits and pieces:

There were three announcements that are exciting to Digium and they include a global Distribution partnership with Westcon to distribute the entire line of Digium products. Westcon’s new CollaborationPoint line of business is focused on open source solutions including Digium’s Switchvox IP PBX (http://www.digium.com/switchvox), the Asterisk Appliance (http://www.digium.com/en/products/appliance/), and Asterisk Developer Solutions and toolkits including all Digium’s telephony cards and Asterisk Business Edition (http://www.digium.com/en/products/).

I can see how the global distribution partnership can get our bloods pumping – this is something big for Digium and Asterisk. I don’t know how quick the growth will be but now that the international market is being opened, the possibilities are limitless!

On the software side, Digium announced the release of Switchvox SMB 3.5:

Tuesday Digium announced the Switchvox SMB 3.5 release, the new version of the award winning SMB software that already includes the Switchboard user panels with built in Salesforce.com, SugarCRM, and Google Maps web-based interface panels. These built in tools allow users to build outstanding customer and support relations with their target customers. New features include multi-level administration – unlimited levels, built in Phone Configuration tools which are great for resellers and larger systems allowing provisioning of Polycom phones in minutes using batch tools for DID assignments and caller IDs, and adding of extensions, and the ability to easily find users in the directory by simply typing the name and similar to your cell phones locates the name directly in as few keystrokes as possible. Also, the SMB 3.5 software automatically populates the users desktop Polycom phone directory with contact info from the Switchvox address book – a time saving tool and excellent user experience.

In line with this software release, Digium unveiled its latest appliance:

The Switchvox Appliance AA60 was also announced Tuesday and will be available with Switchvox SMB 3.5 software on March 31. The AA60 is a small footprint wall mountable package that offers higher reliability and lower costs and includes a standard 1 year warranty and an extended warranty option for 3 years.

I am liking the guarantee of higher reliability and lower costs and I am sure many other customers will do so as well.

Digium’s Partnership Program

Digium recently launched its new partnership program. The program’s aim is “to form a closer relationship between Digium and companies that have implemented Digium and Asterisk technology in their products.” The partner program is of course beneficial to Digium since it will encourage partner companies, and those that aspire to be partner companies, to develop even better Asterisk-based products. On the other hand, being a Digium partner is also very beneficial especially in terms of product and services promotion.

Digium partner companies fall under five categories: Interoperability Partners, Service Provider Partners, Software Partners, Solutions Partners, and Asterisk Training Providers. Listed below are the description of what each partners has to offer to their clients as Digium describes on their website.

“Interoperability Partners – Interoperability Partners have products that are complementary to and interface with Asterisk. These products interact with Asterisk through a standards-based interface (e.g. SIP) and are certified for interoperability.

Service Provider Partners – Service Provider Partners offer telephony services that can be used with Asterisk. This service may include traditional circuit-switched (PSTN) or packet-switched (VoIP) offerings.

Software Partners - Software Partners offer applications that are used in conjunction with Asterisk to provide enhanced functionality (e.g. a billing platform). Partner software products include those that interface with Asterisk using an Asterisk-specific interface.
Solutions

Solutions Partners – Solutions Partners offer a “whole product” solution based on Asterisk and incorporating Digium hardware and/or software. These offerings may be targeted at specific vertical industries or other niche markets.

Training Provider Partners – Asterisk Training Providers offer high-quality Asterisk training around the world, providing courses in a variety of languages including English, German, Spanish, French, and Italian. The most commonly offered course is the Asterisk Bootcamp, a rigorous four-day course that takes students through every major component and feature of Asterisk. Some providers offer additional courses to meet local demand. Each Training Provider meets a standard of capability and quality, and only uses training materials authorized by Digium. Every student is given a feedback questionnaire at the conclusion of the course which is then submitted to Digium for quality assurance and continuous improvement.”

Listed below is the complete Digium Partner listing. Companies interested in being a Digium partner can apply online.

  • Interoperability Partners: Polycom, Empirix, AudioCodes, AcuLab, TransNexus,snom technology, CORTELCO, CyberData Corp, Grandstream.
  • Service Partners: Simple Signal, Bandwidth.com, VoicePulse
  • Software Partners: LumenVox, Cepstral
  • Solutions Partners: Switchvox, Aspect Software, Bird’s the Word Technologies, The VoIP Connection, Critical Links, NeoPhonetics, Soft Telecom, Uniplay
  • Training Partners: amooma, WISP-e,Telappliant, ALLNET ITALIA, Australia Technology Partnerships, Avanzada 7, beroNet, Shark Distribution, AHEEVA

3Com Expands Portfolio with 3Com Asterisk

3Com is actively expanding its product offerings by launching new products to cater to all businesses from small businesses to businesses with about 200 users. The three new voice products the company has added to its product listing includes two new VCX Connect models plus the 3Com Asterisk Appliance.

The 3Com Asterisk Appliance is a self-contained unit that is based on Digium’s Asterisk Appliance. It is, of course, an open source system an is designed for small businesses with only 5 to 30 phone users. Being a self-contained unit the ease of setting it up is remarkable allowing users to simply plug-and-play. 3Com Asterisk works on all of 3Com’s phone handsets. Support and service is no problem since 3Com offers full service, warranty and support for it. The list price of the 3Com Asterisk is $1,595 at present.

The release of 3Com Asterisk Appliance is a strategic decision for 3Com as they emerge from their relative non-activity in the voice space. Right now it is the company’s aim to focus on “delivering products and solutions for converged secure networks, in which voice is an application that can be readily integrated with many others.” This makes the decision to use Asterisk a sound one since, as 3Com’s senior vice president and general manager, Bob Dechant, said they chose to work with Digium because of its “position as the Asterisk leader [and] its commitment to open standards and the ease-of-use of the appliance.”

Digium, on the other hand, is still assertively marketing their product and despite all the big news surrounding it lately (Read: The awards and the acquisition of Switchvox) the Digium team continues to be enthusiastic about each new appliance that makes use of Asterisk. As Bill Miller, Digium’s vice president of product management and marketing, said, “Digium pioneered Asterisk and is now working to bring the software’s power and rich feature set to a broader array of customers. 3Com’s selection of our new appliance to offer to its own customers validates our strategy of opening new markets to Asterisk by making it user-friendly, and is also testament to the fact that Digium’s products are the gold standard in the Asterisk ecosystem today.”