Category Archives: GUI

Installing Asterisk with a GUI on Linux

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I don’t know how I missed this, but I just came across an excellent Asterisk How-to guide on howtoforge.com, the excellent site that houses an increasing amount of guides of doing many things on Linux. The article is entitled “Installing the Asterisk PBX and The Asterisk Web-Based Provisioning GUI on Linux” and it provides a good step-by-step guide on getting started with Asterisk PBX on your favorite Linux distribution.

The guide is neatly organized into chronological sessions that you can follow step by step if you want to implement your own Asterisk PBX or if you would just like to try it out.

The guide assumes a Linux Red Hat ES4 distribution though if you know your way well enough around Linux, you can easily adopt it to suit your own Linux distribution of choice.

The first part of the guide is about installing and configuring the core Asterisk package, and the guide provides clear and concise instructions you can follow. The steps looks easy enough that most Linux users familiar with fiddling with their system can easily follow it. Just in case something doesn’t work though, you’re kind of left with your own “googling” skills. At the end of the 7-step part of the installation howto, you will have a working Asterisk installation on Linux. The guide provides basic test instructions that you can use to verify if your installation of Asterisk was succesful.

Next, the how-to discusses the necessary steps needed for you to install and configure the Asterisk manager: the component of Asterisk that lets you manage your Asterisk PBX. The guide also discusses AJAM, a new feature found in Asterisk 1.4 that allows a web browser or any http-enabled application to access the Asterisk Management Interface

The second page (and the last part) of the guide is about installing the Asterisk Web-Based Provisioning GUI. Although Asterisk can be used through the command line without this component, installing the Web-based GUI will simplify and make things a lot easier if you’re maintaining an Asterisk deployment. Again, the guide provides an extensive and yet easy to follow set of instructions to guide any user trying to install the web-based Asterisk GUI.

Overall, the guide is a good starting point if you want to get your hands dirty with Asterisk PBX.

Digium Acquires Switchvox

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Digium Inc., the company behind the popular open source VOIP platform Asterisk, has announced that it has acquired Switchvox, a leading provider of IP PBX phone systems for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). This acquisition strengthens Digium’s presence in the SMB market and provides even more avenue for the deployment and improvement of its Asterisk-based solutions.

Switchvox is the world’s largest supplier of open source IP-PBX products for businesses, with an estimated 65000 end points in operation. The company offers CPE-based solutions powered by Asterisk (with Swithcvox’s own custom code added).

To some extent, specifically in the area of making Asterisk easy to use and providing a GUI for the powerful asterisk platform that is easy to use for its customers, Switchvox embodies what Asterisk is striving to become. Switchvox has succesfully marketed to the SMB market their VOIP and hybrid solutions, building both on the power of Asterisk and their expertise on creating a user-interface that is both intuitive and user-empowering.

Switchvox also features integration with leading leading CRM applications SugarCRM and SalesForce.com, as well as with Google Maps. With its new Switchvox SMB V3.0, detailed information from SugarCRM and Salesforce.com automatically pop-up on incoming calls via the Switchboard.The integration of Google Maps makes it possible to locate where inbound calls are coming from, empowering the users more to adopt to potential leads.

Digium and Switchvox are undergoing heavy integration of the two company’s products and solutions, and plans to unveil a new product strategy and roadmap later this year focusing on asterisk-based unified communication solutions for their SMB and enterprise customers.

But until Digium rebrands and relaunches Switchvox products under the Digium brand, Switchvox products will retain their branding for the forseeable months.

With regards to proprietary components of Switchvox’s offerings, Mark Spencer of Digium expressed interest in making them open source (Digium is a big proponent of open source) to add to the current open source Asterisk.

The acquisition looks like an excellent marriage of two companies with complementary strengths in the IP PBX space, with both parties expressing interest and and excitement on the acquisition. Josh Stephen, President and CEO of Switchvox, has this to say:

“The entire Switchvox team is excited to become part of the Digium family and to be entering this new phase of the company’s life. We look forward to extending the reach of Asterisk and other Digium products, making them more accessible to more people. We have been working on a road map that we feel will change the IP PBX landscape, and with the knowledge and help of Digium we will to be able to work faster than ever to bring those features to market.”

And on their blog, Bill Miller said:

“Danny and Josh, the two respective CEOs will publish their thoughts here shortly, I am prefacing their post by telling you, “Woo hoo!!!!!!!!!” Get ready to Rock and Roll with Digium and Switchvox. When “best of breeds” get together, the results are “best of the best” so join us for the ride!”