Asterisk maker Digium Inc. yesterday released its first ever
software appliance, which the vendor said eases installation and
implementation for SMBs.
Dubbed AsteriskNOW, the appliance features Digium's own GUI and
a setup wizard that guides users through the step-by-step
installation process. According to Bill Miller, vice president of
product management and marketing for Digium, the solution can be up
and running in about 30 minutes.
Miller said the AsteriskNOW distribution includes all the Linux
components necessary to run, debug and build Asterisk, making the
open-source telephony easier to install and maintain in an office
setting or, in some cases, even at home. Users can navigate through
the wizard, which includes the ability to use default dial plans
and easy configurations.
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The GUI is flexible and gives users the ability to add, modify and
delete users, Miller said. Download options include ISO/CD image,
VM Player image, Xen universal guest image and LiveCD.
"This will enable small businesses with no technical ability to
install and try out Asterisk," he said. "It eliminates the
complexity. It really takes the pain out of learning the open
source model." Miller added that new users need no previous Linux
experience.
AsteriskNOW will give SMB users a stab at VoIP, Miller said.
And, by later this year, companies will be able to upgrade to
Asterisk Business Edition from AsteriskNOW directly from the
GUI.
"This will really get them to understand the power of Asterisk
and VoIP," he said.
Mark Spencer, Digium president and Asterisk creator, said the
initial beta version of AsteriskNOW was downloaded more than 2,000
times per day without promotion last month.
"Unlike other Linux distributions used to deploy Asterisk,
AsteriskNOW does not have unnecessary components that could
compromise security or performance," Spencer said.
AsteriskNOW is based on the recently released Asterisk 1.4. The
AsteriskNOW.org Web site includes a forum for community support and
feedback and a developer blog.