asterisk

Combining cloud and open source for phone calls

A new service called OpenVBX from cloud-communication provider Twilio hopes to change the way we think about and deploy phone services for businesses large and small.

Twilio provides a programmatic approach to phone calls much in the same way that we apply business logic through HTTP or XML for complex applications.

OpenVBX is a Web-based phone system that provides for virtual phone numbers as well as a wide range of other functions that are programmable through the OpenVBX plug-in API in PHP OpenVBX lets you take advantage of all of Twilio's integrated services, like text to speech, voice transcription, … Read more

Bare-bones password recovery

We can think of two potential uses for Asterisk Key. Perhaps, like many of us, you have allowed your browser to store a password for a Web site you frequently access, only to realize in time that you've forgotten what the password actually is. Or, more nefariously, perhaps you have decided that you need or want to know someone else's password for a particular site. However pure or impure your motives, Asterisk Key can help--sometimes.

The most important thing to know about Asterisk Key is that it seems to work only with Internet Explorer. We tried it with … Read more

No surprises here

This password display app is a little thin, and it's not entirely because of the partial transparency of the interface. Asterisks Password Viewer's simple dialog-sized interface is inexplicably semitransparent. There really isn't a need for the interface at all, but there is no reason to make it ghostly or to not let the user choose his or her preference.

In a common case of shareware name following function, Asterisks Password Viewer displays system passwords obscured by asterisks. Simply drag its magnifying glass icon over a protected password to reveal the true characters. Of course, the demo only … Read more

Skype to be integrated into Asterisk PBXs

The open-source PBX platform Asterisk is to gain Skype functionality, Asterisk's primary developer, Digium, announced on Thursday.

The beta version of Skype For Asterisk, an add-on channel driver module, will make it possible to use the popular Web-telephony service through Asterisk-based, small-business phone systems. A channel driver manages incoming or outgoing calls, acting as an interface for various standards, such as SIP or IAX2. The companies say Skype For Asterisk will enable low-cost, global calling through such systems, while using existing hardware.

"Working together with Skype, our goal is to help businesses boost productivity and reap the rewards … Read more

A USB hub for San Francisco Giants fans

Being a native of the wasteland that is Southern California, fellow Craver Erica Ogg will take any opportunity to take a cheap shot at a San Francisco sports franchise. We won't lower ourselves to that kind of sniping (other than to say the Dodgers suck) in offering this alternative to the product she used as an excuse to sully the name of Barry Bonds.

Like its "asterisk" counterpart, Brando's "Star Hub II" is designed to avoid the dreaded Port Blocking Syndrome by contorting into different positions and angles as needed. It also doesn't … Read more

A USB hub for Barry Bonds?

I know what I'm getting Major League Baseball's all-time leading home run hitter for his birthday this year.

A big, fat asterisk.

I know, I know. I'm the most generous Dodgers' fan ever, right? Besides being eminently appropriate, and just plain awesome-looking, this asterisk is actually useful. Especially if Barry has, say, a MacBook Air.

This asterisk is a four-port USB hub created by industrial designer Joel Escalona. It's also bright red, and very sleek.

(Note: depending on where your sports loyalties lie, this gift can also work for Roger Clemens, Bill Belichick, or any member of the New England Patriots.) … Read more

Asterisk turns 1,000,000; Digium finishes off a banner year

Most people will never have heard of Asterisk, yet it's a sure bet that an increasing number of these same people make calls with it each day. This week, Asterisk registered its 1,000,000th download, while the company behind Asterisk, Digium, continued its dominance with its 24th straight quarter of growth.

Is there an end in sight for Digium's/Asterisk's success? Not anytime soon, it would appear. Tim O'Reilly has called Asterisk the industry's most under-appreciated open-source success story, and he's probably right, though it depends on whom you ask. Industry pundits may … Read more

Digium and the open-source telephony revolution (Hint: It's well under way)

I've long been an admirer of Digium, the company behind Asterisk, the world's leading open-source telephony platform. Tim O'Reilly has been a longtime proponent of Digium and Asterisk, but I admit that I haven't paid enough attention to the telephony market to understand its importance fully.

I was fortunate to spend some time on the phone with Mark Spencer, founder of Digium and the Asterisk project, and he set me straight on how Digium is doing (Teaser: Exceptionally well), and what it's like to seed a market for one's competition:… Read more

3Com goes VoIP with Asterisk

Surely, 3Com could have written its own VoIP software. In fact, it has, releasing two new products recently based on its own technology. But the more interesting release is its OEM'ing of Digium's Asterisk-based VOIP appliance.

"Digium is the leader in open source telephony, so we are partnering with the most significant company in that space," [3Com marketing director Kevin] Flanagan said. "By taking the [Digium] Asterisk Appliance and placing a 3Com UI on it and supporting it with our Global Service organization, which we believe no other open source telephony provider can do, we … Read more

Digium: Eating its own Asterisk dog food

Digium is still acquisition fodder itself, but the company has decided to do an acquisition of its own, purchasing one of its partners, Switchvox, as CRN reports:

Digium is stirring up the open-source community it helped create by buying one of the vendors that has built an IP-PBX on its Asterisk VoIP platform. Digium Thursday will unveil plans to acquire Switchvox, one of the many SMB-focused vendors that have cropped up in recent years with products built on top of Digium's open-source Asterisk VoIP software. Digium is the primary developer of Asterisk.… Read more