An incredible revolution is under way. It has been a long time coming, but now that it has started, there will be no stopping it. It is taking place in an area of technology that has lapsed embarrassingly far behind every other industry that calls itself high-tech. The industry is telecommunications, and the revolution is being fueled by an open standards business telephone system called Asterisk™.

Telecommunications is arguably the last major electronics industry that has (until now) remained untouched by the open source revolution. Major telecommunications manufacturers still build ridiculously expensive, incompatible systems, running complicated, ancient code on impressively engineered yet obsolete hardware.

As an example, Nortels’ Business Communications Manager kludges together a Windows NT 4.0 server, a 15-year-old VXWorks-based Key Telephone Switch, and a 700-MHz PC. All this can be yours for between 5 and 15 thousand dollars, not including telephones. If you want to actually do anything interesting, you’ll have to pay extra
licensing fees for closes, limited-functionality, shrink-wrapped applications. Customization? Forget it—it’s not in the plan.

Future technology and standards compliance? Give them a year or two—they’re working on it. All of the major telecommunications manufacturers offer similar-minded products. They don't want you to have flexibility or choice; they want you to be locked into their product cycles. Convertec business telephone systems powered by Asterisk change all that.

With a Convertec phone system powered by Asterisk, no one is telling you how your phone system works, or what technology you are limited to. If you want it, you can usually have it. Asterisk lovingly embraces the concept of standards compliance, while also enjoying the freedom to develop its own innovations. What you choose to implement is up to you—Asterisk imposes no limits.

Copyright O'Reilly: "Asterisk, The Future of Telephony"

Already running Asterisk, FreePBX, Trixbox, etc? The experts at Convertec can help you troubleshoot many of the issues experienced by installers, techs, and users. We guarantee our work and rates start at only $65.00 an hour! Call us at 1-800-928-3109 or email support@convertecsolutions.com for immediate assistance. We also provide SIP origination/termination/and DID services. 

Convertec Phone System Data Sheet PDF (34.8K)