Asterisk really started to make a splash on the Internet in late 2003 when it became fairly stable and early
adopters started to pick up on VoIP. Since most early adopters were hard-core technophiles who were
looking for a program that was free or cheap, and could be easily configured to do everything from the
simple and the mundane to the downright odd, Asterisk was in the right place at the right time.To say it
caught on like wildfire is a bit of an understatement. Today, Asterisk is still very active within the hobbyist’s
realm. Small groups are setting up Asterisk servers for both public and private use, one of them being the
Collector’s Net previously mentioned.There are also groups of phone phreaks— people who hack on the
telephone network—who are taking the leap into the digital realm, setting up projects such as Bell’s Mind
(http://www.bellsmind.net) and Telephreak (http://www.telephreak.org). For phone phreaks, the ability to
run a telephone system in the privacy of one’s own home is just as exciting as when the first personal
computers became available to computer hackers. Not only is Asterisk actively thriving in the hobbyist
scene, it is also making beachheads into the Enterprise realm. A university in Texas recently replaced their
1600-phone strong mix of Nortel PBXes and Cisco Call Manager installations with Asterisk.The reasons
for this were both the cost of licensing each phone to Cisco, and security concerns due to the fact they ran
on Windows 2000. A town in Connecticut recently deployed a 1500-phone Asterisk system, where each
department customized it for its own needs, such as the school department’s automated cancellation
notification system. Not only is Asterisk making it easy for companies to replace their existing telephone
systems, it is making it easy for telephone companies to have the ability to handle VoIP. Numerous
Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs) are jumping onto the VoIP bandwagon and setting it up to
handle VoIP from the consumer side (or handle it internally) for either a value-added service or a
cost-saving measure.
adopters started to pick up on VoIP. Since most early adopters were hard-core technophiles who were
looking for a program that was free or cheap, and could be easily configured to do everything from the
simple and the mundane to the downright odd, Asterisk was in the right place at the right time.To say it
caught on like wildfire is a bit of an understatement. Today, Asterisk is still very active within the hobbyist’s
realm. Small groups are setting up Asterisk servers for both public and private use, one of them being the
Collector’s Net previously mentioned.There are also groups of phone phreaks— people who hack on the
telephone network—who are taking the leap into the digital realm, setting up projects such as Bell’s Mind
(http://www.bellsmind.net) and Telephreak (http://www.telephreak.org). For phone phreaks, the ability to
run a telephone system in the privacy of one’s own home is just as exciting as when the first personal
computers became available to computer hackers. Not only is Asterisk actively thriving in the hobbyist
scene, it is also making beachheads into the Enterprise realm. A university in Texas recently replaced their
1600-phone strong mix of Nortel PBXes and Cisco Call Manager installations with Asterisk.The reasons
for this were both the cost of licensing each phone to Cisco, and security concerns due to the fact they ran
on Windows 2000. A town in Connecticut recently deployed a 1500-phone Asterisk system, where each
department customized it for its own needs, such as the school department’s automated cancellation
notification system. Not only is Asterisk making it easy for companies to replace their existing telephone
systems, it is making it easy for telephone companies to have the ability to handle VoIP. Numerous
Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs) are jumping onto the VoIP bandwagon and setting it up to
handle VoIP from the consumer side (or handle it internally) for either a value-added service or a
cost-saving measure.
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