[Asterisk-biz] Looking for a configuration software

[Colin Anderson]

>Very simple:   vi extensions.conf

>What more do you need?


With respect, that's not practical if the expectation is for the Asterisk
platform is to hit critical mass. While other PBX vendors take the "It's my
way, or the highway" approach to configuration, it's not enough for Asterisk
to simply ape that model simply because the credibility of the platform with
CxO's has not been established on the same level as a Cisco or a Nortel or
what have you. Asterisk has to do it better, cheaper, and, yes, *more
intuitively* than everyone else if it wants to compete. 

I read an article recently in the Globe & Mail about VoIP adoption and the
last part was a few quotes from Mark S about Asterisk and a quote from a
Gartner talking head that basically dismissed the Asterisk movement; he said
he was "highly skeptical" that any open source platform would be able to
compete with the big players (I'm paraphrasing) and really, he probably said
it because the Asterisk platform had no credibility with him. Problem is,
people listen to Gartner Group reports. The unfortunate reality of business
is that pretty screenshots sell software, vi does not. 

You know, and I know, and all of the other guys on the lists know, that vi
kicks ass and you can do magic with it. That being said, we are .0001% of
the past, present, and future potential users of Asterisk and insisting that
the user use vi to edit .conf files can only hurt platform adoption. The
days of white coated priests muttering incantations over a screen littered
with mystic heiroglyphics are over, and business adopters *want* products
that are easy to administrate.  

There is always the argument that this is a professional platform and it
requires a professional to administrate, to which I say: "Why?" Why can't
the complexity of the platform be abstracted to the point where the
secretary can at least add an extension or reroute a DID? Something like
that *adds* to the value of the platform.  This is why I applaud the efforts
of companies like Coalescent who want to bring Asterisk to the masses. 

Some on -biz may see these type of efforts as grass cutting, but I disagree.
It may take a noob to add an extension or a DID through AMP, but it *does*
and *always will* take a professional to make Asterisk work in a
more-than-casual context, and for that, yes, vi is the answer (or more to
the point: vi extensions_custom.conf), so IMO there's always a piece of the
pie avaliable to integrators and consultants. A working Asterisk install is
the sum of many correctly put together pieces, and an easy admin GUI is just
one aspect. 

Again, with respect. 

>>M. MAINGAULT wrote:

>> I'll be very interested in a software who can generate configurations 
>> files for asterisk : i would like pay once for the software, but not 
>> paid for each configurations (except if the price is low...)