[asterisk-biz] Check this out :(

Thu Oct 11 21:00:22 CDT 2007

I get a kick out of people talking about this product like they have been
using it for years.  There aren't even any detailed spec's out and nobody
really knows the price.  It's just Marketecture at this point. The pricing
they have talked about doesn't include the external PSTN gateway for one
thing and no talk of optional features which they will of course charge more
for.

And do you really think this thing will "just work" right out of the box
first revision?  Since when has ANYTHING "just worked" from M$ right out of
the gate or even 2 or 3 revisions later.  And we are not talking about some
consumer toy here.  It's a business PBX so the bar is MUCH higher and the
customer MUCH more discerning.

Actually, I seem to recall the same sorts of discussions when Linksys was
coming out with their SPA9000 and now here we are and nothing has really
changed.  It doesn't work as well as people thought it would.  It is more
expensive than people thought it would be once you put together all the
pieces and add all the options.  This is Linksys/Cisco which has a lot more
telecom experience and focus than M$.

-----Original Message-----
From: Alex Balashov [mailto:abalashov at evaristesys.com] 
Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2007 2:48 PM
To: Commercial and Business-Oriented Asterisk Discussion
Subject: Re: [asterisk-biz] Check this out :(

Yeah, but it has brand identity and well-defined, ubiquitous purpose and 
performance characteristics.  Of course, as you rightly observe, that can
have nothing to do with intrinsic merit or the monetisation aspect of
market acceptance (as opposed to the "hype" aspect).

I would wager there is going to be a lot of noise about Microsoft 
telephony systems in the foreseeable future, due to its ability to
engineer it.  But it seems to me like a very inflexible small-office
PBX;  the moment any kind of sophistication or polymorphism is required,
it's time to look elsewhere for something customisable, open-source and
multifarious.

And VoIP is kind of like that - look at all the things we are doing with 
it every day that extend far, far outside the domain of traditional PBX 
expectations.  Customised IVR systems, data acquisition interfaces, some 
degree of carrier network element functionality and switching, 
translation, routing, peering... a lot of the ingenuity of what is, in the
end, a business-oriented Asterisk PBX system depends on the ability to
flexibly integrate this type of functionality.

-- Alex

On Thu, 11 Oct 2007, shadowym wrote:

> The Xbox is just a PC running gaming software for the consumer market.
They
> have remained committed to it for years and lost a lot of money in the
> process.  Despite what "impression" you may have by all the advertising
and
> hype, they continue to be spanked by Nintendo which sells 2 or 3 boxes for
> every one Xbox.  Or maybe it's the Sony or maybe both.  Can't remember
which
> but Google will tell you.
>
> The only reason people seem to want it is for online Halo so it's a one
> trick pony.  They just lost a billion dollars on that massive recall for
> consoles going dead as well.
>
> From: Aleks Clark [mailto:aleks.clark at gmail.com]
> Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2007 10:49 AM
> To: Commercial and Business-Oriented Asterisk Discussion
> Subject: Re: [asterisk-biz] Check this out :(
>
> I dunno about the core competency...seems the Xbox is doing ok :D
> On 10/11/07, Alex Balashov <abalashov at evaristesys.com
> <mailto:abalashov at evaristesys.com> > wrote:
>
> Indeed.  We should all so be so lucky as to have an R&D budget 1/128th of
> that size.  I've got lots of stuff I'd like to throw at the wall.  I'm
> sure you do too.
>
> On Thu, 11 Oct 2007, shadowym wrote:
>
>> I agree,
>>
>> M$ is a blaster company.  They blast the wall with all sorts of stuff to
> see
>> what sticks and if nothing much happens after a year or two they move on.
>> The farther away they are from their core competency the less likey they
>> will remain committed to making a good product and sticking with it.  An
> IP
>> PBX is a LONG ways from their core compentency.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Alex Balashov [mailto:abalashov at evaristesys.com]
>> Sent: Wednesday, October 10, 2007 11:28 PM
>> To: Commercial and Business-Oriented Asterisk Discussion
>> Subject: Re: [asterisk-biz] Check this out :(
>>
>>
>> I am not particularly beset with the impression that the VoIP business
>> community has anything to fear from this product or the particular
>> vendor's attempt to enter the space.
>>
>> On Mon, 10 Sep 2007, Derrick Moennick wrote:
>>
>>> Looks like just another strong player entering into the IP telephony
>>> world to make sure the world goes this route.
>>>
>>> Derrick
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: asterisk-biz-bounces at lists.digium.com
>>> [mailto: <mailto:asterisk-biz-bounces at lists.digium.com>
> asterisk-biz-bounces at lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Michael S.
>>> White
>>> Sent: Wednesday, October 10, 2007 6:57 PM
>>> To: 'Commercial and Business-Oriented Asterisk Discussion'
>>> Subject: Re: [asterisk-biz] Check this out :(
>>>
>>> I noticed this a while back - My thoughts were.
>>>
>>> Hmmm. I'm sure it will only require 3-4 reboots a day!
>>>
>>> Mike
>>> http://www.8774e4voip.com <http://www.8774e4voip.com/>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Saysan Wrote-
>>> http://www.microsoft.com/responsepoint/default.mspx
>>>
>>
>> --
>> Alex Balashov
>> Evariste Systems
>> Web    : http://www.evaristesys.com/
>> Tel    : +1-678-954-0670
>> Direct : +1-678-954-0671
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>
> --
> Alex Balashov
> Evariste Systems
> Web    : http://www.evaristesys.com/
> Tel    : +1-678-954-0670
> Direct : +1-678-954-0671
>
> _______________________________________________
> --Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com--
>
> asterisk-biz mailing list
> To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit:
>   http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-biz
>
>
>
> -- 
> Aleks Clark
> 941-961-9713
> http://built-it.net
>

--
Alex Balashov
Evariste Systems
Web    : http://www.evaristesys.com/
Tel    : +1-678-954-0670
Direct : +1-678-954-0671