[Asterisk-Users] Comparison Charts

[Jim Van Meggelen]

asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com wrote:
> I couldnt agree with you more Jim. Im realdy using Asterisk
> and agree 100% with what you say... I was asking for a
> comparison list with other PBX's because for example, for a
> customer, they have heard of Avaya and Cisco and they all are
> selling IP now... So.... In order to get your customer to
> trust Asterisk over those guys, you need to show him the
> diff. Between the two and some lists of the features on the
> others compared to Asterisk..

It kind of reminds me of the challenge in selling the Internet to
management in the early 90s. The trick was getting them to think in a
whole different way. In many cases, they bought into it simply because
they had no choice. Businesses didn't fully get it until everyone was
using it.

You could compare Asterisk to other products, but that wouldn't show it
in its best light. It might be better to explore some of the things that
Asterisk can do that the other systems cannot.

The VoIP part is a total red-herring - we've had VoIP for over 10 years;
the real power is in the flexibility. Defining exactly what that
flexibility is will in large part depend on your audience. Find out what
excites them. Is it cost? Asterisk has a compelling story to tell. Is it
standards-compliance? Asterisk again scores points. Flexibility? Yep.
Open-source (or avoiding vendor lock-in)? You betcha!

I would almost want to see a list of features that those other products
had that could NOT be configured on Asterisk. 

Who really knows what the limits are? Ten years later we're still
finding out new uses for the Internet. I imagine that ten years from now
we'll still be adding "features" to open-source telephony . . . will we
even call it "telephony" then? I'm betting no.




> -----Original Message-----
> From: asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com
> [mailto:asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of
> Jim Van Meggelen
> Sent: Jueves, 10 de Marzo de 2005 12:17 a.m.
> To: 'Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion'
> Subject: RE: [Asterisk-Users] Comparison Charts
> 
> asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com wrote:
>> Guys.
>> 
>> Anybody has a URL or some document with comparison charts with
>> Asterisk's features against other PBXs?
> 
> I would argue that what you ask is in some ways impossible.
> Asterisk is orders of magnitude more flexible than any other
> PBX you may have encountered, because it is more like a
> toolkit than a PBX. Whatever is "missing" can be built, so
> there's no list of features that can ever be considered complete.
> 
> For people who are looking for a PBX that has a user-friendly
> interface and is easy to configure, Asterisk will tend to
> dissappoint. Where Asterisk shines is for those people who
> want to--need to--build their own PBX. People who are willing
> to do the work themselves; designing, testing, debugging,
> re-designing . . . 
> 
> Many of us believe that Asterisk is going to transform the
> telecommunication industry, but it won't do it because it has
> more "features", it'll do it because it puts the control of
> the features list where it belongs: in the customer's hands.
> 
> I would suggest that the best way to approach Asterisk is to
> have a list of things that you need your telephone system to
> do. Then, one-by-one, figure out how to handle each of those
> in Asterisk. When you are done, you may have a few that you
> couldn't find a satisfactory solution to. Those can typically
> be custom developed, and surprisingly, you will still
> probably come in at a lower cost than a closed, so-called
> full-featured proprietary system.
> 
> What's more, as your needs grow, Asterisk can grow with you.
> Five years from now you won't need to hear "oh sorry but that
> system is no longer supported". Want new functionality?
> Install it. Is the hard drive wearing out? Replace it. Need
> more CPU power? Migrate to a new chassis.
> 
> Asterisk changes all the rules. Therfore, to understand it,
> you have to adopt a new way of thinking about telecom systems.
> 
> Welcome to Asterisk!

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