[asterisk-users] Microsoft launches first PABX

[Christopher Chan]

Anselm Martin Hoffmeister wrote:
> Am Donnerstag, den 22.03.2007, 22:17 -0700 schrieb shadowym:
>> As far as I can tell, the phone system does not run on a Desktop/Server OS
>> on a standard PC.  Just the config clients run on the desktop.
>>
>> Then again they are using Dlink as one of the 3 manufacturers of the Phone
>> Server so I wouldn't expect commercial grade.
> 
> Let us wait for the actual implementation before ranting too much - I
> have certain, not the best, expectations of any new MS products, but
> they might one day be proven untrue.

I have yet to see anything that does turn into a mess from M$.

> 
> I have to admin though that the combination of D-Link and MS does not
> exactly stand for highest quality, reliable, bugfree products. But they
> might once produce a great product.

On the Mac OS X side of things...

> 
> The most interesting of all this for me is which protocols they will
> use, e.g. wether they will talk SIP, or rather "MS OpenIAX" or "Skype2.0
> protocol", or something completely new and not just slightly
> uncompatible.

Given M$ history, it will probably be another embrace, extend and 
extinguish the old.

> 
> Let us see the facts: Telephone systems with more than a handful
> telephones and more than just the ability to call (be it voicemail,
> conferencing, queues, agents...) are complicated, and in most cases need
> to be tailored to the customers' needs. As long as the "customer" is not
> an IT-ish company, they will hopefully understand that getting all the
> knowledge about this internally costs work hours (and thus, money) the
> same - and experience is something that can not be learned in a few
> hours of document study and point-and-clicking. High-quality solutions
> need professional hands, pals, possibly yours.
> 
> This will by no means be the death of the technical consulting around
> telephone PABXs.

Er...is not this what asterisk is about? telephone PABX guys sniff at 
computer guys moving in their space.