[Asterisk-biz] Best stable asterisk release for SOHO for 35 users

[Greg Boehnlein]

On Tue, 1 Nov 2005, Jason Becker wrote:

> Greg Boehnlein wrote:
> > On Mon, 31 Oct 2005, Tom Rymes wrote:
> > 
> > 
> >>What problems? Which version? It works very, very well for me.
> > 
> > 
> > As long as you need to do things the way that A at H has decided is the 
> > "correct" way to do things. If you need to step outside of the basic 
> > parameters for which it was originally intended and do any minute amount 
> > of customization, the chore becomes ominous. The name of the product is 
> > "Asterisk At Home" not, "Asterisk At A Small Business".
> 
> As has been mentioned previously on this list, AMP has customization 
> points that provide advanced users the ability to enhance their systems. 
>    You really are laying it on a bit thick saying that "any minute 
> amount" of customization is "omninous". I'm not sure what your 
> motivation is to spread this FUD but your statement is patently false.

Not in my experiences. In my personal experiences w/ A at H, the biggest 
problem is the learning curve to do something productive in it. I have 
years of dial plan code that I've built for various purposes, and it is 
far more efficient to take simple, stable, proven snippets of the code 
that I've built to design custom dial-plans for customers than it is to 
work through the AMP interface. 90% of my customer base does NOT want to 
think about their PBX, or control what it does. They prefer to purchase a 
solution that is fixed in configuration and design, but adds the 
opportunities for them to take advantage of new technology and protocols 
when they are ready and comfortable to do so. We can educate them on what 
their options are and try to tell them about all the whizz bang things 
that they can do, but small business customers care more about focusing on 
their business than maintaining their PBX. They are happy to pay someone 
w/ the expertise a few extra dollars to maintain their system for them. In 
that situation, A at H opens up a ton of complexity and potential security 
issues (Apache, MySQL, Php etc...) rather than a paired down, customized 
system managable via SSH.

For the other 10% that DO want to muck about w/ their PBX and control it 
themselves, we give them three options: A at H, SwitchVox or PBXware. To 
date, after trying the commerical alternatives, no one has chosen A at H. 
They are too used to things like Altigen, which in general make a lot of 
sense, where AMP is designed less for user friendliness and more for 
functionality. So, when they see a Switchvox or PBXware interface, they 
immediately feel comfortable.

Of course, YMMV....
 
> > Just as Digium about the nightmares they have in their support desk 
> > because of A at H.
> 
> If Digium's support desk has nightmares because of A at H then I'd 
> respectfully submit that the reason for that is that Digium's support 
> organization is trying to maintain a moribund paradigm and that 
> consumers of Asterisk (especially SMBs) want an implementation with a 
> standardized feature set and administrative GUI.
> 
> To be fair, Asterisk is a telephony toolkit and Digium's support 
> organization faces many challenges in supporting everything from 
> embedded to carrier-grade deployments. My hat's off to them in this respect.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Jason
> >  
> > 
> >>Tom
> >>
> >>On Oct 31, 2005, at 5:02 PM, Greg Boehnlein wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>>On Mon, 31 Oct 2005, Tom Rymes wrote:
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>>Asterisk at Home, IMNSHO is definitely the way to go for a Small office
> >>>>with 35 users. Which version of A at H had the bug you are talking about
> >>>>(which has been fixed, as mentioned...)??
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>>No.. oh god NO! PLEASE do not reccomend A at H to people that need a  
> >>>business
> >>>system! I've had nothing but grief with it, and as a course of  
> >>>action have
> >>>reccomended SwitchVox or PBXware as alternatives!
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>-- 
> >>>    Vice President of N2Net, a New Age Consulting Service, Inc.  
> >>>Company
> >>>         http://www.n2net.net Where everything clicks into place!
> >>>                             KP-216-121-ST
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>_______________________________________________
> >>>Asterisk-Biz mailing list
> >>>Asterisk-Biz at lists.digium.com
> >>>http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-biz
> >>>
> >>
> >>_______________________________________________
> >>Asterisk-Biz mailing list
> >>Asterisk-Biz at lists.digium.com
> >>http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-biz
> >>
> > 
> > 
> 
> 
> 

-- 
    Vice President of N2Net, a New Age Consulting Service, Inc. Company
         http://www.n2net.net Where everything clicks into place!
                             KP-216-121-ST