[asterisk-users] Asterisk CSTA

[David Backeberg]

On Wed, Jul 22, 2009 at 4:03 PM, gergis.rasmy<gergis.rasmy at gmail.com> wrote:
> does Asterisk suppoet CSTA protocol for CTI applications

I'd never heard of it, so I googled it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer-supported_telecommunications_applications

So, ummm, I can't think of a good synonym for this, but it sounds like
it's a high-level abstraction of how people may choose to communicate
using 'computers' and 'technology'. While I've never heard of Asterisk
explicitly supporting this, it sounds like:
* partial implementations of features is good enough to be considered
'implementing' the protocol
* because you can use asterisk to make phone calls, asterisk could be
coerced to meet this model if there is some reason that it does not
now meet the requirements that I could find in my ten minute googling.

The stuff about XML and high-level ways of initiating communications
independent of a channel sounds cool, but also kind of iconoclastic
and against the traditional way of how PBX systems are designed and
thought of. I think of 'phones' people talking about PRIs and DSPs and
TLAs, and being knee-deep in signaling protocols. My thoughts reading
the documents for some CSTA conference:
* oh no, another protocol
* and we thought people had trouble with the learning curve of phones
and asterisk _before_
* interoperability is already a problem with simple, fairly
straightforward protocols. Good luck building a high level interface
that makes the underlying implementation incompatibilities go away.