Dialogue with Danny
My conversation with Danny Windham, Digium’s CEO, ran this week on NoJitter: :A Dialogue with Digium’s Danny. It was a pleasure to speak with Danny, he sets folks at ease and responds in a very friendly yet direct way. One…
Switchvox SMB 4.5 Raises the Bar
Digium quietly released a fairly significant upgrade to its flagship business VoIP solution, Switchvox SMB. The release offers a number of improvements and continues to position the solution as a strong value. If you are not familiar with Switchvox, it…
Astricon Update
At Astricon this week and a few quick thoughts to share. More reflective thoughts will come later. This year, Asterisk is 10 years old. This is the 6th Astricon Conference and reportedly the largest (barely) ever. It is still a…
Astricon
Astricon is coming up next month. I attended last year and am excited about attending this year. The open source nature of Asterisk results with more developers working on it than any other telecom solution. As a result, going to…
The FAX About Switchvox SMB 4
Last week, Digium announced details about the upcoming release of the Switchvox SMB 4.0 IP PBX. The release represents the first major upgrade since Digium acquired Switchvox, and it is clear Digium is serious about this platform. The upgrade contains…
“Digital Phones Are The Future” Anonymous 1976
Everything old becomes new again. Dumb terminals are dead (just don’t call a thin client dumb!). UNIX chat was so 80s (IMHO), and digital phones are doomed (to return). We live in a connected world. The Internet has enabled…
At Home With Switchvox SMB
Let me take a minute to express why I love my Digium Switchvox SMB system at my home. First off, no one needs a Switchvox SMB at home. It is a bit like using a fire hose to water the…
PBX Needs to Change (or Die)
Pop Quiz: If you had to do without a phone for a week with minimal disruption, which would it be; the PBX/office phone or the cell phone? The vast majority of the people I’ve spoken to say they could…
Cloudy Forecast: Intel Outside
I am tired of the Mac vs. PC battle. I can remember it for at least 20 years. I’ve heard all the arguments and I’ve been a happy user in both environments. But I’ve settled it, and I’m done….
Current SIP Phones Limit Asterisk
There are multiple kinds of PBX buyers, but primarily two. Enterprise buyers are mostly interested in application breadth, support, manageability, and interoperability. SMB buyers tend to be less technical and seek simplicity, features but to a lesser level than the…
“9 to get out” is Out.
Some habits are hard to kick. My son asked me why we “dial” a phone? That question really surprised me. Upon discussion, I realized that he had never seen a rotary phone. Fortunately, good ol dad had a rotary phone…
The Problem with the PBX is the Phone
There are few things in the high tech world that have remained effectively unchanged in the past 40 years. Two major commonly used items stand out; the keyboard and the desk phone. Ok, obviously how these items are…
SIP Carriers Still Buggy
I know SIP works. I know there are several good SIP carriers out there like Cbeyond and Bandwidth.com. But I also know SIP has a long way to go. I have a Switchvox in the home. So, Cbeyond and BW.com…
A Day at VoiceCon – SFO
Made a day trip to San Francisco for a few tasks including VoiceCon. Not used to the big city crowds. Fortunately VoiceCon offered a break from city life with wide open spaces. A few observations. Completely surprised how many booths…
SIP Phones and PBX – Disconnected!
Disruptive technologies tend to follow a simple, predictable pattern. First the technology is a niche play – strong benefits, but baggage make it appropriate for specific niches. The digital camera is a good example, they were initially used by…
Part 3: Switchvox at Home – Phones
I believe Digium, particularly with the Switchvox product, is going to continue to shake up this industry with revolutionary simplicity and capability. However, the revolution is still ahead of us. One of the biggest areas for improvement needed is tighter…
Switchvox at Home Part 2
Continuing observations of a full featured PBX in a home environment. As my journey continues, my respect for the Switchvox grows, as does my realization that this industry has a long way to go. In a residential setting, the most…
Home Phone??? Part 1
I’ve been in telecom most of my life now, and always assumed someday I would have a phone system in my home. Though there wasn’t a particular need for anything other than intercom, I knew from experience that if you…
Landlines going the way of the Dodo
This month, Neilsen reported that 20 million homes have cut the landline cord. About 5 years ago, my friend Jules cut the cord and he, his wife, and newborn son lived in a home with a single cell phone. At…