Uses the FreePBX Interface

Apr 2, 2009 12:07 GMT  ·  By

Digium, Inc. announced yesterday, April 1st, the release of the AsteriskNOW 1.5.0 Linux distribution. This version comes with important changes: its base operating system is now CentOS instead of rPath and the default Graphical User Interface (GUI) was changed to FreePBX from AsteriskGUI, though the latter is still available for those who don't need to use the new one. Also, the framework used to communicate with various telephony devices is now DAHDi (Digium Asterisk Hardware Device interface). DAHDi features a new modular architecture and brings a better driver performance.

Being now based on CentOS 5.3, AsteriskNOW got much simpler to manage and update through the yum package manager. Moreover, Digium created a customized software repository to further reduce the time needed to keep Asterisk up to date.

The decision to implement the FreePBX Graphical User Interface has been taken because of the many add-ons available for FreePBX and many users' familiarity with managing it.

About AsteriskNOW and Asterisk

Having included all the necessary software, the AsteriskNOW Linux distribution makes it much easier to install, use and manage the Asterisk open-source telephony engine. Being stripped of any other components that aren't needed to run an Asterisk system, AsteriskNOW is a secure and fast solution.

Created by Digium's founder, Mark Spencer, in 1999, Asterisk is a free, open-source telephony engine and toolkit. While being developed by contributing coders across the globe, testing and bugfixes are provided by the whole community. Asterisk supports the Voice Over IP (VoIP) protocol and offers interoperability between traditional telephony systems (like H.323, SIP, MGCP or SCCP) and VoIP. Regarding hardware support, Asterisk is compatible with many devices including all Digium-created hardware.

Download AsteriskNOW 1.5.0 right now from Softpedia.