More bells and whistles in latest Asterisk release

Stuart Corner
Wednesday, 13 September 2006 10:00

Business IT - Technology

Digium, developer and promoter of the Asterisk open source IP PABX software, has released Asterisk 1.4, the first major upgrade since the release of Asterisk 1.2 in November 2005.
It is claimed to have over 20 new functionality additions including IP fax compatibility, unified messaging capabilities and Jabber/Jingle/GoogleTalk protocol compatibilities as well as overall quality and performance improvements, and increased scalability and interoperability.

Specific enhancements include:
- A generic jitter buffer that improves the quality of a call during network congestion.
- Asterisk Extension Language Version 2 that simplifies programming and dial plan configuration.
- T.38 allowing IP faxes to pass through the server.
- Compatibility with Jabber/Jingle/GoogleTalk-
- New language capabilities in English, Spanish and French as well as new sounds and improved sentence structure support.
- The ability to integrate voicemail, email, and fax into a central mailbox where users can send, retrieve and manage all of their messages using any communication device.
- Whisper Paging allowing for selective, pre-programmed call interruption with controlled volume levels and muting capabilities.
Asterisk 1.4 will be available for download on Digium's website (www.digium.com) in October.