resource center
  See your link here
|
Computerworld -
. . . as open-source private branch exchange software with integrated voice-over-IP capabilities gains adherents. "I believe they already know they're doomed," suggests Brian Capouch, chairman of the computer science department at Saint Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Ind.
Capouch argues that giant telecommunications providers and PBX manufacturing goliaths don't stand a chance against perky start-ups such as Huntsville, Ala.-based Digium Inc. and San Diego-based Four Loop Technologies LLC, which does business under the name Switchvox. Those vendors use Asterisk, an open-source technology that lets companies replace their PBX systems and use VoIP to transmit phone calls. Switchvox CEO Joshua Stephens says Asterisk lets you use a standard Linux server to connect to your network via a T1 line for traditional analog calls or to your Internet service provider to support chat via VoIP. Switchvox's system also handles voice mail like e-mail, meaning you can listen to it, forward it, store it and do anything to voice messages that you can do to e-mail, claims Stephens. Switchvox 2.0 ships at the end of this month and will add conference-room, intercom, call-parking and other new features. Pricing starts at $995.
Capouch says Asterisk and VoIP combined will do to the telecom market what Linux, Apache, MySQL and other open-source technologies have done to the data center: "radically change the landscape." Capouch shrugs off the argument that perceived problems with VoIP call quality may hinder adoption. "Cell phones have lowered people's quality expectations," he notes.
Jorg Janke, founder of ComPiere Inc.
... for an open-source onslaught. Jorg Janke, founder of ComPiere Inc. in Portland, Ore., doesn't argue that SAP AG, Oracle Corp., Lawson Software Inc. and other ERP vendors are doomed by his company's eponymous open-source applications. But he does point to the 900,000 downloads of the software as a measure of its success and to the fact that it took Oracle a long time to be considered a serious player in the global ERP market. And he should know, since he was the first employee that Oracle hired in Germany to help the company compete against SAP. Janke claims that Compiere has 100% availability "not because it's fail-safe, but because it fails safely." He says that developers who try to make perfect software aren't living in the real world. By expecting glitches, Janke builds in persistent consistency checks so Compiere can always revert to the most recent consistent state should a problem occur. Compiere runs on top of an Oracle or Sybase Inc. database;
How to Secure and Accelerate Your Oracle Applications
Learn about the escalating application performance and security challenges facing corporations, today!
Aligning IT to Business: The Rising Importance of Application Delivery Networks
Application Delivery Networking (ADN) will play a vital role in helping enterprises incorporate strategic technologies to achieve business initiatives.
Optimize Performance of Datacenter to Datacenter Traffic
To get the backups and database synchronizations completed on time, enterprises rely on WAN optimization from Blue Coat.
Mitigate Risk, Lower Costs and Improve Network Efficiency
Create a stable IP network that not only meets today's challenges, but is flexible enough to also meet future demands.
Enterprise Application Delivery: No User Left Behind
Gain the ability to deliver applications to all users, using any device, across any network.
Preparing Your Business Services for the Future
Would you trust your network monitoring tools enough to know when something is truly halting a business service?
Practical Strategies to Accelerate Business Applications Across the WAN
Discover how Blue Coat SG appliances, uses five essential techniques to speed delivery of internal and externally hosted business applications
IPAM: Slashing Network Costs
Slashing Network Costs by Consolidating and Automating Core Network Services
Infonetics: WAN Optimization Appliance Market Highlights 1 Q09
Vendor market share positions shuffled once again in 1Q09, learn more now!
Horror stories: Managing IT Across Multiple Locations
How one extra sharp IT manager eliminates daily agony, hassle and repetition.
Sign up to receive updates on the latest Networking and Internet resources
CIO
Computerworld
CSO
DEMO
GamePro
Games.net
IDC
IDG
IDG Connect
IDG Knowledge Hub
IDG TechNetwork
IDG Ventures
IDG.net
InfoWorld
ITwhitepapers
ITworld
JavaWorld
LinuxWorld
Macworld
Network World
PC World
The Industry Standard
Copyright © 1994 - 2009 Computerworld Inc. All
rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium
without express written permission ofComputerworld Inc. is prohibited. Computerworld and Computerworld.com and the respective logos are trademarks of International Data Group Inc. |
