Asterisk VoIP PABX
The Asterisk Voice over IP system is the most advanced PABX system available today. It brings you all the latest features of telephony and is infinitely scalable.
Highlights of Asterisk
- Voicemail for everyone at no extra cost
- Interactive Voice Response (IVR) allows you to set up an intelligent phone system that directs calls quickly to the correct department
- Asterisk has unlimited extensions. No more buying an expensive card for your propriety setup every time you get new employees
- Based on open-source technology and so it’s infinitely expandable
- AGI (Asterisk Gateway Interface) allows custom scripts to interface with the telephony system
- Extremely stable because it runs on the Linux kernel
- Wide range of hardware and software available
- Caller queues and caller groups allows you to more intelligently distribute resources in you company
- Mature technology based on open standards
Implement your Asterisk system with PC Workshop
- Customisation of the system to suite your needs (IVR, queues / caller groups, VoiceMail, Call recording)
- Installation network cabling and telephones
- Least cost router setup
- Installation of console applications, so that everyone in the business can see what’s happening on the switchboard
- Setting up a home extension via a data network, so that calls can easily be transferred from the switchboard to the home extension – free of charge!
- Installation of caller ID scripts that work with your existing customer service / call centre solution
- Basic training on running the phone system – it’s so easy and web-based that you’ll enjoy doing this
- Optional installation and configuration of SugarCRM, world-class open-source customer relationship management (CRM) application
- Assistance in get quality of service (QoS) right – if you’re going to be running data and VoIP side by side you will have to optimise your network
- Integration of Asterisk with simple web based contact management solution
- Setting up of caller data records (CDR) so that you can keep track of who is phoning where
- Assistance with caller ID display on actual phones, so that you can see the name of the customer instead of their telephone number. The contacts are updatable via a central database so repetition is avoided
- Setting up of remote access so that the switchboard can be remotely managed if need be
- Setting up of trunking so that you can use your existing data network to cheaply call other destinations
- Firewall configuration to allow phones in and out and for special configurations
Asterisk vs Propriety Comparison
Here is a quick comparison of proprietary technology vs. Asterisk:
| Asterisk | Proprietary |
| Unlimited Extensions | Your switchboard, e.g. 3×8, only allows 3 incoming lines and 8 outgoing lines. If you want 9 lines you have to buy an expensive proprietary card in order to add more lines. This is called vendor lock-in and is how switchboard companies used to make money. |
| Voice mail included | Need to buy expensive proprietary card in order to get voice mail |
| IVR included | Need to buy expensive proprietary card in order to get IVR |
| Open interface to all telephony functions | Most traditional switchboards don’t have APIs (Application Program Interface) that allow you to communicate with the system. Some do have APIs but they are so difficult to use it makes them useless. |
| Easy to set up and administer, web-based administration possible | Difficult to set up and administer. You will have to pay some socially challenged switchboard engineer a lot of money to do anything out of the ordinary |
| Music on Hold can be MP3 | Music on hold sounds like jingle bells or there is only a line out jack, so the music on hold runs on a separate system from your switchboard |
| Open standard, compatible | Proprietary systems are designed incompatible with other systems because this way the telephone company keeps you “locked in” |
| Lost cost – based on standard PC hardware and uses the Linux operating system | Expensive – proprietary – everything is extra |
Asterisk PABX Implementation Pricing
Here is an estimate on how much it will cost to implement a voice over IP PABX based on Asterisk. To get an exact price contact us.
| Description | Cost |
| Installation of Hardware | R 5 000 |
| Setup of PABX complete configuration (up to 15 extensions) | R 12 000 |
| Voice over IP PABX (Intel PC) | R 6 000 |
| BRI ISDN Card (4 port) allowing up to 8 lines | R 6 000 |
| R 29 000 |
Asterisk PABX Frequently Asked Questions
One of the most frequently asked questions is: ” How will Voice Over IP save me costs? “
In this section of our web site we to try address some of these questions.
