Related Q: Anyone got Asterisk running in some fashion on a openwrt.org commodity Linksys router ? :-)
It apparently has been ported to the platform: http://downloads.openwrt.org/sources/ cheers, Simon P. Ditner wrote / a écrit / ha escrito: > Things have been pretty quiet in asterisk news... Anyone creating any > interesting new products? ;) > > cheers, > Simon > > --- > > http://www.integratedmar.com/ecl-usa/story.cfm?item=19641 > Fonality launches PBXtra product into channel > 21 June, 2005 > by Chris Talbot > > Newcomer Fonality has entered the small- and medium-sized business IP > PBX space with the official launch of its flagship product, PBXtra. > > Fonality's IP PBX runs on standardized server hardware, and a small > business can have a Fonality complete IP PBX phone system and a call > center for about $2,000 (U.S.), which is up to 80 per cent cheaper > than competing PBX products, said Chris Lyman, CEO of Fonality. He > added that small businesses generally only have two types of phone > systems available to them -- low-end key systems and expensive PBX > systems. According to Lyman, while a lot of small businesses choose > key systems, they would like to have PBX systems instead. > > "We make the statement that that segmentation is one of price and not > of need. We believe small and medium businesses want PBX functionality > but can't afford it," Lyman said. Fonality's PBXtra is meant to bring > PBX functionality to SMBs at a much lower price. Lyman said that a > typical PBX costs $15,000 (U.S.), whereas PBXtra Standard Edition is > priced at $995 (U.S.). The product and 10 phones costs a total of > $2,988 (U.S.), while the PBXtra Call Center Edition carries a $1,995 > (U.S.) price tag. PBXtra is not only meant to be affordable, but it's > also meant to be easy to use. According to Lyman, it's the "easiest to > use phone system ever." > > PBXtra runs on standardized PC server hardware, and it's built on top > of Linux. However, at its core is Asterisk, the open source project > that acts as the operating system for the PBX. Fonality builds its own > applications on top of all of that. > > "The entire thing is Web-based. If you can use Yahoo Mail, you can use > this," Lyman said. > > The biggest problems with PBX systems are they're difficult to set up > and hard to use, he added. Fonality designed PBXtra to be easy to set > up and use. That's important for SMBs that don't have a lot of > in-house technical expertise. > > "If an office manager can't set their system up, then we've probably > done something wrong," Lyman said. However, that doesn't mean there > aren't opportunities for the channel. > > Fonality is selling PBXtra through direct and indirect sales, and > Lyman said there are very good upsell opportunities for the more than > 300 resellers that have already partnered with the company. The > company expects to have partnered with approximately 1,000 resellers > worldwide by the end of the year. > > Fonality's channel model is based on earning revenue for selling the > hardware, but the channel can also earn recurring revenue if their > customers use Fonality's VoIP service. When it comes to the actual > sale of the product, though, it works well as an upsell for systems > integrators or network integrators that sell networking technologies. > While selling LAN technology, they can upsell the customer with > Fonality's IP PBX system. On the flip side, if a customer is > interested in the PBXtra product, the integrator could upsell them on > improved networking technology, Lyman said. > > "We provide a healthy one-time commission on all hardware and > software, and then we provide a recurring commission if small > businesses use our VOIP network," Lyman said. > > The system works with both VoIP and PSTN systems, as well as a blend > of the two, Lyman said. Anybody in the channel can sign up to be a > Fonality partner, but Lyman said that if partners want to take > advantage of Fonality's lead generation activities, they'll have to go > through a certification process. > > "We have to make sure you're good before we trust you with our > customers," he said. >
