On 1/31/06, Jim Van Meggelen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I am not a huge fan of using a GUI to configure Asterisk, simply because I > feel it adds bloat to the system and limits choice.
You know, I used to think this way too, simply because I can see just how powerful Asterisk is, and there is no possible way you could ever create a GUI that would perform every function of Asterisk. It'd be much like trying to build an operating system, and if you did happen to build everything into it, it'd be so complex that it'd be useless. > Having said that, it would sometimes be nice to offer a simple interface > that would allow chinging user names, mailbox info, DIDs and so forth. And this is the key point -- you need to build SMALL, simple, goal oriented GUI systems. If you are a VSP, then you need a GUI to manage your trunks, termination points, accounts and the features you will provide them. This is a much more complicated GUI, but not unachievable (I've got one that I use and have been expanding and refining it for my use). Then you need the GUI for the receptionist (monitor calls, transfers, etc...), the GUI for the end-user to control their features (voicemail pin, find-me-follow-me, E911). The point is, if you try to build an all in one GUI, or not have any sort of GOAL to what the GUI is attempting to accomplish (and that it is a small, extremely refined goal) -- there should be an end -- if there is no end, your vision is too broad and you will probably fail, and your users will not benefit, and you will not lower your support / implementation costs (which is probably the whole point of this right?). -- Leif Madsen. http://www.leifmadsen.com http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/asterisk
