Digium Announces Major Upgrade to Asterisk Business Edition

Digium, the creator of Asterisk and pioneer of open source telephony, today
announced Asterisk Business Edition B.1, the first major upgrade of its
Asterisk Business Edition, the professional-grade version of Asterisk, the
industry's first open source PBX. 

The upgraded release includes enhanced security and scalability provided by
Ranch Network's Asterisk security code, speech recognition capabilities
through the LumenVox Speech Engine, text-to-speech applications through the
Cepstral Text-to-Speech System and a customized Linux distribution to
simplify installation. Asterisk Business Edition B.1 will also feature
built-in support for Intel Dialogic Products and Aculab Prosody X cards.   

I've included Digium's release as well as Ranch Network's release below.
Ranch Networks, provider of VoIP appliances built to advance open source
telephony deployments, also announced the integration of its Asterisk
security code into the new version of the Asterisk Business Edition which
provides unprecedented security and scalability to the open source telephony
industry.

 

Digium Announces Asterisk Business Edition B.1 at GlobalComm 2006

New offering includes increased security, product compatibility and support
services


HUNTSVILLE, AL and CHICAGO, IL   (June 5, 2006)   Digium® Inc. the original
creator of Asterisk(TM) and pioneer of open source telephony, today announced
a major upgrade of its Asterisk Business Edition(TM), the professional-grade
version of Asterisk, the industry's first open source PBX. Asterisk offers a
strategic, highly cost-effective approach to voice and data transport over
TDM, switched, and Ethernet architectures. The Asterisk Business Edition
provides tested reliability of critical functions and features, and is
tailored for small and enterprise business applications. 

The upgraded release includes enhanced security and scalability provided by
Ranch Network's Asterisk security code, speech recognition capabilities
through the LumenVox Speech Engine, text-to-speech applications through the
Cepstral Text-to-Speech System and a customized Linux distribution to
simplify installation. Asterisk Business Edition B.1 will also feature
built-in support for Intel Dialogic Products and Aculab Prosody X cards.   

"Asterisk Business Edition has given the enterprise user a cost effective and
reliable way to incorporate open source technology," said Jim Webster,
director of software technologies for Digium. "This upgraded version, with
enhanced security and advanced features provided by our partners, will make
it even easier for businesses to opt for a telephony platform based on open
source development and open standards over proprietary systems, especially in
the migration to VoIP."

Asterisk Business Edition is backed by Digium's comprehensive test program
and professional support team.  This certified version of Asterisk provides
enterprise environments with a telephony platform suitable for critical
business applications.  Featured third-party software products are integrated
directly into the product and can be deployed on an Asterisk server. The
latest version includes a full one year warranty and technical support for
installation, updates, and critical issues.  

"Security is a critical component for all voice solutions, especially in a
business environment," said Alex Pavlovsky, president of Ranch Networks. "By
integrating the Ranch Networks security code into the new version of the
Asterisk Business Edition, Digium addresses many concerns with open source
software." 

"LumenVox's goal was to reach the innovative community of Asterisk users,"
said Gerd Graumann, director of business development at LumenVox. "Now, with
the integration of our speech recognition technology, Business Edition
customers can easily speech-enable their applications."

Digium will be demonstrating the latest version of Asterisk Business Edition
B.1 during the GlobalComm Exhibition in Chicago, IL June 4th through 8th. 

Pricing and Availability
The upgraded Asterisk Business Edition is priced at $995.00 and will be
available from Asterisk resellers and distributors worldwide by the end of
the month.  For more information, please contact sales@digium.com or call
1-256-428-6262.  Current Asterisk Business Edition customers are eligible for
a free upgrade to the new version under their existing maintenance plan.
Users can also purchase an optional one-year extended warranty. 

 

About Digium

Digium is the original creator and primary developer of Asterisk, the
industry's first open source PBX and Asterisk Business Edition, the
professional-grade version of Asterisk. Used in combination with Digium's PCI
telephony interface cards, Asterisk offers a strategic, highly cost-effective
approach to voice and data transport over IP, TDM, switched and Ethernet
architectures.

Digium provides quality hardware and software products that enable telephony
applications including legacy PBX, IVR, auto attendant, next generation
gateways, media servers and application servers. Digium also offers a full
range of professional services including consulting, technical support and
custom software development services. 

About Asterisk
Code for Asterisk, originally written by Mark Spencer of Digium Inc., has
been contributed to from open source software engineers around the world. It
supports a wide range of TDM protocols for the handling and transmission of
voice over traditional telephony interfaces, and VoIP packet protocols such
as IAX, SIP and H.323. It supports US and European standard signaling types
used in business phone systems, allowing it to bridge between next-generation
voice-data integrated networks and existing infrastructure.

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Ranch Networks Announces Availability of its Asterisk Security Code

in Digium's New Version of the Asterisk Business Edition 

 

Morganville, NJ   June 5, 2006   Ranch Networks, provider of VoIP appliances
built to advance open source telephony deployments, today announced the
integration of its Asterisk(TM) security code into the new version of the
Asterisk Business Edition(TM). The Digium® Business Edition is the
professional-grade version of Asterisk, the industry's first open source PBX.
The Ranch Networks security code is the first security code for the Asterisk
open source IP telephony platform.

When combining Asterisk with Ranch Networks new RN series appliances, the
solution provides unprecedented security and scalability to the open source
telephony industry. Ranch Networks solves the problems associated with VoIP
implementations through both its MIDCOM integration with the Asterisk
platform, and several of its Patent-Pending technologies. The MIDCOM
integration provides for dynamic per-call firewall control, bandwidth
management, NAT traversal, and RTP traffic bridging   all supporting
encrypted signaling streams, while the Patent-Pending technologies separate
voice, video, and data traffic into multiple, secure zones without having to
reconfigure IP addresses.

"The Ranch Networks security code integrated into the new version of the
Asterisk Business Edition will provide enterprise users with a secure and
scalable option for open source software," said Alex Pavlovsky, president of
Ranch Networks. "Digium has paved the way for mainstream businesses to take
advantage of open source telephony with the new version of the Asterisk
Business Edition." 

"The addition of the Ranch Networks security code to the Asterisk Business
Edition provides business professionals with security and scalability on-par
with proprietary systems," said Jim Webster, director of software
technologies at Digium. "This new version of the Asterisk Business Edition
provides enterprise users with cost effective and reliable open source
software for their telephony platforms." 

Starting with Asterisk, the open source PBX, Ranch Networks' offers the
RN300, RN20, RN40 and RN41 to provide dynamic, protocol independent, per-call
authenticated network access. These products will supply unprecedented VoIP
security, bandwidth management, VPN, accounting and switching capabilities to
small to mid-size enterprises, service providers and carriers.

The RN300, RN20, RN40, and RN41 are available through leading Asterisk
resellers worldwide ranging in price from $600 to $17,300. For a list of
resellers or additional information, please visit www.ranchnetworks.com. 

About Ranch Networks

Ranch Networks offers IP telephony network appliances that secure, manage and
scale VoIP traffic beyond existing firewall technologies. The company's
flagship RN series of products are the first-ever appliances to integrate
security and bandwidth control for VoIP applications. Established in 2000 by
award-winning ex-Bell Labs engineers, Ranch Networks guarantees the delivery
of reliable and secure IP communications between office employees, remote
office locations or service providers and enterprise customers. 

About Digium

Digium is the original creator and primary developer of Asterisk, the
industry's first open source PBX and Asterisk Business Edition, the
professional-grade version of Asterisk. Used in combination with Digium's PCI
telephony interface cards, Asterisk offers a strategic, highly cost-effective
approach to voice and data transport over IP, TDM, switched and Ethernet
architectures.

Digium provides quality hardware and software products that enable telephony
applications including legacy PBX, IVR, auto attendant, next generation
gateways, media servers and application servers. Digium also offers a full
range of professional services including consulting, technical support and
custom software development services.

About Asterisk

Code for Asterisk, originally written by Mark Spencer of Digium Inc., has
been contributed from open source software engineers around the world. It
supports a wide range of TDM protocols for the handling and transmission of
voice over traditional telephony interfaces, and VoIP packet protocols such
as IAX, SIP and H.323. It supports US and European standard signaling types
used in business phone systems, allowing it to bridge between next-generation
voice-data integrated networks and existing infrastructure. 

 


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