http://www.loligo.com/asterisk/misc/Presentations/Asterisk-features-20040106.xls I had been asked a while ago to put together a short Excel spreadsheet listing many of the "common" features of Asterisk as compared to a typical PBX. Many PBX vendors supply an exhaustive list of their features, and I figured I'd take as many of the unique features as others had offered, and put them together in a big list, and then also include some of the features that are unique to Asterisk. I think this list will be of some use to persons evaluating Asterisk against their existing PBX platform, or other vendors of new VoIP systems. Note that I took some liberties with the "standard feature" syntax: often, things that seemed _very_ easy for me to do with Asterisk's scripting features I listed as "S"tandard, even though it would require a few minutes of work. Other features which seemed to be a little more complex, or which would require some web programming, I listed with estimates of how much time it would take to build them. I assumed use of Cisco 7960 phones, so some of the features which are really deskset options I listed as "S"tandard if I were to use 7960 devices. Caveat emptor for other desksets. This is not truly a "comparison", since there are no other columns in the spreadsheet. However, it's good fodder for you to whack your VoIP or PBX vendor on the nose with, since they typically will not be able to match the feature list. Olle: feel free to add to the Wiki, since you asked for this type of list. Anyone else: feel free to send me updates in cut/pasteable Excel form if you have things you'd like to add to the list. JT
Olle E. Johansson
2004-Jan-06 09:29 UTC
[Asterisk-Users] Asterisk feature list: spreadsheet
Great list, Thank you, John! /O
John I looked at your spreadsheet with interest. You grade each item with an indication of the amount of effort needed to use the feature. "Level 1 effort is 1-6 hours of development, plus testing. Level 2 effort is 6-20 hours of development, and/or external purchase of tools. S=Standard, O=Optional, NA=Not Available" This implies to me that items marked as S (standard) will take less than 1 hour of development effort. For a traditional PBX a "Standard feature" can generally be pretty easily configured in half an hour or so. As we know that is not the case for Asterisk and this therefore seems somewhat disingenuous. I see the need and value of a list like this - it is really helpful. However in fairness to anyone evaluating Asterisk from the perspective of someone who is familiar with a traditional PBX, should one not add a note explaining that ... "Standard features are likely to take several hours to configure and may well only work with certain hardware / software combinations. Concise documentation to enable you to rapidly provision many of the features with particular hardware is not available." I would prefer that potential users are given a balanced and realistic expectation of what asterisk offers today on a like-for-like basis and to do that there needs to be a clear disclaimer/explanation such as that shown above. john -----Original Message----- From: asterisk-users-admin@lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users-admin@lists.digium.com]On Behalf Of John Todd Sent: 06 January 2004 14:17 To: asterisk-users@lists.digium.com Subject: [Asterisk-Users] Asterisk feature list: spreadsheet http://www.loligo.com/asterisk/misc/Presentations/Asterisk-features-20040106 .xls I had been asked a while ago to put together a short Excel spreadsheet listing many of the "common" features of Asterisk as compared to a typical PBX. Many PBX vendors supply an exhaustive list of their features, and I figured I'd take as many of the unique features as others had offered, and put them together in a big list, and then also include some of the features that are unique to Asterisk. I think this list will be of some use to persons evaluating Asterisk against their existing PBX platform, or other vendors of new VoIP systems. Note that I took some liberties with the "standard feature" syntax: often, things that seemed _very_ easy for me to do with Asterisk's scripting features I listed as "S"tandard, even though it would require a few minutes of work. Other features which seemed to be a little more complex, or which would require some web programming, I listed with estimates of how much time it would take to build them. I assumed use of Cisco 7960 phones, so some of the features which are really deskset options I listed as "S"tandard if I were to use 7960 devices. Caveat emptor for other desksets. This is not truly a "comparison", since there are no other columns in the spreadsheet. However, it's good fodder for you to whack your VoIP or PBX vendor on the nose with, since they typically will not be able to match the feature list. Olle: feel free to add to the Wiki, since you asked for this type of list. Anyone else: feel free to send me updates in cut/pasteable Excel form if you have things you'd like to add to the list. JT _______________________________________________ Asterisk-Users mailing list Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
On Tuesday 06 January 2004 12:19, John Coll wrote:> For a traditional PBX a "Standard feature" can generally be pretty > easily configured in half an hour or so. As we know that is not the > case for Asterisk and this therefore seems somewhat disingenuous.Perhaps you believe so, but there are others who can configure these things in 30 seconds. The law of averages applies here.
Great spread sheet! I noticed you have Preselection/Call Screening listed. I don't know if * will support it, but to be a fair comparison, you should add "screened transfers" (I like to call it "voice" call screening). This is a standard feature on the modular ICS from Nortel. One can enable screened transfers on any level of the CCR tree (ie. dial 1 for sales, 2 for support) or to an individual user's station. The feature will request that the caller speak their name, then inform the callee who it is that is calling them by re-playing the recording of the callers name, and finally, give the callee the option to accept the call or dump the caller to the callee's voice mail. I live by this feature. Can * do this? Ken --On Tuesday, January 06, 2004 9:17 AM -0500 John Todd <jtodd@loligo.com> wrote:> http://www.loligo.com/asterisk/misc/Presentations/Asterisk-features-20040 > 106.xls > > I had been asked a while ago to put together a short Excel spreadsheet > listing many of the "common" features of Asterisk as compared to a > typical PBX. Many PBX vendors supply an exhaustive list of their > features, and I figured I'd take as many of the unique features as others > had offered, and put them together in a big list, and then also include > some of the features that are unique to Asterisk. > > I think this list will be of some use to persons evaluating Asterisk > against their existing PBX platform, or other vendors of new VoIP > systems. Note that I took some liberties with the "standard feature" > syntax: often, things that seemed _very_ easy for me to do with > Asterisk's scripting features I listed as "S"tandard, even though it > would require a few minutes of work. Other features which seemed to be a > little more complex, or which would require some web programming, I > listed with estimates of how much time it would take to build them. I > assumed use of Cisco 7960 phones, so some of the features which are > really deskset options I listed as "S"tandard if I were to use 7960 > devices. Caveat emptor for other desksets. > > This is not truly a "comparison", since there are no other columns in the > spreadsheet. However, it's good fodder for you to whack your VoIP or PBX > vendor on the nose with, since they typically will not be able to match > the feature list. > > Olle: feel free to add to the Wiki, since you asked for this type of list. > Anyone else: feel free to send me updates in cut/pasteable Excel form if > you have things you'd like to add to the list. > > JT > > _______________________________________________ > Asterisk-Users mailing list > Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users/************************************************************** Ken Alker ken@impulse.net ham radio: KA6SDU Impulse Internet Services http://www.impulse.net Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange T-3 / T-1 / ADSL / ISDN / 56K / web hosting / wireless / co-lo ***************************************************************/