IP PBX Featured Article

David Duffet, Principal Consultant, TeleSpeak Limited, has always been involved in Training in the Telecoms sector. Legend has it he was never sure whether he was more of a Telecoms Engineering guy (he is a Chartered Engineer) or a Trainer (he is a Qualified Trainer) so he embarked on a journey that would allow him to blend his two passions.

 

David will be in attendance at the upcoming Astricon, which takes place in Glendale, AZ from September 23–25. He will present a session entitled Welcome to ‘No Rules’ Telephony. I had the opportunity to ask David to share some insight into what he will be speaking about in his session as well as what companies need to think about when considering deploying open source.

 

 

DD: My session (Welcome to ‘NO RULES’ telephony) will be focusing on the immense flexibility Asterisk (News - Alert) allows. An infinite number of variations in configurations, number plans and functionality mean that Asterisk is not only well placed to deliver the solutions of the future, but it can also act like current telephony platforms too — this means that a ‘future-proof’ system can be deployed without the users having to learn to do anything new.

 

DD: Yes — I will be announcing the opening of the first dedicated Asterisk training center in the UK, the first runs of the brand-new ‘Asterisk Fast Start’ course, and my new course ‘Presentation Skills for Technical People’ (aka Public Speaking for Propeller-Heads), which is aimed at giving technical people (those who usually find it the most difficult to stand up and speak) the skills they need to effectively deliver their message to large audiences, without getting freaked out.

 

DD: TeleSpeak is currently a service company, which empowers those wishing to get into open source communication by training them not only about the engineering technicalities, but also about the open source ethos. TeleSpeak also provides support for companies transitioning to open source communications solutions.

 

DD: Support strategy is probably the most valuable area to properly understand when contemplating building and deploying open source solutions. While it’s great to have the amazing people that develop or configure the solution, a company must fully understand the implications of using open source systems, and decide and appropriate support strategy at the outset.

 

DD: The flexibility to ensure that the solution works in with the way a given organization does business, rather than the business having to adapt in order to use its new solution. This, and the inherent attributes of Asterisk that breeds innovation and creativity.

 

DD: I think the biggest new trend maybe the inclination of the old telephony companies to acquire open source telephony players, not only to buy functionality but also to buy credibility as the rules change from the old ‘vendor lock-in’ approach.