voice mail

Asterisk

Posted by PrabhasPokharel on Aug 21, 2009
Asterisk data sheet 1699 Views
Organization that developed the Tool: 
Main Contact: 
Mark Spencer
Problem or Need: 

Open-source system needed for managing a telephone PBX system.

Main Contact Email : 
Brief Description: 

Asterisk is a software implementation of a telephone private branch exchange (PBX). Like any PBX, it allows attached telephones to make calls to one another, and to connect to other telephone services including the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services. See the wikipedia article for more.

Tool Category: 
Runs on a server
Key Features : 

Voice mail, conference calling, interactive voice response (phone menus), and automatic call distribution. With hardware, can attach traditional analogue telephones to an Asterisk installation. Direct support of VoIP protocols, including SIP, MGCP and H.323. Large Userbase, and a large collection of proprietary and free add-ons and features.

Main Services: 
Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
Other
Tool Maturity: 
Currently deployed
Release Date: 
2004-09
Platforms: 
Linux/UNIX
Windows
Other
Current Version: 
1.61008
Program/Code Language: 
C/C++
Support Forums: 
http://forums.digium.com/
http://www.asterisk.org/community
http://asterisktutorials.com/
Is the Tool's Code Available?: 
Yes
URL for license: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_General_Public_License
Is an API available to interface with your tool?: 
Yes

Mobile Phone Use Among Homeless People

Posted by CorinneRamey on May 29, 2008

For 40,000 people a year across the U.S., voicemail is a lifeline. The Community Voice Mail (CVM) program, started in 1991, has helped provide over 40,000 homeless and low-income individuals each year with access to voicemail in 41 U.S. cities. For many CVM clients, their voicemail is their connection to a job, an apartment, and relationships with teachers, doctors, or social service agencies. (MobileActive wrote about CVM and similar programs here). However, as mobile phones have become ubiquitous across the United States -- even in the hands of homeless people -- CVM has questioned the impact and relationship of mobile phones to their traditional voicemail model.

MobileActive sat down with Steve Albertson, Director of New Initiatives at Community Voicemail, for a chat.