Asterisk Reviews

Pros

It's hard to know where to start with this. It completely changed the telecom space by breaking away from the control of major players like Nortel. It delivered the same level of reliability while also bringing IP technology into the picture. Rather than just competing with the old model, it reshaped it by giving companies of every size a flexible, open source option with real power behind it.

Cons

That said, Asterisk can be tough for the average person because it's deeply technical by nature. In the beginning especially, everything needed to be set up by hand which made it far less approachable for non technical users. Still, when it comes to what it can actually do, it's hard to fault. There's a reason people call it the "Swiss Blade", it's adaptable, powerful and able to take on nearly anything you put in front of it.

Pros

There's no cost to use it, it follows an open standard and it can be fully customized. AGI scripts make it possible to add even more features and connecting this with other software is very simple.

Cons

Honestly, I'm happy with everything in this. It really feels like the best option.

Pros

Running this alongside FreePBX for our business phone system has delivered a lot of value although getting it deployed and configured is definitely not a simple job. The documentation is extensive but since it's an open source project, it still takes some trial and error to fine tune everything to the best possible setup. From a cost perspective though, it's extremely economical and that's a big reason I see it as a top tier option worth considering for businesses of any size. We currently have about 300 phones deployed on Asterisk and FreePBX and compared with the pricing of major phone system vendors, we're saving tens of thousands of pounds every year. It's not perfect but it offers a very rich feature set and if you're prepared to invest the time and learn it properly, you can build your own applications or custom scripts to shape the system around your business needs exactly the way you want.

Cons

Deployment is where the challenge really shows because this is not the kind of system every IT engineer can set up without prior experience. It takes time, patience and you should expect to hit a few gremlins along the way but even with that, overlooking it would be a mistake.

Pros

This app has been around for more than 20 years and I was already using it in the early 2000s, building my own AEL scripts for call flows. It's a very mature, full featured product with a long track record. That said, it doesn't come with a built in GUI for either administrators or end users so for business deployments something like FreePBX is basically essential.

Cons

There are no built in administration tools or user interface and it's also missing commonly needed features such as phone handset management and voicemail.

Pros

The way it connects with different CRM tools is a big advantage for call center phone management and the platform itself is very powerful and adaptable to different needs.

Cons

Initial setup is somewhat complex but once you really learn how to use it, it becomes hard to stop relying on it.

Pros

It's incredibly flexible and can be customized just about endlessly and the pricing is spot on.

Cons

The dial plan uses a pretty convoluted, awkward language that makes feature development harder than it should be.

Pros

Handles call queues and voicemail really well and the option to use both fixed and virtual extensions gives a lot of flexibility.

Cons

User interface could be clearer and more responsive and the documentation would benefit from some improvement.

Pros

Being free and open source is a big advantage and that open source setup also gives you a lot of room to customize many of its features to match your needs.

Cons

On the downside, managing and maintaining it really requires a strong technical team behind it.

Pros

Having used this app for many years, I still see it as a dependable phone system platform. The setup is fairly quick and not hard to understand. Another big plus is that it's open source so there's plenty of community support available whenever needed.

Cons

There are some serious security risks that come with it. On top of that the manager interface layer does not provide the full event details for Outdial parameters. It also requires ongoing monitoring to watch for different kinds of activity.

Pros

This has been a very flexible VoIP platform for us making it possible to interact with telephone systems across the institution nationwide. It also supports integration with specific business applications which adds a lot of value in day to day operations.

Cons

Getting everything implemented can be somewhat complicated since the server cards need to be compatible with the telephony provider's services.

Pros

Right from the start, the biggest advantage is that it's free and open source. It gives you the freedom to customize pretty much anything you want which makes it very flexible. For small offices especially those with multiple locations and different dial rules, it has been the best PBX solution I've used. It also proved incredibly useful when the pandemic began since all of my colleagues were able to start working from home from day one.

Cons

The documentation could definitely be better. When an issue comes up, finding the right solution can be difficult and time consuming. Security is also something you really have to stay on top of because if the server is not properly protected, a massive amount of phone traffic can end up passing through it.

Pros

It is widely used for a reason: it offers a ton of configuration options, performs reliably and has continued to improve with solid updates over the years.

Cons

Its initial setup and getting started can be a little challenging for non technical users although it's not a major issue since most people aren't setting up their own PBX anyway.

Pros

Asterisk delivers exactly what it promises. Pair it with a strong frontend like Sangoma's FreePBX and you end up with a complete system that can be deployed within minutes.

Cons

There's no built in GUI for end users. As mentioned in the positives, it works well alongside FreePBX to cover that need but FreePBX does restrict some of Asterisk's capabilities.

Pros

One of the best things about it is how open the system is and how many different solutions you can build from such a small piece of software. It gives you a really solid base for creating your own telecommunications setup exactly the way you want it.

Cons

Building applications with Asterisk does require a deep understanding of how the platform works. It's definitely designed more for skilled users and developers which isn't necessarily a downside but it is something you should be prepared for.

Pros

After looking for a replacement for the CISCO IP Phone system, I came across this software and set it up in a Linux environment. Once the configuration was done, I was able to build the system I needed successfully. The part I appreciated most was that the VoIP setup didn't need any additional hardware and it also includes support for three way calling. Another big plus is that it works with both Linux and BSD operating systems.

Cons

During the implementation, I reviewed several examples and reference materials but I noticed there still isn't a complete and up to date collection of guides, videos and documentation. Even for a small deployment, you end up searching through multiple tutorials and extra sources for proper direction which takes more time than it should. Compared with other open source platforms, the lack of solid documentation and references is definitely a notable drawback.