Asterisk 1.2 is now available for download. This is the second major release of Digium's open source PBX and telephony platform since the 1.0 release in September 2004.

Asterisk is a complete PBX in software. It runs on Linux, BSD and MacOSX and provides all of the features you would expect from a PBX and more. Asterisk does voice over IP in many protocols, and can interoperate with almost all standards-based telephony equipment using relatively inexpensive hardware.

Asterisk supports a wide range of TDM protocols for the handling and transmission of voice over traditional telephony interfaces. Asterisk supports US and European standard signalling types used in standard business phone systems, allowing it to bridge between next generation voice-data integrated networks and existing infrastructure. Asterisk not only supports traditional phone equipment, it enhances them with additional capabilities.

Using the Inter-Asterisk eXchange (IAXâ„¢) Voice over IP protocol, Asterisk merges voice and data traffic seamlessly across disparate networks. While using Packet Voice, it is possible to send data such as URL information and images in-line with voice traffic, allowing advanced integration of information.

Asterisk provides a central switching core, with four APIs for modular loading of telephony applications, hardware interfaces, file format handling, and codecs. It allows for transparent switching between all supported interfaces, allowing it to tie together a diverse mixture of telephony systems into a single switching network.

The latest release includes over 3,000 bugfixes and upgrades, including:

• Significant upgrades to the core architecture to improve system performance and scalability
• Support for DUNDI (distributed universal number discovery)
• Dialplan enhancements
• Improved external application interface (for building custom IVR and switching apps
• VoIP and ISDN protocol enhancements and improved interoperability
• Improved support for load balancing
• Upgraded music on hold with support for many different sound and stream formats

Download Asterisk at www.asterisk.org