What Is Asterisk? - How Does It Work?
Asterisk is an easy to use, fast and free open source VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) phone system that runs on a Windows server. Many companies are switching to VOIP systems to save on capital expenditure, but most of these systems are run on Windows, which can be a barrier for new clients since they have to be converted to use the open source protocol. However, using Asterisk in Windows can be much easier than trying to use a VoIP system through the command line interface. Windows servers are robust and come with many extra tools like Windows Networking and Windows Accessibility Options, which make it very easy to configure and connect to your network.
Asterisk does not have to be installed on each PC that you want to use it on, because it comes in packages that can be uninstalled and moved to another PC. This feature makes Asterisk much more flexible as it's easy to move your office around different locations without having to take everything out of your server room. It's also very easy to transfer software from one windows server to another: just copy the software CD to another windows server, make sure that your current operating systems use the identical drivers, and you're set to go.
Using Asterisk with multiple gpu hardware and multiple Linux operating systems have become very easy with the recent releases. With the newest "Red Hat" version 10.3 you no longer need to install the proprietary drivers separately because the default drivers are already built in. You can also use the Network Attached Storage (NAS) option if you want your Asterisk box to be connected to the internet rather than locally. These features make it extremely convenient to use Asterisk regardless of what operating system you're on.
