Asterisk: The Definitive Guide, 5th Edition

Chapter 1. A Telephony Revolution

We are what they grow beyond. That is the true burden of all masters.

Jedi Master Yoda

When we first set out in 2004 to write a book about Asterisk (15 years ago as of this edition!), we confidently predicted that Asterisk would fundamentally change the telecommunications industry. Today, the revolution we predicted is a part of history. Asterisk has been the most successful private branch exchange (PBX) in the world for several years now, and is an accepted technology within the telecommunications industry.

The revolution—as necessary as it was to the telecommunications industry of that time—has tailed off significantly simply because the methods by which people like to communicate have changed. Whereas 25 years ago phone calls were the preferred way to converse across distances, the current trend is to send messages or conduct video-chat conference calls. The phone call is seen as a bit of a dead thing, especially by up-and-coming generations. We’re not quite ready for a funeral just yet.

Asterisk remains a powerful technology, and we believe it is still one of the best hopes for any sort of sensible integration between telecom and all the other technologies businesses might want to interconnect with. It will need to find its place within a communications ecosystem that no longer places telephone calls in a place of importance. Our expectation is that WebRTC, which promises to commoditize web-based communications,¹ will emerge as a replacement for ...