Asterisk: The Future of Telephony, 2nd Edition

What Is the GUI?

The Asterisk GUI is the interface that comes with the AsteriskNOW distribution or can be added to an existing Asterisk installation. The default interface is geared toward the user who wants to use Asterisk as a PBX for a small business with fairly typical telecom needs. It can best be thought of as a sample of what can be done using AJAM; think of it as a beta interface that can be expected to evolve according to the desires of the community. This has caused a lot of excitement in the Asterisk community, because the underlying technologies behind the GUI raise the bar on what a PBX interface can become. It also enables you to build your own interfaces that are tuned to your unique requirements.

Mark Spencer Talks About the GUI

Asterisk is a powerful telephony platform. However, that power is only as valuable as its ability to be used by a particular target user. There is a lot of value to having graphical interfaces (GUIs) for Asterisk. Most GUIs are specifically designed to support a particular task. For example, some GUIs are designed specifically for voicemail systems. Others are specifically targeted to the hospitality industry. There is some demand to have a GUI that targets Asterisk generally, but there is a natural trade-off between the ease of use and simplicity of a GUI, versus the number of available features. For example, the GUI that a seasoned systems administrator might require would likely be different than that of an office administrator who is only ...