09 April 2007

Leading Asterisk developer Digium Inc. has snagged a licensing deal with a subsidiary of Japanese telco giant NTT in what it sees as a major breakthrough for the open-source PBX system in that critical market.

Until
now Asterisk Business Edition, Digium’s premium version of the
software, has been English and that’s held back its potential use in
Japan, according to Jim Webster, director of software technologies at
Digium. Under the agreement, NTT Software Corp. will develop its own
version of Asterisk Business Edition for use in its ProgOffice PBX
product for Japanese small and medium-sized businesses.

“It
will help raise the knowledge and awareness of Asterisk in Japan in
that Asterisk will now be seen as something that’s ready for mainstream
use,” Webster said.