Asterisk preps assault on unified communications

It will be another year or more before SCF is able to support a limited number of features in production networks, he says, but Digium is announcing it now in order to attract developers interested in influencing the shape of the final product. The architecture as set down by an oversight committee will support all known forms of communication â€" voice, video, instant messaging, SMS, e-mail, presence â€" and is flexible enough to embrace others as they come along, Fleming says.

At this stage, Digium is hoping to attract developers who will actually help write SCF code, but also people who understand what types of applications businesses will want to integrate with SCF. "We're looking for some blue-sky brainstorming," Fleming says.

Just as commercial VoIP vendors have revamped their IP PBXs to become UC platforms, Digium is starting on its own UC project with a clean slate rather than trying to graft UC onto Asterisk, says Fleming. SCF is intended for large enterprises or even service providers, he says.