Open Source is the most happening thing in the software industry. There are so many open source software, which are undergoing constant developments, thanks to the public for accelerating the rate of development. Among the many software tools, Asterisk is one of the open sources, powerful Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) toolkit. Asterisk offers a great deal of freedom and control over the phone performance to the users. This telephony toolkit is server software which is capable of running on any platform. This software enables the users to manage their VoIP services effectively in several powerful ways. The functionality of this software is far more efficient and it can perform the tasks which is not possible even in the most expensive Public Branch Exchanges (PBX). The asterisk allows the user to forward the calls received on his cell phone to the VoIP connection. It also lets the user to connect to anyone on the internet by creating VoIP connections, can be used to manage the voicemails and many more. The asterisk can do a lot of different functions depending upon the extent one can tap its capabilities.
The recent versions of Asterisk have undergone tremendous improvements in terms of design, layout, usability etc. Asterisk is very important for handling the Session Initiation Protocol Signaling and also the Real time Transfer Protocols.
There is also another toolkit of Asterisk known as AsterisksNOW. AsterisksNOW enables the user to make and receive calls from home. AsterisksNOW is a customized Linux distribution application and is the leading VoIP toolkit and telephony engine in the world. It comes with a easy to use, easy to configure user interface which is easy to install and maintain. The Asterisk toolkit is used by a lot of individuals and the corporates around the world to communicate with one another.