Sangoma Announces Asterisk 18, kicking off AstriCon, the annual Asterisk user group conference

MARKHAM, ON, Oct. 20, 2020  /PRNewswire/ -- Sangoma Technologies Corporation (TSX VENTURE:STC), a trusted leader in delivering cloud-based Communications as a Service ("CaaS") solutions for companies of all sizes, today announced Asterisk 18, the next major release of the open source framework for building communications applications.

Asterisk is well known as the standard in open source audio communications and features an expansive ecosystem and installed base. Asterisk 18 brings support for STIR/SHAKEN, a new technology that the telecommunications industry is using to help mitigate unwanted robocalls and caller ID spoofing, and also includes video improvements allowing for multiple video sources and improvements in debugging and logging allowing for easier monitoring of SIP traffic.

AstriCon [Plan 9] will be held virtually October 21 – 22nd and will include focused discussions on STIR/SHAKEN, E911, Video Conferencing, updates to Asterisk & FreePBX. The livestream of the event will be available at http://www.asterisk.org with live Q&A following each presentation.

"This year we've seen first hand how the communications environment is changing. Businesses need to communicate with more than voice; they want video conferencing and collaboration as well. Asterisk 18 now adds enhanced video calling, video conferencing, and screen sharing capabilities with WebRTC-capable endpoints, eliminating the need to integrate additional technology solely for video. This simplifies the communications infrastructure, reducing the need to implement and support multiple independent applications," said Nenad Corbic, Chief Technology Officer, Sangoma.

"Asterisk has always been the ideal developer toolkit for building audio conferencing solutions that cross the chasm between telephony protocols. We are extremely grateful to everyone who went through the process to not only contribute code to Asterisk 18 but also those who were active in code reviews. Their participation helps us raise the bar in terms of making sure we are watchful as to what goes into the new release of Asterisk". said Matthew Fredrickson, Director of Open Source Software Development with Sangoma.

Asterisk 18 support for STIR/SHAKEN allows Asterisk to participate in the new STIR/SHAKEN standard being implemented in various places across the world. While the standard is still being developed, Asterisk already allows the reception of STIR/SHAKEN information and its usage for locally defined policy. The support for STIR/SHAKEN extends to sending STIR/SHAKEN information for parties who can utilize it within their network. Asterisk will continue to adopt the standard further as it develops.

Video has been at the forefront of Asterisk development for quite some time, and this version is no different. Building on the foundation put into place in earlier releases; Asterisk 18 adds support for adding and removing video at any point in a call - including when in a video conference bridge. These improvements help facilitate a better user experience for calls that may transition from voice to video to back. Support for multiple video sources has also been added. Enabling both camera and screen sharing at the same time.

Asterisk 18 incorporates logging improvements to help both users and developers alike. With WebRTC usage has become widespread and Asterisk supporting WebRTC, it is essential to easily provide SIP logging information to understand problems when they occur. Newly added is the ability to place SIP traffic, unencrypted, in a packet capture file for later examination and filtering. This support also provides the ability to limit logging to multiple IP addresses or even specific ranges of IPs.

Asterisk 18 is now available for download from the Asterisk web site. For more information, documentation, and usage samples, as well as a complete list of new features, changes and upgrade notes, visit the Asterisk 18 Documentation Pages on the Asterisk wiki. To interact directly with the Asterisk community, visit the Community Forums today.

About Sangoma Technologies Corporation

Sangoma Technologies is a trusted leader in delivering value-based Communications as a Service (CaaS) solutions for businesses of all sizes. Sangoma's cloud-based Services include Unified Communication (UCaaS) business communications, Meetings as a Service (MaaS), Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS), Trunking  as a Service (TaaS), Fax as a Service (FaaS), Device as a Service (DaaS), and Access Control as a Service (ACaaS).  In addition, Sangoma offers a full line of communications products, including premise-based UC systems, a full line of deskphones and headsets, and a complete connectivity suite (gateways / SBCs / telephony cards). Sangoma's products and services are used in leading UC, PBX, IVR, contact center, carrier networks, office productivity, and data communication applications worldwide. Sangoma is also the primary developer and sponsor of Asterisk and FreePBX, the world's two most widely used open source communication software projects.

Sangoma Technologies Corporation is publicly traded on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX VENTURE: STC). Additional information on Sangoma can be found at: www.sangoma.com. 

SOURCE Sangoma Technologies Corporation