At the Astricon conference in Arizona, Digium announced the AsteriskExchange application store, an overhauled Asterisk.org community site and AsteriskForge for software developers. The three moves potentially solidify Asterisk and Digium as a disruptive force in the IP PBX market. Digium Founder and CTO Mark Spencer explains the strategy in this quick video.

Asterisk is an open source private branch exchange (PBX) originally created by Mark Spencer of Digium. A PBX, is a type of phone switch, that allows multiple attached telephones to make calls to one another, and to connect to other telephone services including the public switched telephone network (PSTN).

Mark Spencer never expected to be where he is today, but the Auburn, Ala., native is making a name for himself in the world of technology.

The first time I ever wrote about the Asterisk open source VoIP PBX was nearly four years ago when the 1.0 milestone was released. I met Asterisk creator Mark Spencer a few months later in Toronto where he delivered a keynote at the VON (Voice on the Net event) of that year.

Digium and Asterisk, the open source IP PBX platform, just received a major vote of confidence from a key partner in the unified communications market. Synnex Corp., a distributor that supplies more than 15,000 resellers in North America, has agreed to promote Digium’s Switchvox to its partner base. Here are the implications for Digium.

Digium is taking new steps to promote SwitchVOX unified communications and Asterisk -- the open source IP PBX -- to partners. And the efforts seem to be gaining more momentum. Here are the details.

Digium this week is officially launching Asterisk Exchange — an online marketplace that allows customers and partners to piece together solutions involving Asterisk (the open source IP PBX). If successful, Asterisk Exchange could expand the ecosystem for alternative VoIP and unified communication solutions. Here’s the scoop, including an interview with Digium CEO Danny Windham.

Asterisk, the open source IP PBX, is turning 10 years old. And Digium, the fast-growing provider of commercial Asterisk solutions, is hosting the Astricon conference this week. All sounds well. But The VAR Guy will raise seven key questions when he speaks with Digium officials later today. Here they are.

Digium, Inc., the Asterisk Company, today announced it has acquired Switchvox, a leading provider of IP PBX phone systems for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). The acquisition bolsters Digium's presence in the SMB market and provides a strong platform on which to advance its Asterisk-based unified communications solution.