Unlimitel News

PIKA Technologies Announces Appliance for ASTERISK®, a reliable, low-cost Asterisk deployment platform

Out-of-the-box open-source feature-rich appliance optimal for SMB environment

Ottawa, ON, Canada – September 18, 2007 – PIKA Technologies Inc., a developer of media-processing hardware and software, today announced the release of its PIKA Appliance for Asterisk, a smaller-sized and lower-cost alternative to traditional off-the-shelf computers. The new appliance is purpose built for the Asterisk open-source communications platform.

PIKA’s years of expertise in telephony voice-processing and a selection of its reliable, high-quality components come together in the PIKA Appliance for Asterisk. This unit provides developers with an out-of-the-box embedded computer that allows them to deploy Asterisk with a rich set of traditional and next-generation telephony features, optimized for the SMB environment.

Typically, companies that design and manufacture multi-line business telephone systems use specialized, purpose-built hardware called key service units, or KSUs, to run their software, provide power, manage the system and switch calls. These KSUs contain many telephony-based features that are not available in off-the-self computers typically used to deploy Asterisk. Many of these KSU features, like power-failure transfer, audio input for music-on-hold and audio output for paging, are standard market requirements.

The PIKA Appliance for Asterisk brings application developers the functionality of a KSU at an attractive cost in a smaller footprint. Completely customizable, the Appliance is compatible with VoIP and analog trunks and telephones. On the VoIP side, the unit can accommodate up to a combination of 100 trunks (FXO) and telephones. In addition, each unit comes equipped with one analog telephone (FXS) port for portable phones, fax machines and answering machines, and can be expanded with up to eight additional analog ports to be used for either trunks or telephones.

“PIKA Appliance for Asterisk is unique in so many ways. There is nothing else quite like it on the market today,” said Terry Atwood, vice president of sales, marketing and customer care at PIKA. “By taking the features of a KSU and putting them into a small, low-cost, very reliable computer appliance with an open-source architecture, application developers can more effectively deliver their Asterisk solutions to small- and medium-sized business customers.

“In addition to the flexibility offered by Asterisk, the Appliance provides developers with the unique ability to private label the device, giving them the tools they need to differentiate themselves in a crowded marketplace,” said Atwood.

“Unlimitel is looking forward to being able to introduce the PIKA Appliance for Asterisk to its customers in the SMB market,” said Stephane Monette, operations director, Unlimitel. “As a VoIP service provider to SMBs, Unlimitel worked with PIKA to ensure that the PIKA Appliance for Asterisk would provide end customers with a comprehensive feature set that includes power-fail transfer capabilities on analog trunks and the ability to easily connect to external paging and music-on-hold systems, a flexible offering of FXO and FXS interfaces, and easy serviceability in the field.

“With the PIKA Appliance for Asterisk, Unlimitel will be able to provide its existing customer network with a PBX replacement that will grow our business as well as that of our resellers,” said Monette.

PIKA Appliance for Asterisk features include:

• Up to 100 IP trunk/station ports
• 1 FXS port standard in every unit
• Up to 8 additional analog FXO/FXS ports
• Traditional telephony features:
  • Power failure transfer RJ11 jack(s)
  • Music-on-hold audio input jack
  • Paging system audio output jack
• Ethernet and USB ports
• 2x20 LCD display: backlit, API controlled, with front panel scroll button
• Powerful embedded processor
• SD flash memory
• Dynamic thermal management

For a datasheet on PIKA Appliance for Asterisk, see  http://www.pikatechnologies.com/products/appliance.htm

PIKA Appliance for Asterisk will be generally available in Q1 2008.

PIKA will be exhibiting and presenting at AstriCon 2007 at the Carefree Resort & Villas in Phoenix, Arizona, September 24 - 28. Interested parties can visit the company at booth # 138 and see the company’s presentation on Thursday, September 27 at 10:30 a.m. in the Palo Verde 2 room.

About PIKA Technologies
PIKA Technologies for over 20 years has been providing developers with the tools they need to build advanced voice and fax applications like IP PBX, fax broadcast and self-service IVR. As the technology landscape has changed, so too has PIKA, building out its product offering so that its customers can choose the right tool set for their applications. Whether building applications using board-based media processing or using host-based solutions, application developers of all kinds turn to PIKA for their development tools.

In addition to its traditional line of hardware and software solutions, PIKA now offers a family of gateways and appliances that provide top-quality performance out of the box. PIKA sells these products directly and also makes them available through its growing network of resellers and distributors. Known for its exceptional customer service, PIKA’s customers can expect the same high level of personalized, fast and free support that the company has always delivered. Headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, the company has ranked in The Branham 300, an authoritative ranking of successful Canadian high tech firms, for five consecutive years. Visit www.pikatechnologies.com  or call +1-613-591-1555 for more information.

The names of actual companies or products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. PIKA is a registered trademark of PIKA Technologies Inc. Asterisk is a registered trademark of DIGIUM Inc.