Alternate Access® Picks Up Open Source, Hybrid-Hosted VoIP Solution

Alternate Access®, a leading provider of converged communications solutions, has become the only approved reseller of the trixbox® Voice over IP solution in the Triangle. Developed by Los Angeles-based Fonality®, trixbox offers small and medium-sized businesses a reliable and flexible open source VoIP solution.

“We are constantly reviewing new products in an effort to provide our customers a wide range of quality communications solutions to meet their individual needs,” stated Kelly Lumpkin, Alternate Access CEO and director of business development. “Fonality’

s trixbox is ready for prime time. It is easy to use and exploits both the open Linux operating system and open source Asterisk® communications engine – making the trixbox affordable and practical for customers familiar with point and click GUI interfaces.”

The trixbox system uses a patent-pending, hybrid-hosted architecture, combining the benefits of a premise-based solution and hosted IP phone system. As a hybrid-hosted solution, trixbox stores critical phone system data securely at Fonality’s hardened data centers. This feature ensures that in the event a customer’s phone system experiences an outage or is damaged, business will be up and running within one hour of rebooting the system or receiving new equipment.

Offering many of the features of a premise-based system, the trixbox appliance uses telephony interface boards or gateways to connect to legacy PSTN trunks, yielding high audio quality and reliability. The system is also proactively monitored and maintained.

Support contracts enable technicians to provide real-time updates and receive system alerts about the critical system components so that problems can be corrected before their impacts are felt. If a system is damaged, a replacement appliance is cross-shipped to remedy the issue. Software upgrades are also completed automatically and during non-business hours. Advanced features and call privacy round out the premise-based benefits.

Like a hosted solution, users can place free VoIP calls between offices; make moves, adds and changes from any PC connected to the internet, using the Web-based Control Panel; and monitor call flow and efficiency via reporting tools. Companies can also seamlessly connect telecommuters and branch office locations with no configuration required.

“The trixbox solution offers reliability and a feature set that our customers will love – and all at an affordable cost for small to medium-sized businesses,” Lumpkin added.