Since 1999, Digium Inc., the creator, developer and sponsor of the Asterisk (News - Alert) project used by more than 80,000 in 170 countries to create VoIP communication solutions, has been empowering developers to create innovative communications solutions based on open standards, providing an alternative to proprietary phone systems.
Last week, Digium (News - Alert) sat down with TMCnet at ITEXPO Miami – where it had many of its partners showcasing solutions based on Digium’s Asterisk software – to discuss its new announcement, the company’s progress and what it has in store for 2013.
Recently, Digium introduced the availability of the Digium Switchvox Support Engineer (dSSE), a new certification within its partner program. This curriculum focuses on advanced troubleshooting and configuration setup for Switchvox (News - Alert), Digium's business phone system and unified communications (UC) solution.
Along with on-demand videos and tutorials, this certification is also a valuable addition to Digium's partner program, equipping partners with the ability to build managed service offerings.
"As part of our rapidly expanding partner program, we want to ensure that our top-level partners have access to the tools and expertise they need to quickly and effectively support their SMB customers," said Jim Butler, director of global channel sales for Digium.
Today, Digium not only provides Asterisk software, but also telephony hardware and Switchvox business phone systems that deliver enterprise-class UC at a low cost.
“If you are looking for a solution that is cost effective and feature-rich, Switchvox is the one,” Angie Reed, product marketing manager of Business Phone (News - Alert) Systems at Digium, told TMCnet. “In fact, Switchvox is 60 percent less expensive than most solutions similar to it.”
According to Reed, the key strengths that separate Digium’s solutions from its competitors are value and ease of use. “Digium has solutions that are based on Asterisk and it can integrate those features into Switchvox, which is very interoperable, built on open technology, so you can use optimized Digium phones or other vendor phones,” she explained.
The dSSE is a troubleshooting course designed to educate partners on the methodology and best practices for configuring Switchvox. Partners achieving dSSE certification can provide their own onsite support, allowing for improved customer installation service. Additionally, partners will learn how to install Switchvox in a local area network; provide security for their Switchvox VoIP network; identify Session Initiation Protocol (News - Alert) (SIP) details and troubleshoot a SIP call flow; and learn best practices for troubleshooting Switchvox.
“The new dSSE certification allows partners to extend their service capabilities for our Switchvox UC solutions and increases the technical expertise of our partner base. We are excited to introduce this new, advanced training as another one of the benefits available to our partners,” Butler added.
In addition to the introduction of the dSSE certification, the popular Digium Certified Switchvox Professional (dCSP) and Digium Certified Switchvox Engineer (dCSE) courses have been updated, and are currently available to partners. These certifications include how to sell, configure and design Switchvox solutions and how to configure Digium's IP phones.
Looking further into 2013, Digium recognizes that its customers want integration with a lot more solutions in one single platform. So as it moves through this year, Digium will continue to provide the tools its channel partners want.
Said Reed, “We continue to have double digit growth every year and 2013 looks to be equal, if not more profitable year for us.”
Edited by Braden Becker