Digium, known as the Asterisk (News - Alert) Company, announced it is adding a new listing category to AsteriskExchange dedicated to custom applications for Switchvox (News - Alert).

Switchvox is Digium’s line of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) business phone systems. With Switchvox, customers can create custom applications for integrating telecom system with business processes to improve productivity.

Customers who are developing for Switchvox can promote and sell their applications in this newly added listing category on AsteriskExchange.

Initial Switchvox applications are available now through the AsteriskExchange, such as a custom Microsoft (News - Alert) Dynamics CRM integration solution created by Stauffer Technologies, (STI), a Switchvox reseller and Digium certified partner based in Cleveland, Ohio, company officials said.

“We’re excited to have a place to showcase our custom integrations and to offer a solution that we know will benefit other companies,” said Ken Stauffer, owner of STI, in a statement. “Switchvox is an important part of our portfolio and extending its functionality helps us deliver increased value to our customers.” 

Digium (News - Alert) has decided to wave standard fee for all Asterisk and Switchvox-related listings. The fee waiver is aimed at jump-starting the development and promotion of the Switchvox Solutions category and the AsteriskExchange, company officials said.

“An important differentiator for Switchvox is our XML-based Extend API, which makes it easy for developers to integrate Switchvox with any web application, and that ultimately benefits the customer by giving them access to a broader range of customized features and add-ons,” said Leslie Conway, vice president of global marketing at Digium.

The list of AsteriskExchange categories includes IP phones and gateways, speech recognition and synthesis engines, voice prompts, video integrations, call center solutions, vertical application packages, among other things.

Digium recently announced the results of a total cost of ownership (TCO) study that compares both the initial investment costs and total, five-year costs of its Switchvox unified communications (UC) solution to competitive IP PBX (News - Alert) products.

The results indicated that small- and medium-sized business (SMB) customers can achieve 60 percent savings on their initial investments and as much as 80 percent on the TCO over five-years with the Switchvox UC solution.