Open Source Software Telephony PBX System

It is only natural to extend the benefits of open source to computer telephony, especially when the computer is running an open source operating system such as Linux and telephony while being a crucial business and social enabler is typically closed and still under the control of the supplier. Combining open source application software running on Linux based commodity PC/servers gives you total control at a very low cost base.
Open Source effectively increases user adoption by:

1. Reducing the cost of ownership and making it affordable.
2. Promoting community development & support.
3. Eliminating vendor lock-in thus providing control back to the you.
4. Inherently facilitating customisation and localisation activities, transcending geographical and cultural barriers.

Open source eliminates the barriers to knowledge, thus increasing competition amongst vendors and service providers, promoting innovation and eliminating the opportunity for monopolization. For developers, it enables them to avoid the duplication of effort, allowing them to concentrate on adding value by building on the foundation of others.

By using Open Source software, telephony systems can be built for the price of a telephony card, a PC and a little effort. This can give your company a tremendous cost advantage over traditional business models, that charge largely for their proprietary software. 

With open source software, at best you have a team of developers working with you to upgrade and fix bugs on your telephony system - all for free. This is why open source software potentially can be far more reliable and stable than comparable closed source systems. Open source software has a far lower cost of ownership for this reason. At worst, if there is a bug in open source software any competent developer can find and fix it, as they have the source available to them. In a closed source system, you are at the mercy of the software vendor.