Commercial SBCs are quite featureful, but their feature set is extremely
static, and often depends on vendor consulting and expertise to be
approachable.
Nobody claimed the open-source solutions are simple to support or don't
require expertise. They're not free, either, as everyone well knows.
In my view, the real value of something like Kamailio - where it's not
merely a money-saving measure but can achieve truly spectacular
multiplier effects in technological leverage - is in its integration
paths (MI and sercmd/binrpc), HTTP client/server, database connectors,
integrated servers, etc. The ability to develop new kinds of
applications and services that rely on making disparate components talk
to and interoperate with each other in novel ways, as well as to make
better, more economical use of existing technology through those same
kinds of facilities, is where the real power truly lies. Some
commercial products powered by proprietary stacks have APIs too, but
they're light years behind the open-source world in this regard; they
are far too bureaucratic and inflexible.
This is where our customers typically see massive payback of using
something like Kamailio, aside from the any savings on licensing costs
(both of the core network element and potential dependencies).
--
Alex Balashov - Principal
Evariste Systems LLC
235 E Ponce de Leon Ave
Suite 106
Decatur, GA 30030
Tel: +1-678-954-0670
Fax: +1-404-961-1892
Web:
http://www.evaristesys.com/,
http://www.alexbalashov.com/