The good news is just because something is currently the de facto standard doesn't mean it will be like that forever.
My thoughts were why limit the possible market on these phones. Cisco has SCCP and SIP firmware. Why don't I see more phone manufactures with SIP and IAX firmware modes available? Especially when you are working directly with Digium for Asterisk integration. (this is somewhat of a rhetorical question; feel free to add but this could turn into one of thoes internet arguments that at the end of the day gets us nowhere.) Development cost plays into it but then again they could open source the firmware so the community can develop IAX firmware. Having not read the SIP or IAX RFC I only know the benefits of using IAX that I see and use. First one that comes to mind is the built-in transfer similar to the SIP canreinvite. The current way SIP canreinvite works; Asterisk is kept in the middle of the media stream until the two endpoints can send the media stream to each other directly. IAX can direct the media stream between the two endpoints without actually getting in the middle of the media stream at all. With SIP I notice the slight delay at the beginning of the call while Asterisk and the phones work their magic. With IAX I don't notice this. With a fully compliant SIP RFC stack in the future we may see improvements in this area but I'll believe it when I see it. IAX also appears to handel NATing better. Wouldn't your customers love a phone that's plug and play? If you configured the phone with STUN it 'should' work but STUN doesen't solve any issues with firewalls and ports. Just the opinions of one Asterisk using, uninformed, unread, and biased fool. Now where did I put my ballot? Blaine Aldridge
