Cisco Unified Border Element (CUBE) vs. Sangoma Asterisk

If IP PBX is Cisco CUCM, CUBE is its best partner to connect PSTN SIP trunks. The multiple trunks can be from different PSTN providers. It also supports SIP forking for network recording.

Incentivized

As I stated before this is very user friendly. It makes it so just about anyone with basic knowledge of technology can use it. There is always room for improvement but this is by far the easiest program to use for phone systems that I have used in my 8+ years at my current job.

Incentivized

• Call accounting (Integration with 3rd party applications for ease of use and comprehensive CDR's)
• Address hiding (Keeping your internal network secure with PSTN calls)
• Internetworking between multiple protocols
• SIP profiles (message/header customization)
• Billing, cost counting

Incentivized

• Call forwarding that I can trust stays on even if my phone "refreshes."
• Ability to setup various call rules and save them to use as needed.

Incentivized

• The expense of the device to run CUBE may have you looking outside Cisco for options.
• Requires additional DSPs for transcoding operations.
• There's a bit of a learning curve in getting this set up to work with your specific provider when using this as a SIP gateway.

Incentivized

• Documentation is scarce, so you have to learn by trial and error.
• Not cloud-based, and there's no mobile app.
• The ability to email voicemail messages would be great.

Incentivized

The flexibility is great for leveraging SIP profiles and dial peers.

Incentivized

User friendly. Very little training to use it

Incentivized

I've been using Cube for years and I like the way Cube handles a call. Minimum administration required once everything is set up correctly.

Incentivized

I have asked in the not so recent past about having my phone updated with my saved Digium "favorites" list but it doesn't seem that this is possible

Incentivized

To be fair to CUBE and AudioCodes, my experience with AudioCodes was over 4 years ago, so their interfaces and CLI may have seen some revisions/updates. CUBE provides a unified CLI experience with the rest of your existing enterprise Cisco environment, whereas AudioCodes blend of a UI and CLI feel a little "90's" in comparison. It certainly can be a tad more friendly to someone just getting a feel for network devices, but the actual feature set felt harder to use as a result. I didn't have any reliability issues or stability issues with either device, though and the AudioCodes solution is less costly, generally speaking, if it will work for your environment.

Incentivized

I have used many other systems such as Cisco Call Manager, Avaya Communication Manager, Nortel Meridian, small Panasonic PBX. All of them are proprietary and more expensive in both hardware and software. Digium Asterisk stacks up against them because the price of the hardware and software is lower and very intuitive.

Incentivized

• Saving money on PRI cost by switching to ITSP connections. Massive savings.
• TAC support is great. Having maintenance with Cisco gear is game changing for small IT shops.
• Streamline security. Great place for a Demarc.

Incentivized

• Since Asterisk is an open-source tool, it does not require very large investments at the infrastructure level, which helps to have a quick ROI.
• There is a wide range of professionals to carry out software maintenance and support with internal company resources.
• Has no associated annual or monthly licensing costs

Incentivized