Elastix Case of Success This Case receive an award from TMC´s Internet Telephony Magazine. http://elc.ec/tmceawes

1. Elastix as a communication platform
for people with disabilities
on emerging countries
Functionality, quality and low costs are social projects, whether they´re private or
difficult to obtain. Many SMB companies governmental.
around the world have the dilemma to
implement top technological solutions to It is rewarding and interesting to develop
enhance their businesses, but must functionalities that can be used to
overcome the budget challenge. implement communication projects that
integrate people with disabilities into
This case study demonstrates how Elastix society. It is interesting not only for the
can be adapted to scenarios where technological point of view but for the
functionality and quality are very budget side as well.
important and the project budget is
restricted. In this document we will present three
projects implemented in three different
To show how to solve this equation we Latin American cities. In one of them we
looked up for several cases with these will see the use of Elastix as an
characteristics. After exploring many entertainment solution for blind people,
interesting cases, we chose a group of while in the other two we will see how
them that caught our attention; mainly Elastix helped create effective platforms
because they show how Elastix is being that made possible to reinsert people with
used as a solution to be implemented in disabilities to working environments.
Elastix
Elastix is an open source unified communications solution. The licensing model, which
promotes the free use and distribution of software, allows lower costs and focus on the
budget which sometimes it is not given such importance but it can make the difference
between success or failure of a technology platform, such as services .
One of the reasons why Elastix has become very popular in many countries, is the ease to
carry out implementations of telephony configurations that can extend to advanced
configurations and can integrate advanced customized tools. The reason for this ease of
integration is the free access to the software code. In this document will look how Elastix
integrates with other software tools such as JAWS (for voice synthesis), Asternic Call Center
Stats or even custom development.

2. Cases description
The selected deployments for this case study have been made by expert companies in the
telecommunications field. These companies have decided to use Elastix to perform their
projects.
The companies Atech Comunicaciones and IPtegra, from Colombia, develop their activities
with the goal of integrating handicapped people in a working environment, while the
company Proximus from Chile offers an entertainment service based on social networks with
the purpose of integrating blind people.
Atech Comunicaciones – Medellin on roads
This case was made in the ADA Foundation created. The registration of these
in Medellin - Colombia. The main objective extensions was done using the ZoIPer
of the case was to establish a call center softphone which supports IAX extensions.
platform in which agents were people with One advantage was the low investment in
some type of mobility difficulties. telephones (the chosen softphone is also
freeware), while another advantage was
An essential requirement posed was the the possibility to maximize the uptime of
inclusion of remote working possibilities, each agent due to the stability of Elastix.
because people with movement limitations
often have difficulty going to the office. For For reporting, a custom development was
this reason the whole implementation of made according to the customer’s
the project was made so the agents could requirements. This development was done
work from home in Java Standard Edition using the plug-in
Ireport-Designer.
Elastix 2.0 and its Call Center addon were
installed, both components of free After configuring the system, the agents
distribution. At the beginning of the project were trained in the use of the console and
30 agents were included, all working test campaigns were configured. From the
remotely on regular computers. Previously moment the Elastix solution became
existing equipment and infrastructure was operational, the tests demonstrated an
used. increment in the number of received calls.
We must note that remote monitoring is a
To optimize the access of remote agents to bit complicated, but nevertheless all agents
the main server, IAX2 extensions were were in constant operation.

3. IPTegra – Call Center with blind agents
This case was made at Sistem Contact was made for metrics. The project also
Center - SCC, which specializes in the allowed the use of JAWS software to
collections area doing an outbound convert to audio the text displayed on the
operation. In their upgrade project, a social screen. For this specific case, the
component was included: the integration information of the campaigns forms is
of multiple agents with disabilities. Blind or displayed on the screen and JAWS
partially sighted people, along with non- translates it to voice, making listenable by
handicapped people, performed as agents . the blind agent.
SCC was already operating a The improvement of the infrastructure and
communications platform and decided new tools allowed to keep a base of 80
migrate to Elastix due to two key agents with the possibility of raising the
objectives: facilitate the administration and number to 130 when the call center’s
support tasks, and the possibility of using activity increases. The customer service
the Elastix’s Call Center addon, which rate increment was 300%, this was
offers predictive dialing. determined with real metrics. This is
because its original infrastructure did not
In the management and support areas, have a solution capable of organizing
Elastix makes easier the administrator’s campaigns efficiently.
daily tasks. Thus he or she could use the
time not spent on unnecessarily difficult Out of the base of agents, 16 blind people
administration tasks on other important were included with a permanent base of 4
activities. The installation and set up was supervisors for the area. For agents
the only meticulous and detailed task without disability, the use and
throughout the implementation process management of the forms in Elastix’s Call
making the resource monitoring and daily Center was easy and for blind agents the
management of the communications more adaptation of these forms allowed them to
efficient. operate the system effortlessly. These two
points were important in the growth
Regarding the Contact Center, Elastix’s Call performance.
Center addon, provides predictive dialing
facilities and also allows the integration of The number of concurrent calls is now
other tools such as advanced reporting and about 80 and is expected to continue
external consoles. At this point an growing.
integration with Asternic Call Center Stats

4. Proximus – Social networks for blind people
In 2007 Proximus started a project to The implemented platform allows blind
establish a social network for blind people people to have conferences, which also has
oriented to a digital voice platform with a a personal voicemail, which empowers the
capacity of 4 E1 interfaces. In 2009 they user experience.
decided to internationalize that social
network through a solution capable of The administrators of the platform are
developing the application in a platform blind people too, so there was some
that is economic, robust and 100% customized development work made to
compatible with VoIP. Elastix’s dynamism allow the management of the voice
was the main reason for their choice. communications network based on caller
IDs. Making them able to identify, add,
block or remove users.
Among the requirements, it was
established that the implementation The number of concurrent calls is about
should use open source software and 100, it is projected to reach 200 by the end
would be able to handle a total of 2 million of this year and with an approximate of
of minutes per month on the 120 IVR 4500 registered users!
channels. Another major requirement was
to support both the digital (PSTN) and IP Resulting from the implementation, the
traffics simultaneously. satisfaction level was very high, allowing a
significant growth of this social network.
Due to the capabilities of users, the audio Technically the solution maintains an
must maintain a high level of quality. impressive stability with nearly 100%
uptime, processing 2 million minutes of
calls per month.
Conclusions
The common factor in these cases is the difficulty in the funding of social projects.
Establishing an investors or customers base based on work done by people with special
needs is complicated because of the lack of real statistics.
Another common factor is the adaptation of any platform to the requirements of people
with special needs to be integrated to a stable working environment, or to maximize the
confidence (such as in the Proximus case).
In all these cases, Elastix was able to solve these issues mainly for two reasons:
 The possibility of making a low-cost implementation
 Flexibility to adapt to the requirements of end users

5. Among the main achievements that were obtained are the following:
Suitable Budget
The Elastix choice allowed achieving the initial goal of the three cases, which was the
development of a pilot project that ended in a real entrepreneurship that could be
implemented according to the cost and technical feasibility.
In the case of having used a proprietary solution instead of Elastix, the estimated costs
related to the communications, would have been much larger, at least twice.
Easily integrated
Elastix was established as an ideal platform for the design of the functionalities to
implement, including specific development and integration of new tools, all aimed to make
the technological solutions adapt to the end user and not vice versa.
The following table shows some details of the integration that was performed on the
projects described above with other tools or with custom programs developed.
Atech IPTegra Proximus
Custom development Yes No Yes
Programming language
Java + Ireport-
used for custom N.A. PHP
Designer
development
External tools integration 1 No Yes No
Asternic Call
Integrated external tools N.A. Center Stats, N.A.
JAWS
For Proximus, the project involved new features, many of them adapted to the recurrent
needs of users.
1
Excluding softphones or small tools that do not represent a technological challenge of great magnitude.
Neither is considered the Elastix call center addon

6. Growth capacity
Elastix’s licensing does not put obstacles to growth. The only limitation that could exist is the
resources of the hardware platform. This is certainly a very important advantage for any
ambitious project.
For IPTegra, it was reported a 300% growth from its initial implementation. The growth was
dealt with simply by improving the hardware capacity of the server.
Atech IPTegra Proximus
200% growth till
Growth Rate N.A. 300% growth the end of the
year
Social objectives obtained through the projects studied
Beyond the intrinsic advantages of the product, Elastix was the tool that allowed the
projects examined here reach their social goals, specifically:
Improvement in the quality of life.- In both Call Center projects and in the Social Network
project, the quality of life for users and agents really improved. Especially in this case for the
integration to the working environment of people with difficult access to employment and
the integration of people who have been segregated from society.
Inclusion of persons with disabilities in the work environment.- The Medellin on Roads and
SCC projects caused the establishment of a permanent entrepreneurship with motivated
and qualified people.
High performance at work.- The inclusion to the working environment was a motivating
factor to establish or increase performance in the Call Center cases, where the end customer
perception depends on high standards of service. On both cases the ease of use of the call
center application has been crucial for quick learning and correct use.
Portfolio Growth.- In the Medellin on Roads case, the high efficiency level allowed the
establishment of new portfolios and new clients for the Call Center.

7. Comments of the implemented companies
“Our social network is having the desired effect, with a sustained growth in both the user
database and the monthly minutes processed. Technically, the solution demonstrated a
dramatic stability at almost 100% of activity time and 2 million minutes processed per
month without any problems. The solution provided by PaloSanto Solutions is constantly
adapting to newer and more difficult user requirements, such as blind people who are
guided only by sounds”.
Leopold de Bonhome, Proximus S.A. Manager
“The most beautiful aspect of this project is the satisfaction of using technology to help a
group neglected by our society. To see a person who is happy because he feels useful, and
he can be part of a working environment, that is priceless. This project gives hope to those
who have never had an opportunity”.
Ludwig Ramirez, systems and network consultant, who was in charge
of the technical implementation of this project through the company IPTegra
“We have found a qualified workforce, professionalism, commitment and enthusiasm to
deliver a good job, through technology that gives us a distribution like Elastix, which allowed
us to complete this project with full satisfaction”
Atech Comunicaciones, integrator
Reference Information
Video showing the Elastix and JAWS integration:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4eX94NoXoM
Medellin on roads project website:
http://www.medellinsobreruedas.co