“Digium has a track record of being very channel centric, with more than 90 percent of our business flowing through the channel,” said Steve Harvey, vice president of worldwide sales. “As end user interest in Asterisk continues to grow, we must build a network of regionally based resellers capable of installing and maintaining open source IP telephony solutions. The Digium Authorized Reseller Program is designed to provide resellers with the tools they need to excel in the market, with particular emphasis given to reseller profitability.”

The cost for an Asterisk solution is typically one-half to one-third the cost of a traditional legacy system. As part of the program, Digium will assist resellers in promoting, marketing and selling Digium’s products, solutions and services.

Approved resellers will be able to sell Digium’s hardware and software solutions including all telephony interface boards, Asterisk Business Edition™ (Digium’s professional grade version of Asterisk), and the Asterisk Appliance Developer Kit, which provides early access to the upcoming Asterisk Appliance for value added resellers to develop their own Asterisk-based solutions.

Digium’s Asterisk solutions also enable VARs to install hybrid VoIP solutions, allowing the use of legacy phone equipment when deploying a VoIP solution. Hybrid solution alternatives are especially important for small- and medium-sized businesses looking to decrease the initial, up-front cost of equipment when deploying a VoIP solution.

“We joined the Digium Authorized Reseller Program to broaden our VoIP practice and support the most widely used open source PBX on the planet,” said Michael Tanenhaus, president and CEO at Mavenspire, an IT consulting, sales and hosted technology services company. “Being a Digium reseller has opened opportunities for integration and bundling that are simply not available with proprietary products.”

The Digium Authorized Reseller Program offers resellers three program levels to choose from depending on anticipated sales levels:

Resellers can register to join the Digium program by completing an online application at www.digium.com. Once a reseller joins the program, they will have an opportunity to purchase the Digium Reseller Starter Kit which includes a demo kit, sales collateral and access to reseller tools. With entrance into the program the reseller also has six months to complete the Digium Asterisk Boot Camp to become a Digium Certified Asterisk Professional.