From Asterisk to Digital Tide: A Successful Migration Story

February 29, 2024 · 4 min to read

Many operators are starting to offer cloud PBX services based on open-source platforms. However, the capabilities of such systems may become insufficient for B2B clients over time. In this article, we will talk about a telephone company that began providing a cloud PBX service built on Asterisk but later realized that this solution wasn’t enough to scale the service and successfully migrated to Digital Tide.

About the Operator

Our client is a telephone company that has been providing services to both businesses and individuals in a major city for several years. In addition to telephone numbers and the internet, the operator offers various services for businesses, including the cloud PBX.

The company chose the FreePBX system based on Asterisk to launch the cloud PBX. This decision was made to avoid risks in an unfamiliar market and significant expenses on licensing. Initially, everything worked perfectly, but some issues arose as the number of clients increased. There were noises and echoes during calls, and delays in transmitting audio data became noticeable.

Asterisk Limitations

In addition to the issues during calls, the company faced the following limitations with Asterisk:

Clients lacked essential features.

For instance, the free version of FreePBX didn’t support advanced CRM system integrations, call recording reports, call tracking, and other crucial features expected from carrier-grade platforms.
Many settings weren’t accessible in the interface.

Clients had to submit requests to engineers to configure integrations with CRM systems, call routing, and complex scenarios for the IVR.
The workload on engineers has increased.

Initially, one engineer managed the cloud PBX setup, but two more specialists were required as new subscribers needed assistance configuring features and resolving communication issues.

It became evident that scaling the service required a high-performance platform, and open-source solutions were only suitable for managing a small subscriber base.

After thoroughly analyzing various PBX vendors, the company settled on the Digital Tide platform, the best solution for their requirements.

Migration to Digital Tide

The migration from Asterisk to Digital Tide consisted of several stages.

Stage 1. Launching a Platform

The operator didn’t have to allocate server resources because Digital Tide was deployed on the vendor’s server. Engineers configured the SIP trunk and connected the platform to the operator’s telephony.

After the connection, the company accessed the platform and started using it. They began connecting new customers to Digital Tide right away.

Stage 2: Platform Testing

It took two months to test how the platform worked. During this time, the workload on the engineers increased because they were working simultaneously with two platforms: Digital Tide and Asterisk.

After the telephone company and the vendor were convinced that the platform was working perfectly, they started moving subscribers.

Stage 3. Subscription Migration

The operator called their old customers and offered them to switch to the new platform — the majority agreed. Managers coordinated with customers on the new features and plans and provided them with new domains.

Engineers adjusted the equipment settings since most customers had leased the operator’s SIP phones and VoIP gateways. Subscribers with their own equipment configured everything themselves, and in case of issues, they also called an engineer.

Some customers didn’t want to pay more due to migrating to the new platform. The telephone company agreed to keep them on their previous plans and moved everyone to Digital Tide as part of the planned work. Subscribers received access to their user domains via email.

Become a partner

Digital Tide will help telecom operators migrate from Asterisk or any other cloud PBX platform and launch a better service for B2B clients.

Conclusion

The migration to the new platform took approximately five months and proceeded with revenue growth without losing the subscriber base. Here are the results of the migration:

Many tasks shifted to the vendor’s responsibility — installation administration, monitoring, and third-line support.
The average transaction value increased by almost two times. Since Digital Tide provides a higher-quality product, the company expanded its plans policy and increased the cloud PBX service price with additional options.
Technical support workload decreased. The number of tickets was reduced by approximately four times.
Subscribers found it more convenient. A branded softphone and a mobile application were introduced, and users could now configure many functions themselves.
Subscriber churn significantly decreased: on Asterisk, the churn rate was at 4%, while on Digital Tide, it fell to 2% monthly.

The telephone company ultimately obtained a solution that allowed them to increase their cloud PBX subscriber base without limitations.

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CEO

Alexey Belyakov