The STARFACE product family uses VoIP as the voice transmission method. With this technology, voice is no longer transmitted in a continuous stream over separate telephone lines. Instead, the Internet Protocol (IP) is now used to transmit voice over conventional data networks in the form of data packets. With VoIP, exclusively switched lines between the calling and called parties for the duration of a call are not needed.

Browser and Platform Independence

The STARFACE user interface can be displayed on all of the most popular browsers, especially Internet Explorer (>=6.x) and Firefox (>1.5). With STARFACE, vertico has made true browser and platform independence a reality: Regardless of which client platform is used (Windows, Linux, or Mac), users always have comfortable and easy access to STARFACE.

The Foundation: Open Source Systems

STARFACE is based on a specially adapted Linux distribution. In this way, vertico software ensures that the operating system is always up to date and that STARFACE maintains a reliable and stable operation.

STARFACE data is maintained in the database PostgreSQL. This database is noted for its performance. The consistency of data within STARFACE is therefore always assured. Integrated recovery and rollback mechanisms contribute to the high standard of security.

STARFACE uses the components of the proven, extensively tested technical framework of the Open Source platform Asterisk to implement the voice communication via data networks as well as for internal management of voice channels.

The system architecture of STARFACE itself is based on JAVA (J2EE) technology and has a multitier structure. The modular and object oriented software architecture ensures that STARFACE can be expanded easily and also allows system integration at all levels.

Monitored Functionality Through the Use of Watchdogs

STARFACE has a number of Watchdogs; that is, special services that monitor the performance, integrity, and stability of the various system components. When faults or anomalies arise, the watchdogs immediately become active, reset unstable components, and finally restart any other malfunctioning services as needed.
Every attempt is made to ensure maximum system availability; as a result, the process is usually completely transparent to the user-for example, ISDN services are reset only after no more calls are active.

AJAX Technology

The browser-based user interfaces in STARFACE are implemented using AJAX components. With this technology, interactive elements are processed using only HTML and JavaScript without continuously reloading the entire site. This is possible because an AJAX service on the client communicates continually with the STARFACE server. When status changes occur, only the affected elements on the user interface are selectively updated. This means that comparable functionality is provided without requiring the extensive installation and maintenance of fat clients on workplace computers.

Compression Codecs

STARFACE uses several compression codecs to ensure that telephone calls can be placed particularly inexpensively and without any noticeable decrease in quality:

• G.711: 64 kbit/s - 80 kbit/s data transfer rate
• G.723: 6.3 kbit/s - 15.9 kbit/s data transfer rate
• GSM: 13 kbit/s - 29 kbit/s data transfer rate

Codec G.729 at 8 kbit/s - 24 kbit/s data transfer rate is also available. However, it entails additional licensing costs and therefore is not a standard part of the package.

STARFACE both supports and is based on standardized protocols. This ensures a high degree of interoperability within and between systems. The protocols used most often are SIP and IAX2 (optional). However, the H.323 protocol is also available.

Interfaces

STARFACE provides access to the following interfaces:

• TAPI: Permits CTI connection to TAPI-ready Windows applications.
• XMPP/Jabber: Used for internal transmission of status information and the "translation" of function calls used by TAPI within STARFACE. In addition, it is the basis for the STARFACE-internal Instant Messaging functionality.
• LDAP: Used to allow access to external telephone directories and address books.
• XML: STARFACE supports communication with OEM systems via individually configurable XML interfaces. Both system information and function calls (XMLRPC)-including all parameters-can be transferred.
• JDBC: All information generated via STARFACE, including call detail records (CDRs), address books, user information, and so on, are stored in an SQL database. Via a JDBC connector, these can easily be extracted for further processing.

System integration

The following applications can be connected directly to STARFACE:

Mac OS X Address Book

• Click and Dial - Allows direct dialing of contacts from an address record.
• Look Up - Opens the appropriate address record by identifying the entered DN.

SugarCRM

• Click and Dial - Allows direct dialing of contacts from an address record.
• Look Up - Opens the appropriate address record when the corresponding STARFACE function is selected.

Outlook

• Click and Dial - By selecting the corresponding Outlook function and using the STARFACE TSP driver.