When we follow VoIP and unified communications stories, over time we develop a set of writers and bloggers we read who really do a nice job of pointing out some of the interesting stories we'd otherwise miss. Tim Greene is one such writer for me.

Here's a link to a piece he did on Network World that I found really interesting.For me, I think what makes the story interesting is that I'm really a bit removed from Asterisk and other open source initiatives that have become truly solid and reliable solutions. My focus remains very much on commercial solutions and vendors. Here's a nice piece on a success for the open source solution providers.

A California city rebuilds network using all open source software
Open source network tools such as Asterisk IP PBX give the city of Madera needed voice and data improvements for a cost it can handle
By Tim Greene, Network World, 11/26/07

When the city of Madera, Calif., needed a new voice system, it turned to open source technology -- not just for the IP telephony but for an entire network-infrastructure overhaul and loads of other functions. All the renovations cost less than half the estimated price of deploying a commercial VoIP system alone. This smart, budget-wise use of open source across the network wins the city a 2007 Enterprise All-Star Award.
[Read Tim's full story]

Technorati Tags: City of Madera, California, open source, VoIP