A Systematic Literature Review on Asterisk: Teach More than VoIP Communication

Asterisk is a free and open-source software for telecommunication scenarios. It was created in 1999 and used by organizations of various types and sizes worldwide. It is software that can serve as the business infrastructure for telephony with different phone systems. This paper examines the relevance of this tool for teaching electrical engineering, computer science, and other areas. The study investigated the evolution, technologies, the benefits of learning it for students, and its applicability in practical activities to teach new concepts. The methodology of this study is a systematic review of searches in electronic repositories until 2020. The results found 3,221 documents, selecting 179 to extract data. The study identified several scenarios in hands-on exercises to improve knowledge skills in security, artificial intelligence, network quality, measurement, and programming. Furthermore, this research suggests that teachers can use the tool to motivate and engage students in learning about the latest network concepts, such as Software Defined Networks (SDN), Virtualization, the Internet of Things (IoT), and Blockchain.