Asterisk, the open source IP-PBX platform that is giving established players run for its money is getting better by the day, thanks to many add-ons community keeps writing for the software.

The latest is HUDlite, a free call manager application for Asterisk that is simple enough to understand, and has built in features such as real-time call control and presence management. Users of HUDlite can see when other employees are on calls, to whom they are talking and whether calls are internal, external or in a queue. (Download at HUDlite.org for OS-X, Linux and XP.)

The software is a lighter version of HUDPro, a beefed up version of the software developed by Fonality, a LA-based start-up that sells Asterisk-based IP-PBX systems. There seems to be a big need for a software like this - it has been downloaded 4000 times so far, and the numbers are only going up.