1. What is DAHDI and Why Should I care?
Tampa Bay Asterisk Users Group June 2008 by
Matt Florell

2. What does DAHDI Mean? D – Digium A - Asterisk H – Hardware D – Digital
I – Interface
It is the replacement for the Zaptel drivers that allow for interfacing Asterisk with TDM/PSTN interface cards from multiple vendors as well as allowing for hardware timers for meetme, MusiconHold and IAXtrunks

3. Why the Change?
Trademark infringement, ZapTel is a phone card(prepaid minutes) product offered by a telco company
Searching for “Zaptel cards” returned almost all Asterisk-related results

4. What Will This Mean for Me?
Not much for the average user for right now
Asterisk 1.2 will not use DAHDI
Asterisk 1.4 will add DAHDI compatibility
Asterisk 1.6 will only work with DAHDI
Channel names will change from “Zap” to “DAHDI”

5. For More Information:
See the official announcement:
Go to the official change web page: