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New Open Source VoIP PBX

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the tin-can-and-string-compatible dept.

dsginter writes "It looks like Asterisk isn't the only open source PBX game in town anymore. sipX, as the name implies, is a SIP-only PBX project released under the LGPL. A noteworthy feature is the inclusion of an out-of-the-box web-based management console. Read more about the release over at Voxilla."

14 of 151 comments (clear)

  1. Asterisk is also a gateway by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    SIPx appears to be a PBX only, with no way to attach real phones. Asterisk's primary appeal is that it integrates POTS and SIP. Who uses SIP and SIP alone?

  2. There's at least one other open source PBX by SizL · · Score: 5, Informative

    And it's PBX4Linux. http://isdn.jolly.de/

    1. Re:There's at least one other open source PBX by hoppy · · Score: 2, Informative

      And a second:
      http://gnu.teleglobe.net/software/bayonne /index.ht ml

    2. Re:There's at least one other open source PBX by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Nice, but PBX4Linux is mostly an ISDN PBX with VoIP in H.323 flavor (which is basically ISDN over IP) as a bonus. These days VoIP means SIP, and PBX4Linux doesn't do that.

    3. Re:There's at least one other open source PBX by fuzzbrain · · Score: 4, Informative

      YXA is another open source sip server. This one's written in Erlang which strikes me as a very good fit for this purpose (Erlang was originally developed by Ericsson for the specific purpose of developing high availability telephony applications). There are I believe some plans to integrate this with ejabberd.

  3. Re:Which means what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    *buzz* its Session Initiation Protocol

    thanks for playing. =)

  4. Here's more of'em by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    The only? What is this, IDG?

    I can think of at least two right away:

    • SER
    • Yxa

    There are probably others, feel free to add...

  5. Re:And "open source PBX _game_ in town anymore." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    It is an English saying.

    "Only Game in Town" refers to the only option available, or preferable.

    You could, for instance, say "Windows XP Home is the only game in town for novice computer users."

    [Although this is not technically accurate, the sentence makes sense.]

    I hope this does not sound patronising.
    This post is meant as an FYI.
    I know not all /. users are native English speakers and I feel it is useful to help out those who may get confused by colloquialisms, idioms and assorted sayings.

    Keitaro

  6. Includes VoiceXML support! by Alistair+Cunningham · · Score: 4, Informative

    What's particularly interesting with this product is that it includes a VoiceXML browser.

    For those who aren't aware, VoiceXML is a cross platform markup language, visually similar to HTML, for writing IVR applications. VoiceXML pages can be served from any web server, and converted to voice on an VoiceXML browser. It interfaces seamlessly to Text To Speech and Voice Recognition servers.

    My company, Integrics Ltd, does Asterisk, Cisco Call Manager, and SER installations. Up to now, we've done IVRs using Asterisk AGI for smaller systems, and VoiceXML on Cisco 2800 routers for larger systems. Being able to run VoiceXML on a free platform on Linux is going to be very interesting our customers. Needless to say, we're getting up to speed on sipX, and will be offering installation and development services as soon as it's mature.

  7. Re:Which means what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    SIP - in this context is Session Initiation Protocol - basically a signalling protocol.

  8. Jargon Buster by Jack+Taylor · · Score: 5, Informative

    There seems to be some confusion over the acronyms on this topic, so I thought I would clarify some of them:

    PBX: Private Branch Exchange - this is basically a computerised telephone switchboard, allowing even fairly small organisations to manage their own telephone networks at low cost.

    SIP: Session Initiated Protocol - this is the protocol that is standard on most voice-over-IP devices.

    COWBOYNEAL: Circulation Of Worthless Broadcasts Over Your Nearest External Authentication Location - this is a special extension to the voice-over-IP standard allowing fast delivery of esoteric technological news to compliant devices. It also has the convenient property of always being last on selection fields in the user interface.

    --
    One good turn - gets all the covers.
    1. Re:Jargon Buster by CounterZer0 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Actually, SIP is 'Session Initiation Protocol', as specified in RFC 3621 (http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3261.txt)

  9. Copper 1 pair, actually by n4vu · · Score: 2, Informative

    Enjoyed your post, but should point out that only one pair is needed for telephone communication, including ringing. The two pair is a more recent wiring standard.

  10. Re:Two Stones, One bird by bastion_xx · · Score: 4, Informative

    Try asterisk@home for a good distro that should do most of the easy stuff "out of the box".