SipXecs - Open Source PBX
From SIPfoundry sipXecs IP PBX, The Open Source SIP PBX for Linux - Calivia
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sipXecs - The SIP IP PBX for Linux
The sipXecs IP PBX solution is an open source Enterprise PBX (SIP based VoIP solution) complete with all common telephony features, XML-based SIP session routing, voice mail, conferencing, and auto-attendant. sipXecs IP PBX is a fully standards based VoIP solution that interoperates with any SIP phone, gateway, and third party application.
sipXecs IP PBX scales where others don't and it is the only open source IP PBX that includes a fully Web based management system in open source.
Ease of use and management are key design criteria for sipXecs. sipXecs offers full Web-based administration including integrated management and configuration of the PBX and attached phones and gateways plug & play.
sipXecs IP PBX is a modular server based solution that runs on standard Linux and does not require any additional hardware.
sipXecs is a native SIP communications solution strictly following and implementing all the relevant SIP IETF standards.
sipXecs is also successfully used as a high performance Enterprise toll-bypass SIP router typically inserted behind an existing PBX and routing traffic over IP following least-cost routing policies implemented in its XML-based dial plan.
Release Information
The sipXecs developer team schedules a new maintenance release about every three months. Major releases are 8 to 12 month apart. Every release first enters a beta phase before it is declared stable (GA).
License
sipXecs is distributed under the Lesser General Public License (LGPL).
History
Development of sipXecs IP PBX started in 1999 and was first introduced as a commercial product by Pingtel Corp. Early 2004 Pingtel adopted an open-source business model, became a founding member of SIPfoundry and made available the entire commercial code base as an open source project under the name of sipX. The name of the project was then later changed to sipXecs. Since then an active community has formed around sipXecs with Pingtel doing all its development efforts as part of the open source sipXecs project. In 2008 Pingtel was acquired by Nortel, which helped accelerate the development effort.
Features & Roadmap
sipXecs IP PBX is by now the most feature complete open source IP PBX available. Development is on-going and the projects Detailed Roadmap sipXecs IP PBX is updated frequently.
Versions
sipXecs IP PBX follows a release numbering scheme similar to the Linux kernel and many other open source projects.
There are three levels to the numbering scheme, with one additional number for the build; the pattern is major.minor.fix-build
For functional purposes with released builds, it's sufficient to ignore the "-build"; that is really for developer use, so when discussing released software, it's sufficient to use just the first three numbers.
- major
- is incremented when a release adds some very important new capability.
- minor
- is incremented when other new features are added, but also indicates the stability of the release:
- An even minor number is intended to be a stable build suitable for general production use
- An odd minor number is a development build on the way to the next stable release. Builds with odd minor numbers may or may not be usable by anyone but developers, and upgrading too and from them is not supported (they might work, but don't complain if they don't).
- fix
- is incremented in stable builds when a set of bug fixes (or non-bug minor improvements) are released, and roughly monthly for developer builds.
- Current, stable release, sipXecs Download
- Current, development branch, sipXecs Development
Applications
Out of the box application examples include:
- A fully featured open source Enterprise PBX solution running on a Linux server
- A remote worker solution connecting home and mobile workers to the corporate PBX using laptop based softphones or other SIP phones
- An Enterprise toll by-pass call router enabling a company to interconnect branch offices with headquarter using VoIP technology
- A home/SOHO PBX offering all the features you ever wanted in your home
GUI Interface
Ease of use is one of the key attributes of the sipXecs solution. The sipXecs server is configured using a Web based GUI interface. Every user of sipXecs automatically receives his/her own Web GUI portal for system administration, voice mail retrieval, configuration of personal preferences and call routing options.
Installation
Installation of sipXecs IP PBX is fully automated using the binary RPM distribution of sipXecs available here. All the required dependencies are included and system configuration is done automatically.
This Wiki provides detailed information on how to install.
Supported Platforms
sipXecs IP PBX runs on standard Linux and it should be possible to compile sipXecs from source for any of the many Linux distributions.
The main distributions sipXecs is released on are Fedora Core, CentOS and SuSE. However, this Wiki includes information on how to use sipXecs on an increasing number of Linux and Sun Solaris platforms.
Additional Components
sipXecs IP PBX does not require any additional hardware to be installed in a standard Linux server. In the context of its distributed architecture and compliance with the SIP standard, sipXecs is interoperable with a large set of external phones and media gateways. The Phone Interoperability Portal provides more information on supported phones. Please also refer to the HOWTO section for additional information in gateways and firewalls.
