VoIPtel Blog » IP01

Open Source VoIP PBX with secure calls through VPN

phoenix — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:27:28 +0000

It’s finally done! For the last few weeks we have been working to implement secure phone calls through the IPxx series of PBX’s, and yesterday the final tests was performed in the office of Azuralis, a Norwegian company with extensive knowledge and experience with Asterisk and secure conference systems. After configuring a few SNOM 370 VoIP phones equipped with secure firmware we were able to place our first calls through a VPN connection originating in an IP01 PBX. It worked flawlessly, the voice came through crisp and crystal clear! We are currently waiting for the arrival of Atcom’s brand new AT-530P+ VoIP phone which comes complete with an OpenVPN client. Provided that these new phones perform satisfactory your right to keep your conversations private will be available to everybody at a bargain price, not only to those who can afford to pay several thousand $ for a set of crypto phones! A live demo with the SNOM 370′s will be available at CeBIT’09 in Hannover, Germany.
You will find us at Hall 13, Stand D44 (Atcom) and Stand D50 (Azuralis). If you want a free admission ticket to CeBIT, please send a mail to cebit@azuralis.no and they will be happy to provide one for you.

VOIPTEL NEWSLETTER

phoenix — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 20:46:05 +0000

I just sent out a newsletter to everybody on my mailing list, but thought it might be a good idea to post it here as well. If you have any suggestions or idéas please don’t hesitate to send them to me. You are the reason why we do this, and your thoughts and opinion are very valuable to us.

DISTRIBUTION CENTRAL WITHIN EU
From the very beginning we have been struggling with one major problem; obtaining a cost effective, speedy and reliable distribution of our products to international customers. We have been looking at several alternatives and have finally established our DC in the Netherlands. This will not only guarantee the improvement of speed and reliability of deliveries as well as reducing cost of freight, it also provides services like warranty repairs and replacements. I am very confident that all your needs and requirements will receive the attention that it deserves.

NEW FIRMWARE AND SERVICE CONTRACT AVAILABLE
Last December 2008 we launched a new line of firmware for the IPxx series of PBX’s. The first version released was the VoIPtel CE (Community Edition) followed by VoIPtel SE (Supported Edition) a few days later. While most of the open source community undoubtedly will go for CE, the SE will cater to corporations that feel the need for a more actively supported firmware backed by a support team capable to handle whatever problem they might encounter.

NEW MODELS AVAILABLE
In addition to the IP-04 and IP-08 Atcom Technology has recently added three new models to their PBX family. First out was the IP-01 capable of using one single line analog FXO/FXS module. This tiny PBX was quickly followed by the IP BRI, a four port PBX capable of connecting to four ISDN lines. And only a few days later we got the IP-02. The size of the IP-01 but with two RJ45 Ethernet ports in addition to two RJ11 analog ports this latest newcomer promises a lot of future potential. The IP-02 can use either one single or one dual FXO/FXS module.

ASTERISK G.729 and G.729A
We have been in contact with both Digium and Sipro for some time now regarding the rights to include the G.729 and G.729A codec in our firmware. The result of this contact is very positive; we have been given thumbs up for making the G.729 and G.729A available in Pass-Thru mode initially followed by global licenses in the near future. The G.729 and G.729A codec will be available in our VoIPtel SE firmware as soon as we have finished testing it.
“Pass-thru” means that if you were, for example, using two phones which both have inbuilt support for G.729 codec. You can let them talk to each other in G.729 format, without asterisk having to transcode (which requires a license).

ADMINISTRATORS MANUAL
Embedded in the firmware of VoIPtel SE we will make a complete Administrators Manual available before the end of February 2009.
A Quick Start Guide as well as selected parts of the Administrators Manual will be made available to registered users of our Forum within the same timeframe.

NEW FIRMWARE UPDATES
VoIPtel CE 0.3.1: Fixed bug which caused changes to /etc/zaptel.conf made by the GUI to prevent Zaptel from working (eg. when admin changed tone region).

The recently released IP01 requires a different zaptel over spi based driver. Due to this the IP01 now has its own line of firmware, separate from the IP04/IP08.

VoIPtel SE 0.3.2 – Remote Support: By clicking a button in the GUI the admin now has an easy way to establish a secure connection directly from the PBX to our Support Department. When the support session is over all that is needed is a second click on the same button and the connection is closed. Requires the admin to permit outbound connections through the router/firewall.

The IP01 has finally landed!

phoenix — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 01:09:25 +0000

It’s finally here! After several months of testing the long awaited IP01
has arrived. With the size and form factor of an ATA it boost some
serious CPU horsepower under the hood!
It’s ideal for an office or home that use VoIP phone extensions as
well as trunks, and still you have the choice of either an FXS or FXO
module providing you a choice of an analogue lifeline or a FAX.
A full DB-9 is broken out on the back for the serial console, a lot more convenient than what we are used to from the IP04.

And it runs the same firmware as it’s bigger relatives; VoIPtel CE/SE with uClinux, Asterisk, Zaptel and Oslec echo cancellation.

With it’s 400 MHz Blackfin BF532 it is every bit as capable as the larger versions, serious DSP work like echo cancellation and transcoding is performed flawlessly. It has 256 Mbyte of flash and 64M byte of fast SDRAM, plenty of room for uncompressed voice prompts and voice mail, plus all the software you will ever need on an embedded device.

For comparison the IP01 is about 10 times the CPU power (faster CPU clock and more importantly SDRAM bus speed) of a WRT54 and has 64 times the flash. Compared to an ATA it has high quality echo cancellation, runs a real operating system (uClinux), and is totally open (hardware and software).

It will be available in our webshop sometime next week, we just need a little time to put them through our quality control first.