Comparison of VoIP software
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Voice over IP (VoIP) software is used to conduct telephone-like voice conversations across IP based networks. For residential markets, VOIP phone service is often cheaper than traditional PSTN phone service and can remove geographic restrictions to telephone numbers (i.e. have a "New York" PSTN phone number in Tokyo).
For enterprise or business markets, VoIP enables the enterprise to manage a single network (the IP network) instead of separate voice and data networks, while enabling advanced and flexible capabilities to the end user.
Softphones are end user based clients for initiating and receiving voice and video communications over the IP network with the standard functionality of most "original" telephones and usually allow integration with IP Phones and USB Phones instead of utilizing a computer's microphone and speakers (or headset). Most softphone clients run on the open SIP supporting various codecs. Skype runs on a closed proprietary network. "Chat" programs now also incorporate voice and video communications.
Other VoIP software applications include conferencing servers, intercom systems, virtual FXOs and adapted telephony software which concurrently support VoIP and PSTN like IVR systems, dial in dictation, on hold and call recording servers.
Contents |
[edit] General softphone clients
Program | Operating systems | License | Protocols/based upon/compatible with | Encryption | Other capabilities | Latest release |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AOL Instant Messenger | MS Windows, Mac OS, Linux | Freeware | SIP (MS Windows ver. only), RTP | Unknown | Video, file transfer, PC to phone, phone to PC | |
BitWise IM | Linux, Mac OS X, Windows | Freeware / Closed Proprietary | Blowfish | File transfer, whiteboard | 1.7.2 | |
Brosix | MS Windows | Freeware / Closed Proprietary | Unknown | Text chat, File transfer, Video chat, Screen-shot, Screen-sharing, Whiteboard, Voice mail, Co-browse | 2.0.2 | |
Cisco IP Communicator | Windows | Closed Proprietary | SCCP (Skinny), SIP, TFTP | sRTP | 7.0.1 (17-Dec-2008) | |
Coccinella | FreeBSD, Linux, Mac OS X, Windows | GPL Free software | XMPP, IAX | TLS/SSL and SASL | File transfer, whiteboard | 0.96.10 (September 24, 2008) |
CounterPath X-Lite | Windows, Mac, Linux | Freeware | SIP, STUN, ICE | Unknown | IM, single login account, for Windows and Mac also Conferencing, Video and SIMPLE based presence] | Windows and Mac: 3.0, Linux: 2.0 |
Ekiga (formerly GnomeMeeting) | Linux, (Beta Windows support) | GPL Free software | SIP, H.323, H.263, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, STUN, Theora, Zeroconf | No | Video, IM, LDAP, Call Forwarding, Call Transfer | 3.2.0 (March 17, 2009) |
Empathy | Linux | GPL Free software | SIP, XMPP (Jingle), ICE (STUN/TURN), Zeroconf | No | IM, multi-user A/V, collaborative applications | 0.23 (15-Jul-2008) |
Gizmo5 | Windows, Windows Mobile Phone, Mac OS X, Linux, Blackberry, Nokia, PDA Java | Closed Proprietary Freeware | SIP, XMPP, Jabber | SRTP | Record Calls, Forward Calls, MSN IM, Windows Live Talk, Google Talk, Talk with Yahoo, Messenger, Jabber IM | Windows: 4.0.0.369 (2008 May 21), MacOS: 3.1.2 (2007 Oct 31) |
Google Talk | Mac OS X, Windows XP/2000 | Freeware (libjingle is Free software | XMPP, Jabber | Unknown | Video, chat, file transfer, voicemail, mail via "GMail Integration" | 1.0.0.104 |
iChat AV | Mac | Closed Proprietary | SIP AIM ICQ Jabber H263 H264 | Unknown | Integrated, PBX independent | January 2007 |
Jabbin | Linux, Windows | GPL Free software | Libjingle, XMPP, Jabber | SSL | Instant messaging, file transfer, compatible with Google Talk | 2.0b2 |
KCall | Linux (KDE) | GPL / LGPL Free software | SIP | Unknown | 0.7.0 (2 August 2007) | |
KPhone | Linux (KDE) | GPL Free software | SIP, STUN, NAPTR/SRV | SRTP | Video, voice, IM, external Sessions, IPv6 support for UDP | 1.0.2 (22 September 2006) |
Linphone | Linux and Microsoft Windows | GPL Free software | SIP | Unknown | Video, IM, STUN, IPv6 | 3.0.0 (13 Oct 2008) |
Lotus Sametime | Linux and Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X | Closed Proprietary | SIP, SIMPLE, T.120 and H.323 | Unknown | 7.5.1 (April 2007) | |
MediaRing Talk | Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista | Freeware | SIP, XMPP | No | PC-to-PC calls, Instant Messaging, Conferencing, Multi-user IM, Phonebook | 2.7.0.33 (October 31, 2008) |
MindSpring (formerly Vling) | Windows 2000, Windows XP | Freeware | SIP, XMPP | Unknown | Instant messaging, PC to phone, file transfer | 2.0 |
Minisip | Windows XP, 2000, Linux, Windows Mobile | GPL / LGPL Free software | SIP | SRTP, TLS, MIKEY (DH, PSK, PKE), end to end encryption | Video, IM Conferencing | |
Mirial Softphone (Mirial s.u.r.l., formerly DyLogic) | Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista | Closed Proprietary | SIP, H.323, RTSP | DTLS-SRTP | H.264 Full-HD 1080p video rx/tx, Two independent lines supporting Call Control and 3-Party videoconference in Continuous Presence, G.722.1/C wideband audio, Call recording/export, DV/HDMI/Component capture, Presentation (H.239, RFC-4796), Encryption, Far End Camera Control, GPU accel (D3D and OpenGL) | 6.2 (February 23, 2009) |
Mumble | Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and BSD (server only) | GPLv2 | Speex | SSL | Chat with (limited) embedded HTML, ACLs for user management, Customizable In-Game Overlay, Directional Audio, Plugin Support, Nested Channels | 1.1.8 (March 22, 2009) |
OctroTalk | Symbian, Windows Mobile, and Windows | Freeware | SIP, (Jabber, XMPP, STUN, ICE, Libjingle and RTP (media) | TLS and SASL | VoIP, SIP calling, Video conference/chat, live video streaming, P2P file transfer, instant messaging | 2.14 (February 17, 2009) |
OfficeSIP Messenger | Microsoft Windows | Freeware | SIP (UDP, TCP, TLS) and RTP (media) | Unknown | Video, instant messaging | 1.6 (February 7, 2009) |
PhoneGaim | Linux (Linspire), Windows XP/2000 | GPL free software | SIP | Unknown | ||
QuteCom | Linux, Windows XP/2000, SmartPhone, Windows Mobile | GPL free software | SIP | AES-128 | Video, IM (MSN, AIM, ICQ, Yahoo!, Jabber, GoogleTalk), voicemail, wengo to phone. | 2.2 RC3 (December 18, 2008) |
SFLphone | Linux | GPL free software | SIP,IAX2,STUN | Unknown | 0.9.2 (January 21, 2009) | |
SightSpeed | Mac OS X / Windows | Freeware | SIP,RTP,Proprietary P2P protocol | Unknown | video, voicemail, phone in, phone out, multiparty calling, conference recording, text messaging, NAT traversal, video mail | 6.0 |
SIP Communicator | Linux, Mac, Windows XP/2000 (all java supported) | LGPL free software | SIP/SIMPLE, Jabber | Secure calls with zRTP is planned for 1.0-rc1 | Text messaging, audio/video telephony, basic IPv6 | 1.0-alpha2 (November 02, 2007) 1.0-alpha3 (unreleased) |
Skype | Windows 2000/XP, Mac OS X, Linux(32-bit i386 only), Windows Mobile | Freeware | Proprietary P2P protocol | Yes | Video, file transfer, voicemail, Skype to phone, phone to Skype, additional P2P extensions (games, whiteboard, etc...) | 4.0.0.224 (March 30, 2009 (Microsoft Windows), others by platform) |
Teamspeak | Windows, Linux, Mac OS X (unofficial) | Freeware Closed Proprietary | No | conferencing | 2.0.32.60 | |
Telephone | Mac OS X | Freeware | SIP, STUN, ICE | No | Address Book integration | 0.13.3 |
Tokbox | Mac OS X, Windows XP/2000, Windows Vista | Freeware | Unknown | Unknown | Video calling, video conferencing, chat, IM (MSN, AIM, Yahoo!, GoogleTalk) | Unknown |
Tpad | Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows Vista | Freeware Closed Proprietary | SIP, STUN | Unknown | Call Forwarding, PC to PSTN, PSTN to PC, Voicemail to email | 3.0.1 |
Twinkle | Linux | GPL free software | SIP | SRTP, ZRTP | 1.4.2 (2009-02-25) | |
Vbuzzer | Windows XP | Closed / Proprietary freeware | SIP | TLS | IM (MSN), voicemail, personalized voice greeting. | 2.0.282 |
Ventrilo | Windows, Mac OS X | Freeware Closed Proprietary | No | Conferencing, chat, text-to-speech | 3.0.4 | |
Windows Live Messenger (Windows Live Call) | Microsoft Windows | Freeware | Unknown | |||
Yahoo! Messenger | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS (8, 9, X), (Linux/FreeBSD version not VoIP capable) | Freeware | SIP (using TLS) and RTP (media) | Unknown | Video, file transfer, PC to phone, phone to PC | |
Zfone (formerly PGPfone) | Linux, Mac OS X, Windows | Viewable source / Proprietary license (includes time bomb provision) | SIP and RTP | SRTP, ZRTP | Beta 2008-09-04 (Linux 0.9.224), (MacOS 0.9.246), (Win 0.9.206) |
[edit] Hosted services
Program | Licence | Protocols/based upon/compatible with | Encryption | Other capabilities | Latest release |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jajah | Closed source | Connects together two conventional phones. |
[edit] Mobile phones
Program | Operating systems | Licence | Protocols/based upon/compatible with | Encryption | Other capabilities | Latest release | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Symbian 8 or 9 Windows Mobile 5 or 6 iPhone |
proprietary |
SIP, Skype, Google Talk, MSN Messenger, Twitter, ICQ, AIM, Yahoo |
?E |
?OC |
?LR |
|||
Gizmo5 Mobile |
Windows Mobile, Pocket PC, Motorola, Nokia, Blackberry, Java PDA's, Sony-Ericsson, Samsung |
Freeware |
SIP, AIM, iChat, Jabber, MSN, Yahoo |
Yes |
Online Phone over Edge, UMTS, 3G, Call Land and Cell phone, Voicemail, AOL, iChat, Jabber IM, Yahoo! Messenger, Windows Live |
1.15 (as of May '08) |
||
J2ME, S60, Windows Mobile and Windows |
Closed source, freeware |
GoogleTalk, Skype, SIP, AIM, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Instant Messenger, Jabber |
?E |
?OC |
0.9.6 |
|||
TiViPhone |
Symbian S60, Windows Mobile |
Freeware |
SIP |
ZRTP |
?OC |
2.0.5 |
||
Nokia-Symbian, iPhone |
Proprietary Freeware |
?E |
WiFi VoIP out & in, SMS over IP, call-through & call-back, connection management, provisioning |
4.0 Symbian, 1.11.1 iPhone |
||||
Windows Mobile 6 Professional/Standard |
Freeware |
?E |
?OC |
?LR |
1.0 |
[edit] Frameworks and libraries
Program | Operating systems | Licence | Protocols/based upon/compatible with | Encryption | Other capabilities | Key and target markets | Latest release |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tapioca | Linux | GPL free software | Telepathy (software) | 0.3.9 (June 12, 2006) | |||
Telepathy/Farsight | Linux, Mac OS X, Windows | LGPL free software | SIP, XMPP (Jingle), ICE (STUN/TURN), UPnP | None yet | Multi-user A/V conferencing, IM, collaborative applications | Mobile devices (Maemo), Linux Desktop | spec 0.17.8 (24-Jul-2008) |
[edit] Server software
Program | Operating systems | Licence | Protocols/based upon/compatible with | Encryption | Other capabilities | Key and target markets | Latest release |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3CX IP PBX | Windows Server XP, 2003, 2008 | Closed Proprietary | SIP | IP PBX, presence indication, IVR, automated phone provisioning, fax server, unified messaging, Outlook, Exchange integration, conferencing, outbound dialing | Small and medium enterprise (25-256 users) | 7.0 (January 2009) | |
Asterisk PBX | Linux, BSD, Mac OS X, Solaris | GPL free software / Proprietary | SIP, H.323, IAX | 1.4.23, January 21, 2009 | |||
FreeSWITCH PBX SoftPhone |
BSD, Linux, Mac OS X, Solaris, Windows |
Recording, Voicemail, Jabber IM, Google Talk, Proxy, Media gateway, Soft-PBX, IVR, |
Large soft-switch users, home PBX users, softphone users |
1.0.3RC1 (January 31, 2009) |
|||
GNU Gatekeeper | Linux, Mac OS X, Windows XP/2000, FreeBSD | GPL Free software | H.323 | Routing, Accounting, Authorization | 2.2.8, January 9, 2009 | ||
Murmur | Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and BSD (server only) | GPLv2 | Speex | SSL | Chat with (limited) embedded HTML, ACLs for user management, Customizable In-Game Overlay, Directional Audio, Plugin Support, Nested Channels | Individuals to Small and medium enterprise (25-256 users) | 1.1.8 (March 22, 2009) |
Mysipswitch | Linux | BSD free software Open source | SIP, Ajax | SSL | SIP proxy server which allows the use of multiple SIP accounts with a single SIP login | Individuals | August 2007 |
Objectworld UC Server | Windows Server XP, 2003, 2008 | Closed Proprietary | SIP | IP PBX, personal assistants, IVR, automated phone provisioning, fax server, unified messaging, Outlook, Exchange and Lotus Domino/Notes integration, conferencing, outbound dialing | Small and medium enterprise (25-2000 users) | 4.3 (September 2008) | |
OpenSER | BSD, Linux, Solaris | GPL free software | SIP, Jabber, XMPP | SIP Registrar/Proxy, Authentication, Diameter, RADIUS, ENUM, least-cost-routing and many others. | SIP Service Providers | 1.4.3 | |
SIP Express Router (SER) | BSD, Linux, Solaris | GPL free software | SIP | SIP Registrar/Proxy, Authentication, Diameter, RADIUS, ENUM, and many others... | SIP Service Providers | 2.0.0 Ottendorf | |
sipX ECS IP PBX | Linux | Open source L-GPL | Native SIP Call Control | HTTPS, TLS | Full redundancy (HA), plug & play management including phones and gateways, fully featured | Enterprises between 200 and 10,000 users, multi-site | 3.11, Jan 2009 |