FreeSWITCH 1.0.4 Officially Released - Skype, ZRTP, H.323, MRCP Now Supported

The FreeSWITCH team is pleased to announce the immediately availability of FreeSWITCH version 1.0.4. (Source tarball available here.) This new version contains many improvements in stability and security as well as some notable additions.

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Skype - VoIP For The Masses

FreeSWITCH 1.0.4 now supports Skype integration. If you have a Skype account you can send and receive Skype calls from FreeSWITCH. The Skype module (mod_skypiax) uses the native Skype client for the target operating system. Currently, Windows and Linux are supported. Skype calls can be made or received, and all of FreeSWITCH's transcoding and resampling capabilities are available with Skype calls. The Skype audio codec, SILK, yields higher quality calls than the traditional PSTN, and FreeSWITCH's ability to transcode and resample other high quality codecs allows for Skype calls to connect to SIP endpoints with excellent quality when those endpoints are using HD codecs such as CELT or Polycom Siren.

OPAL - Adding H.323, IAX2

The OPAL project is an open-source library of VoIP functionality. Robert Jongbloed, co-founder of the OPAL project, has been working with the FreeSWITCH developers to create mod_opal, which adds H.323 functionality to FreeSWITCH as well as IAX2 support. The developers are also working on adding more functionality in future releases, such as IAX registrar support.

ZRTP - Secure media streams

ZRTP is a means by which telephone sets and phone systems can easily encrypt media streams with SRTP. ZRTP is co-authored by Philip Zimmermann of PGP fame. ZRTP works with virtually any software that supports SRTP. ZRTP allows for automatic, opportunistic encryption of the media streams. If two endpoints have ZRTP then calls betwen them are encrypted automatically.

MRCP - Controlling Media With External Servers

MRCP, or Media Resource Control Protocol, is now available with a new module: mod_unimrcp. This new module builds takes advantage of the well-written UniMRCP library, authored by Arsen Chaloyen. The module is compliant with MRCP version 2 (SIP). MRCP allows for media servers to be separated from FreeSWITCH. For example, it is possible to have an MRCP server on a seperate machine running software such as Voxeo Prophecy which can perform text-to-speech (TTS) functionality. The MRCP server generates the media stream and feeds it to the MRCP client. MRCP allows for distribution of resource-intensive operations such as ASR and TTS.

NAT Traversal Made Easier With UPnP, NAT-PMP

The FreeSWITCH developers have included additional NAT-handling functionality in version 1.0.4. NAT-traversal is important for SIP calls and is made easier with the automatic NAT handling feature. NAT devices (like routers and firewalls) that support either UPnP or NAT-PMP can be polled by devices inside the network, which allows them to determine the external IP address without resorting to more clumsy methods such as STUN.

Real-Time Billing

FreeSWITCH now supports real-time pre-paid billing applications with mod_nibblebill. The name of the module is telling: it monitors calls in progress and "nibbles" away at the available credit of a pre-paid user's account. It also allows for dyanmically sending audio to the pre-paid caller, alerting him that his account is about to run out and that that call will be disconnected. When the user's credit runs out, the call disconnects and there is no need to handle awkward situations like negative balances.

In addition to the aforementioned additions, FreeSWITCH 1.0.4 contains numerous  updates, improvements, and bug fixes. The latest version is the most stable version available and all users are strongly encouraged to upgrade as soon as possible.

The FreeSWITCH development team would like to thank the many community members who have dontated their time and efforts to making FreeSWITCH such a successful open source project.