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ANNEX B. IP Telephony Hardware/Software:Softphones, Hardphones, Gateways

<< ANNEX A. European IP Telephony Projects:Evolute, SURFWorks, VC Stroom
GLOSSARY:Call Processing Language, Gatekeeper, Media Gateway Control Protocol >>
[IPTelephony Cookbook] / Appendix B IP Telephony Hardware / Software
Appendix
B
IP Telephony Hardware/Software
> Product Name: Windows Messenger
ProductURL: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/messenger/
Vendor: Microsoft
SupportedProtocols: SIP
Platform:Windows
Description: A well-know SIP softphonefrom Microsoft.There are different versions of the
softwareand not all of themsupport SIP.This is unfortunately confusing.The most standard
-compliantseems to be version 4.7.The phone is easy to use, but there areseveral violations of
specifications. It supports audio, video,instant messaging and whiteboard.
The client sends BYEinstead of CANCEL. Microsoft uses a `proprietaryextensions of the
presence' document and some othersoftware vendors implemented theextensions as well.The
realm of digest credentials must be same as the hostname of theserver; otherwise the clientrefuses
to authenticate.
Newversions of Windows Messengeruse INVITE to establish a session before an instant message
is sent and thus are incompatible with other useragents, even with olderversions of Windows
Messenger. It does not support any NAT traversal techniques but it can be used from behind
NATswith some aid from a SIP server in the publicInternet because it implements symmetric
mediaand signalling.
> Product Name: kphone
ProductURL: http://www.wirlab.net/kphone/
Vendor:Wirlab
SupportedProtocols: SIP
Platform:UNIX/Linux
Description: A user agent for Linux.Versions up to 4.0 were linked withKDE, starting from4.0
kphone. It does not require KDElibraries anymore and uses qt only.The phone supportspresence
andinstant messaging based on SIMPLE standards.Video conversation is supported usingvic.The
phone is not very stable yetand crashes from time to time. It supports G.711,GSM, and iLBC
codecs.
> Product Name: Linphone
ProductURL: http://www.linphone.org/
Vendor: Simon Morlat
SupportedProtocols: SIP
Platform:UNIX/Linux
Description: It is a simple SIP useragent for Linux anduses the GNOME frameworks.The phone
is unstable and crashes fromtime to time.
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> Product Name: X-Pro,X-Lite
ProductURL: http://www.xten.com/
Vendor: Xten Networks
SupportedProtocols: SIP
Platform: N/A
Description: It is a good softphone withmany interesting features. It has sophisticated NAT
detectionmechanisms. SIP support is good.There seem to be no interoperability issues (as far as
we have tested). X-lite is a free version; X-Pro must be purchased.The softphone is alsoavailable
alsofor WindowsCE-based PDAs.
B. 2 Hardphones
> Product Name: Cisco7960
ProductURL: http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/cc/pd/tlhw/prodlit/7960_ds.htm
Vendor: Cisco Systems
SupportedProtocols: H.323, SIP
Platform: N/A
Description:Operational Experience: It supports H.323under the assumption of having a Call
Manager,which is a Cisco softwareproduct to manage Ciscohardphones.The communication
betweenCall Manager and Cisco7960 is done using theCisco proprietary Skinny protocol (not
a standard H.323 protocol!)andtherefore the standard H.323communication with an external
client is only performed with theCall Manager and notwith the phone itself(limited standard
compliance of the phone). It supportsalso SIP protocol but from a standard point of view.With
thefollowing firmware (ApplicationLoadID: P0S30203; BootLoadID: PC03A300. It was found
to be perfectly interoperable withVOCAL system and with MSN messenger. Please pay attention
thatPower Cord is not included in default selling configuration.Take carewhen buying it or
delayswill occur before youcan effectively use it (because of Cisco vendor'sslowness). Overall
Evaluation: Good hardphone. It is a little bittoo expensive and not completely H.323 compliant.
The SIP part is very goodand standard-compliant.
The phone has excellent design. It is very comfortable to use, even during long conversations.The
display is big enough to be seen evenfrom a great distance.Thephone has six lines. A SIPimage
has to be loaded into the phonebefore it can be used as a SIP phone. SIP-standardcompliance is
verygood up to 6 SIP accountscan be registeredsimultaneously.
Unfortunately it is not possible to decline an incoming call. The phonecan be switched into
Do-not-disturbmode, though. Short packets containing just four zeroes (often used to keep the
NAT bindings alive) freeze thephone. This should hopefully be fixed in the latest SIPmodel
(nottested yet).
> Product Name: Adtech SI-150 IP Phone
ProductURL: http://www.adtech.be/text/si150.php
Vendor: Adtech
SupportedProtocols: H.323, SIP
Platform: N/A
Description:Operational Experience: It supports H.323 but with a particular version of the
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[IPTelephony Cookbook] / Appendix B IP Telephony Hardware / Software
firmware we have experienced some interoperability problems with standard H.323clients
(NetMeeting).Regarding the SIP part,with the firmware versionSIP 2.07.06 CS 49AC, it
showedsome interoperability problems withVOCAL systems and MSN messenger. Some bug
fixesare needed in order to avoidhook and crash problems of called clients. Overall Evaluation:
Notyet a mature hardphone (atleast with the firmwareversion we tested). It is quite inexpensive.
> Name: Komodo Fone (nowCisco ATA)
ProductURL: http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/cc/pd/as/180/186/index.shtml
Vendor: Cisco (formerlyKomodo)
SupportedProtocols: SIP, H.323
Platform: N/A
Description: Black-phone-2-Ethernet/analogue-line adapter, both H.323 and SIP (currently SIP
onlyfor the adapter).The adaptersupports two lines, onlyone of them at a time canuse G.729
codec;the other one canuse G.711 only. It supportssymmetric signalling andmedia and can
workfrom behind NATs.Standard-compliance is good.
One of the nice features is the possibility to create dialling plansusing regular expressions.Any
analoguephone that supports DTMFdialling can be connected to the adapter.
> Product Name: BudgetTone-100
ProductURL: http://www.grandstream.com
Vendor: Grandstream
SupportedProtocols: SIP
Platform: N/A
Description:This is the cheapest SIP phoneavailable at the time of completing this document.
The price is very low, but youget what you paidfor.The phone is mostly standard-compliant;
fromtime to time there aresome interoperability problems but themanufacturer fixesthem
quickly.Thebiggest problem of the phoneseems to be its HW.The phonecan dial numbersonly;
it supports STUN and symmetricmedia and signalling. Manycodecs are supported. iLBCsupport
has been announced. If you needthe cheapest phone availablethen BudgetTone is your choice.
Be prepared to receive a phonethat looks like a toy with a not very friendly userinterface.
> Product Name: 5055 SIPPhone
ProductURL:
http://www.netergymicro.com/products/reference_designs/ip_t2.html
Vendor: Mitel Networks
SupportedProtocols: SIP
Platform: N/A
Description:The5055 is a high-quality SIPphone that meets the price/performance needs of
businessusers. Also available is the5305 desktop conference unitand the 5310boardroom
conferenceunit. Mitel is a traditional manufacturer of telephones. 5055 has verysolid design and
is comfortable to use.The phone has manyprogrammable buttons.The display is verysmall but
functional. SIP implementation is goodwithout any serious interoperability problems.The phone
is rather expensive compared to other SIP phones available on the market. Audio quality is very
good.
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> Product Name: XPressa
ProductURL: http://www.pingtel.com/products.jsp
Vendor: Pingtel
SupportedProtocols: SIP
Platform: N/A
Description: A hardphone with unusualdesign.We had some problemswith record routing(loose
routing) which we were unable to solve so we did not usethe phone much.
> Product URL:
Vendor: Siemens
SupportedProtocols: H.323
Platform: N/A
Description:Theformer HiNet LP 5100�'� (in1999) comes without an integrated switch and
supportsonly 10 MBit/s.The supportedcodecs include G.711 andG.723.While in theory
multiple firmwares can be used on thisphone, the most popularwas the H.323 (V2)firmware.
Depending on the firmware/application versionthe phone can be remotely configured via
HTTP(using port 80 or 8080 - depending on firmware) and(sometimes only) using a special
WindowsDeployment Tool that allowsthe configuration of multiple ones at once.
To upload a new firmware, olderversions required the use of DHCP and TFTP to updatethe
firmwareand FTP to access theapplication file.
Newfirmware versions have beenseen booting the phonesonce in a while - regularly,when the
phonesaren't registered to a gatekeeperand without obvious reasonwhile registered.
The telephones support the H.323feature of Registration KeepAlive, but ignorethe registration
timeouts from the gatekeeper andresend their registrationsevery 60 seconds. If theyare not
currently registered the interval decreases to 30 seconds.The telephone doesnot support the
FastStart protocol feature (at leastnot in the oldversions).
> Product Name: optiPoint 300basic
ProductURL:
Vendor: Siemens
SupportedProtocols: H.323
Platform: N/A
Description: It is a H.323 phone with a limited display (numbersonly), less function keysthat its
big brother 300 had andwithout G.723 support. It supports H.323 FastStartprocedures (10
MBit/sonly).
> Product Name: optiPoint 400standard
ProductURL:
http://www.siemens.com/index.jsp?sdc_rh=&sdc_flags=3&sdc_sectionid=2&sdc_
secnavid=110&sdc_3dnvlstid=&sdc_sid=10240442142&sdc_countryid=0&sdc_mpid=
0&sdc_unitid=0&sdc_conttype=3&sdc_contentid=1004068&sdc_ggid=17&sdc_langi
d=1&sdc_m4r=
Vendor: Siemens
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SupportedProtocols: H.323, SIP
Platform: N/A
Description:This is a phone with integrated10/100 Mbit/s mini switch,display and numerous
features.Like the predecessoroptiPoint 300 advanced, thisphone can run different firmwares:
HFA(CorNet), H.323 and SIP The H.323 protocol behaviour andthe available features are pretty
muchthe same as for thepredecessor (seeabove).
> Product Name: Snom100
ProductURL: http://www.snom.com/snom100_en.php
Vendor: Snom.de
SupportedProtocols: SIP, H.323
Platform: N/A
Description:Thephone is easy to use withGraphical LCD display andfour Softkeys. Caller Id,
Hold,Divert and Transfer, CallWaiting Indication, MessageWaiting Indication, SpeedDial, Phone
Book,Call and Deny List, HTTPServer, Echo cancellation.The firmwarecan be upgraded over
http.
> Product Name: SoundStation IP 5000
ProductURL:
http://www.polycom.com/products_services/0,1443,pw-182-3073,00.html
Vendor: Polycom
SupportedProtocols: H.323 (SIP and Skinny announced)
Platform: N/A
Description:This is a conference phone supportingmultiple signalling protocols(depending on
firmware).TheH.323 firmware supportsFastStart and Tunnelling(since version 2.5) but up to
now(2.8) no H.450. It has verygood audio quality andsupports Power-over-LAN.
> Product Name: IP Phone7905
ProductURL:
Vendor: Cisco
SupportedProtocols: H.323
Platform: N/A
Description:Very simple H.323 phone withoutH.450 support or integratedswitch. It exists in
twoversions: Either with AC adapter or only withPower-over-LAN support.
This is a cheap brother of popular7960.The phone has smallerdisplay but the design is as
comfortable as in 7960.The SIP image is quite simple but standard compliant.Thephone allows
registration of just one line, it candial numbers only and it is not possible to dial a domain
(@iptel.org for example). It can be configured through a Web interface but the Web interface is
verybasic and has someshortcomings.
If you are looking for a cheap but well designedphone and do not mindthat you will be notable
to dial SIP URIs, 7905 is a good choice. By default it is not shipped with a power supply (Cisco
assumes power over ethernet) so do notforget to order one.
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> Product Name: IP 200
ProductURL:
Vendor: innovaphone
SupportedProtocols: H.323
Platform: N/A
Description:Excellent, full-featured (H.450, ...) H.323 phone with a fair sized display. Comes
with an alpha-numerical keyboard and eases entering URL addresses. It canaccess phone-books
viaLDAP (not tested). Supportsoverlap dialling.
Early protocol firmwares had a problem when an incoming call has beencancelled by the calling
party(receiving a RELEASE COMPLETEwhile still ringing) whenthe phone continued
ringingand showing a TRAP/error dump on the display when goingoff-hook. (This problem
might be long fixed).
Earlyhardware had a problem of an incorrectlyapplied capacitor leading to a fading display
(contrast). Contact Innovaphone for a replacement.
> Product Name: i2eyeDVD-1000
ProductURL: http://www.d-link.com/products/?pid=8
Vendor: D-Link
SupportedProtocols: H.323
Platform: N/A
Description: A broadband videophone hardwarewith built-in camera.Videoand audio signalcan
be accessed via cinch connectors to connect television hardware. An external microphone can be
connected.
The DVC-1000�"� has a very minimalH.323 support. H.323 is used to setup a call, whileaddress
resolution is done using D-Links LDAPserver.The address of theLDAP server is fixed andcan
not be configured.The D-Link LDAP servercan be used for freefor all DVC users but doesn't
offerresolving otheraddresses.
To make really good use of the DVC hardware, oneneeds a proxy instance fordialling that calls
thetarget and the DVC(set to auto reply) at thesame time and passingmessages through.
> Product Name:VCON Escort
ProductURL:
http://www.vcon.com/solutions/videoconferencing/desktop/Escort_Cruiser/
index.shtml
Vendor:VCON
SupportedProtocols: H.323
Platform:Windows
Description:The VCON Escort hardware H.323and H.320 client is a PCI-based card that can be
installed on any standard PC running a Windows OS. It allowsconnections at up to 1.5Mbpsand
includesfeatures for data collaboration (T.120), quality of service (QoS) andinteractive multi-cast
forallowing viewers to watch a conferenceover a multicast network. It generallyperforms well,
but compatibility with PC video cardsseems to be crucial for trouble-freeoperation, as in some
set-ups,sudden crashes during long operation are notuncommon.
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> Product Name:VCON Falcon
ProductURL: http://www.vcon.com/solutions/videoconferencing/group/Falcon/
index.shtml
Vendor:VCON
SupportedProtocols: H.323
Platform: N/A
Description:The VCON Falcon is a set-top-box H.323 andH.320 client. It includes a quality
cameraand microphone. It has a wide array of audio and video connectors to allow it to inter-
operatewith projectors, screens,multiple video and audiosources, as most often found in a group
videoconferencingsettings. It is a reliable device, but the remote controlled managementinterface
is difficult to work with and a bit limited (e.g. H.323aliases cannot include specialchars at all).
B. 3 Servers
> Product Name: OpenH323 Gatekeeper - GnuGK
ProductURL: http://www.gnugk.org/
Vendor: Open Source
SupportedProtocols: H.323
Platform:Any platform where you cancompile the OpenH323 Library (Linux,Windows,
FreeBSD,Solaris, etc.)
Description:Operational Experience:There are someminor problem withNetmeeting.
Netmeetingdoes not support GatekeeperDiscovery, thus you should directly configure the
gatekeeperaddress in the AdvancedCalling Options. Netmeetingrequests an incorrect
bandwidth;disable bandwidth management to avoid problems with GnuGK. It has Radius,
MySQLand LDAP support.The manual is written in English, Chineseand Portuguese. It is used
in many commercial applications and it has nice graphical interfaces to configure it, to monitor
theregistrations, to define groups of endpoints, to do call management,etc. Overall Evaluation: it
is simply the best Open Sourcegatekeeper available nowadays.For technical support there is the
GatekeeperUsers mailing list.
> Product Name:VOCAL (Vovida Open CommunicationApplication Library)
ProductURL: http://www.vovida.org/
Vendor: Open Source
SupportedProtocols: H.323, SIP, MGCP
Platform: Refer to http://www.vovida.org/applications/downloads/vocal/
platform/1_5_0.htmlfor an updated list (Linux, etc.)
Description:Operational Experience:The VOCAL softwareincludes a Session Initiation Protocol
(SIP)-based Redirect Server (RS), Feature Server(FS), Provisioning Server (PS),Marshal Server
(MS)and Voice Mail Server(vmserver). Other applicationsare not included in the current release
(1.5)and are: 1. SIP to MGCPtranslator 2. Policy server 3. Inet/Conference proxy server. 4.
SNMP/NetMgnt 5. SIP to H323
Translator: It has IPv6 Support and a lot of subsidiary application(from the site
http://www.vovida.org). Unfortunately, provisioning currently requiresvalid IPv4 addresses.
For an updated list of know limitationplease refer to:
http://www.vovida.org/downloads/vocal/1.5.0/doc/LIMITATIONS.txt.
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Overall Evaluation: It is a al-in-one solution for small-medium sizebusiness unit. It needs
complementary solutions to be deployed in tandem in order to become a distributed system(the
management is still centralised with no possibility of interfacing to other domains).
> Product Name: OpenMCU (H.323Conferencing Server)
ProductURL: http://www.openh323.org/code.html
Vendor: Open Source
SupportedProtocols: H.323
Platform:Any platform where you cancompile the OpenH323 Library (Linux,Windows,
FreeBSD,Solaris, etc.)
Description:Operational Experience: It can acceptmultiple simultaneous connections. From the
first four clients that getconnected, it accepts audioand video capabilities, fromthe following
onesonly audio. It determineswhich conference is requiredvia the 'rooms' featureand adds the
call to that conference. Newrooms are created automatically and there is a default roomfor
peoplewho do not specify a room or cannot specify a room (e.g.NetMeeting). It initiatescalls
fromthe MCU to remote endpointsand supports audio loop-back mode in a specific room(ideal
forsetup of audio hardware andtesting network performance). No dynamic configuration is
possible;once the program is startedthe client is configuredusing the command lineoptions
(onlystatistics on call in progressand initiating new calls is possible).
Overall Evaluation: MCU software requiring a performing hardware infrastructure in terms of
sharedmemory it is using. Highcustomisation in terms of parameters (video compression and
quality) makes it scalable in terms of computational requirements. It is reallyuseful in case of
multipointconferencing. A drawbacks is theone of multipoint conferencing,i.e., it does notuse
multicast but multiple unicastconnections.
> Product Name: SIP Express Router
ProductURL: http://iptel.org/ser
Vendor: iptel.org
SupportedProtocols: SIP
Platform:POSIX-like systems
Description:SER or SIP Express Router is a very fast and flexibleSIP (RFC3621) proxyserver.
Written entirely in C, ser can handlethousands calls per secondeven on low-budget hardware. A
C Shell like scripting languageprovides full control overthe server's behaviour. Its modular
architectureallows only requiredfunctionality to be loaded. Currently,the following modulesare
available:digest authentication, CPL scripts,instant messaging, MySQLsupport, a presenceagent,
radius authentication, record routing, an SMS gateway, a Jabber gateway, a transaction module,
registrarand user location.
The server has been optimised forspeed and is being used on a couple of major SIP servers.One
drawbackmight be the quite complicated configuration file.The configuration requiresgood
knowledge of SIP.
> Product Name: AppEngine
ProductURL:http://www.dynamicsoft.com/prod_sol/AppEngine/appenginev4.php
Vendor: dynamicsoft
SupportedProtocols: SIP
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Platform:Sun Solaris
Description: It is a SIP application serverwritten in Java.The server implements Java SIP servlets
whichallow creation of evencomplex SIP applicationscalled servlets.The servletscan interact
withHTTP servlets as well. Good documentation is available with manyexamples.
> Product Name: Cisco IP/VC 3510 MCU
ProductURL: http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/ipvc/ipvc2_2/
2_2mcurn.htm
Vendor: Cisco
SupportedProtocols: H.323
Platform: N/A
Description:This MCU is an older product, identical to theRADVISION OnLAN MCU, but
OEMed by Cisco and currently notsupported any more, as it has been replaced by the3511
MCU.The3510 is capable of connecting twelve participants at 384Kbps each, or a combination
of conferences at different rates and different numbers of participants.Thedefault hardware does
notprovide audio/video transcodingbetween participants, so conferencesettings must be
matched by all. Continuous presence is supported, but with asymmetric video rates, i.e.,each
participant sends 384Kbps video but receives4x384Kbps back from theMCU, for viewingfour
participating sites simultaneously.
Check the IP/VC Products page at
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/ipvc/ipvc2_2/
2_2mcurn.htm
> Product Name: Cisco MCMGatekeeper
ProductURL:
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/software/ios122/
122cgcr/fvvfax_c/vvf323gk.htm
Vendor: Cisco
SupportedProtocols: H.323
Platform:Cisco router - IOSbased
Description:TheCisco Multimedia ConferenceManager (MCM) is the name of the gatekeeper
productbundled in special IOSfeature sets (H.323 featureset) and can be installed on most Cisco
routersthat may be performing as gateways at the sametime.The MCM is mostly gearedtowards
VoIPand in supporting basicH.323 interoperability, but it has a number of extraCisco-
proprietary features as well. It canalso act as an H.323 proxyfor serving H.323 clientsbehind
firewalls.The API that has been developed by Cisco allows extensivecontrol of gatekeeperevents
by an external application, but it requiressignificant development effort to bearfruit.
Check the Cisco Gatekeeper External Interface Reference page at
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/software/
ios122/rel_docs/gktmp4_1/index.htm
B. 4 Gateways
> Product Name: OpenISDN (H.323Call Generator)
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ProductURL: http://www.gae.ucm.es/~openisdngw/home_en.php
Vendor: Open Source
SupportedProtocols: H.323
Platform:Any platform where you cancompile the OpenH323 Library (Linux,Windows,
FreeBSD,Solaris, etc.)
Description: Operational Experience: It requiresISDN cards to be properlyinstalled and
configured on the local machine in order to make connectionswith the ISDN. It works onlywith
ISDNlines (no PSTN support)managing n calls simultaneously, as many as the ISDNchannels
available.Thegatekeeper can be in a well-known IP address or it could be discovered in the
networkwith broadcast RAS. It givesinformation about the callprogress state to the user of the
Switched Circuit Network that calls to the Gateway.This information is made with tones similar to
thosesent by the telephoneoffices. Support anddevelopment has now stoppedand it requires a
specialold version of OpenH323 library to compile. No dynamic configuration is possible;once
theprogram is started the client is configured using the commandline options.
Overall Evaluation: It is a simple H.323/ISDNGateway. It needs to be betterinvestigated for
completeH.320 compatibility for ISDNconferencing. Right now it seems to be only an audio
gateway.
> Product Name: Asterisk Open Source PBX
ProductURL: http://www.asterisk.org/
Vendor: Digium
SupportedProtocols: SIP, H.323
Platform: N/A
Description:Asterisk is an Open Source, fullfeatured hybrid TDM and VoIPPBX and IVR
platform. It allows you to seamlesslyintegrate TDM (T1, PRI, FXS,FXO) and VoIP (IAX, SIP,
H.323)technologies in a single PBXwhile providing full IVR functionality through any scripting
languageavailable on Linux.
> Product Name: Cisco IP/VC 3525 PRI Gateway
ProductURL: http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/
pvc/ipvc2_2/2_2prirn.htm
Vendor: Cisco
SupportedProtocols: H.323
Platform: N/A
Description:ThisH.320 to H.323 Gateway is an older product, identical to theRADVISION
OnLANGateway, but OEMed by Ciscoand currently not supportedany more, as it has been
replaced by the 3526 Gateway.The 3525 is capable gatewaying 16 voicechannels, or 8 128Kbps
participantswith H.261 video, or a combination of other ratesfor multiple BRI bonding.The
defaulthardware does not provideaudio/video transcoding, but thereexisted a hardwareadd-on
foraudio transcoding. Check theIP/VC Products page at
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/ipvc/ipvc2_2/2_2mcurn.htm
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B. 5 Testing
> Product Name: CallGen323 (H.323 CallGenerator)
ProductURL: http://www.openh323.org/code.html
Vendor: Open Source
SupportedProtocols: H.323
Platform:Any platform where you cancompile the OpenH323 Library (Linux,Windows,
FreeBSD,Solaris, etc.)
Description:Operational Experience: It can makeand receive an exact number of calls, adjust the
delaybetween each batch of callsand set the number of batches to repeat. It onlyproduces
signalling traffic (no audio data traffic). Support and development has now stopped and it requires
specialold version of a OpenH323library to compile. No dynamic configuration is possible; once
theprogram is started theclient is configured usingthe command lineoptions.
Overall Evaluation: It is a simple H.323Call Generator. It is verycustomisable using a number of
parameters. It is really useful in testingenvironments where servers need to be tested under stress.
Drawbacksare static configuration, no dynamic management and limitedsupport.
> Product Name: sipsak
ProductURL: http://sipsak.berlios.de/
Vendor: iptel.org
SupportedProtocols: SIP
Platform: N/A
Description:Free Diagnostic and StressUtility. sipsak is a simpleutility that can be used to test
various functions of a SIP server. It includes proxy, registrar and digestauthentication tests. It can
alsogenerate a load of SIPmessages to stress a server.
> Product Name: SIPStone
ProductURL: http://www.sipstone.org
Vendor: Columbia University andUbiquity
SupportedProtocols: SIP
Platform: N/A
Description:Currently, this is a draftabout measuring SIPperformance
http://www.sipstone.com/. A measurement tool is availablefrom Columbia
University - seehttp://www.cs.columbia.edu/IRT/cinema/sipstone/
SeeSIPstone mailing list for a discussion.
B. 6. Miscellaneous
> Product Name: OpenAM (H.323Answering Machine)
ProductURL: http://www.openh323.org/code.html
Vendor: Open Source
SupportedProtocols: H.323
Platform:Any platform where you cancompile the OpenH323 Library (Linux,Windows,
FreeBSD,Solaris, etc.)
Description:Operational Experience: It can acceptmultiple connections simultaneouslyand runs
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a user-defined program aftereach call, which can be used to automatically send therecorded
message as a MIME-encoded e-mail attachment to a known e-mail address. If therecorded
message is encoded using G.723.1codec, it requires equipping withthe PC with additional cards
(Quicknet). No dynamic configuration is possible; oncethe program is started, theclient is
configuredusing the command lineoptions.
Overall Evaluation: It is a simple answeringmachine using the H.323 protocol. It is really useful
in unified messaging scenarios. It needs to operate in an environment where supplementary
servicesare implemented. Drawbacks arestatic configuration and no dynamic management.
> Product Name:Yxa
ProductURL: http://www.stacken.kth.se/projekt/yxa/
Vendor: Open Source
SupportedProtocols: SIP
Platform:Any platform where you canuse Erlang programming language(Linux,Windows,
FreeBSD,Solaris, etc.)
Description:Operational Experience:Yxa is a bunch of library-like functions forreceiving,
processingand sending SIP messages,and a couple of smallprograms that can do variousthings.
The operational experience is poor rightnow because Yxa is notwidely known (even if it is
gaining popularity). It is a SIP server opensource software written in Erlang (a programming
languagefrom Ericsson with opensource releases). Basically, it has built-in some softwarefor
performing a number of functionalities. One of the main applications is the incomingproxy; it
canhandle REGISTER requests andauthorise different users to makecalls to different classes of
PSTNnumbers. It can proxyrequests from UACs to otherparts of the Yxa system,relay requests
to remote servers/domains Routingfeatures, do ENUM lookups of thingsthat looks likeE.164
phonenumbers and do lookupaddresses in LDAP.
Overall Evaluation:The project just producedsome nice results. No release has been made yetand
downloading is done only through CVS. A mailing list is available forquestions and inquiries.
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Table of Contents:
  1. INTRODUCTION:Goal, Reasons for writing this document, How to read this document
  2. TECHNOLOGICAL BACKGROUND:Components, Terminal, Protocols, SIP
  3. IP TELEPHONY SCENARIOS:Long-distance least cost routing, Integration of VoIP and videoconferencing
  4. SETTING UP BASIC SERVICES:General concepts, Dial plans, Authentication
  5. SETTING UP ADVANCED SERVICES:Gatewaying, Accounting gateways, Multipoint conferencing
  6. SETTING UP VALUE-ADDED SERVICE:Web integration of H.323 services, Web integration of SIP services
  7. INTEGRATION OF GLOBAL TELEPHONY:Technology, Call routing today,
  8. REGULATORY / LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS:Regulation of Voice over IP in the European Union, Numbering
  9. ANNEX A. European IP Telephony Projects:Evolute, SURFWorks, VC Stroom
  10. ANNEX B. IP Telephony Hardware/Software:Softphones, Hardphones, Gateways
  11. GLOSSARY:Call Processing Language, Gatekeeper, Media Gateway Control Protocol