The iPBX

The core of the phone system has always been the PBX and this is no different with sipXecs. The traditional PBX is now referred to as an iPBX or a Softswitch. This name is derived from the fact that the PBX functionality is accomplished in software running on a standard server. Since the software can run on a standard type of server, this computer can be as reliable as a customer demands and as fast as required for the number of users the system will support.

Ease of use and installation have been a fundamental founding principal of the sipXecs project. System administration and configuration is done using a web interface provided by a system service called the configuration server. The configuration server is a core component of the system, which ensures that data consistency is always maintained across all elements of the iPBX.

Technically, at the heart of the sipXecs iPBX is a Session Initiated Protocol (SIP) proxy. SIP is an Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standard protocol user for conducting interactive communications. SIP can be utilized for many forms of communications sessions, including voice, video, and chat. The SIP call signaling is independent from the media sessions it controls.

The sipXecs proxy can be thought of as a call router. Its job is to direct SIP calls through the system. The proxy itself does not handle any voice traffic (media). This is one of the reasons why sipXecs systems are so scalable as opposed to other IP phone systems that must process voice traffic within the iPBX.

The iPBX, as a whole, is a collection of 14 separate services running on a single or multiple Linux-based servers. These services are: sipxsupervisor, freeswitch, sipregistrar, sipstatus, sipxacd, sipxbridge, sipxcallresolver, sipxconfig-agent, sipxconfig, sipxivr, sipxpage, sipxpark, sipxpresence, sipXproxy, sipxrelay, sipxrls, and sipXvxml. These services interoperate to deliver all of the system functionality.

Gateways

The gateway provides communications system connectivity to the telecommunications providers. A gateway may be a physical device connecting a traditional type of phone circuit, as discussed earlier, or a software-based gateway providing connectivity to Internet Telephony Service Providers (ITSP). The quality of the gateway and the type of connectivity will determine the quality of the audio conversation with phones outside the phone system.

Telephones

One of the great advantages of a communications platform built on open standards is the incredible flexibility and the breadth of user peripherals available to customers. Hard phones (standard desk phones), softphones (software-based phones that run on desktop, laptop, or handheld computers), WiFi phones (run over a company's wireless network), SIP DECT phones (run over a DECT wireless network), and interfaces to traditional analog and digital phones are all available.