Elastix
Encyclopedia
Elastix is an open source Unified Communications
Server
software that brings together IP PBX, email, IM, faxing and collaboration functionality. It has a Web interface and includes capabilities such as a Call Center software with predictive dialing.
The Elastix functionality is based on open source projects including Asterisk
, HylaFAX
, Openfire and Postfix
. Those packages offer the PBX, fax, instant messaging and email functions, respectively.
, Sangoma
, Rhino Equipment, Xorcom, and Yeastar. The most of these drivers are supported through the zaptel project or modified versions of it. Other drivers are supported by the mIDSN project and other projects.
Elastix also support other phone brands thanks to the SIP
and IAX
protocols that Asterisk implement. These protocols are based on public available standards. For this reason any manufacturer can build a product that supports them. Some supported manufacturers are Polycom
, Atcom, Aastra, Linksys
, Snom
, and Cisco
.
An Elastix hardware compatibility list
, maintained by the community can be found here
, released entirely as free software. This module can be installed from the same web-based Elastix interface through a module loader. The call center module can handle incoming and outgoing campaigns. As of March 2009 this functionality is in early stages of development, and is not yet entirely functional.
. Elastix was released to the public for the first time in March 2006. It was not a complete distribution but a Web interface for CDR (Call Detail Records) reporting. It was not until late December of 2006 that Elastix was released as a Linux distribution with asterisk, zaptel and a number of other packages which were easily administrated via a user friendly Web interface that caught the community's attention.
The Elastix Linux distribution
is based on CentOS
, which is the free and open source edition of Red Hat Enterprise Linux
.
From its initial release until now the Elastix distro has grown in popularity. The project was nominated for two straight years (2007 and 2008) as finalist in the SourceForge
Community Choice Awards.
Unified communications
Unified communications is the integration of real-time communication services such as instant messaging , presence information, telephony , video conferencing, data sharing , call control and speech recognition with non-real-time communication services such as unified...
Server
Communications server
Communications servers are open, standards-based computing systems that operate as a carrier-grade common platform for a wide range of communications applications and allow equipment providers to add value at many levels of the system architecture....
software that brings together IP PBX, email, IM, faxing and collaboration functionality. It has a Web interface and includes capabilities such as a Call Center software with predictive dialing.
The Elastix functionality is based on open source projects including Asterisk
Asterisk (PBX)
Asterisk is a software implementation of a telephone private branch exchange ; it was created in 1999 by Mark Spencer of Digium. Like any PBX, it allows attached telephones to make calls to one another, and to connect to other telephone services including the public switched telephone network and...
, HylaFAX
HylaFAX
HylaFAX is the leading fax server for Unix-like computer systems. It uses a client-server design and supports the sending and receiving of faxes as well as text pages, on any scale from low to very high volumes, if necessary making use of large numbers of modems...
, Openfire and Postfix
Postfix (software)
In computing, Postfix is a free and open-source mail transfer agent that routes and delivers electronic mail. It is intended as a fast, easier-to-administer, and secure alternative to the widely-used Sendmail MTA....
. Those packages offer the PBX, fax, instant messaging and email functions, respectively.
Support for telephony hardware
Elastix has a good support for telephony hardware. It includes drivers for the major manufacturers like Dinstar，OpenVox, DigiumDigium
Digium, Inc. is a privately held communications technology company based in Huntsville, Alabama. Digium specializes in developing and manufacturing communications hardware and telephony software, most notably the open-source telephony platform Asterisk....
, Sangoma
Sangoma
A sangoma is a practitioner of herbal medicine, divination and counselling in traditional Nguni societies of Southern Africa .The philosophy is based on a belief in ancestral spirits...
, Rhino Equipment, Xorcom, and Yeastar. The most of these drivers are supported through the zaptel project or modified versions of it. Other drivers are supported by the mIDSN project and other projects.
Elastix also support other phone brands thanks to the SIP
Session Initiation Protocol
The Session Initiation Protocol is an IETF-defined signaling protocol widely used for controlling communication sessions such as voice and video calls over Internet Protocol . The protocol can be used for creating, modifying and terminating two-party or multiparty sessions...
and IAX
IAX
IAX is the Inter-Asterisk eXchange protocol native to Asterisk PBX and supported by a number of other softswitches and PBXs. It is used for enabling VoIP connections between servers beside client–server communication....
protocols that Asterisk implement. These protocols are based on public available standards. For this reason any manufacturer can build a product that supports them. Some supported manufacturers are Polycom
Polycom
Polycom is a multinational corporation with approximately 3,200 employees worldwide and an annual revenue of approximately $1.2 billion in 2010. The company manufactures and sells telepresence and voice communications solutions.-Company History 1990:...
, Atcom, Aastra, Linksys
Linksys
Linksys by Cisco, commonly known as Linksys, is a brand of home and small office networking products now produced by Cisco Systems, though once a separate company founded in 1995 before being acquired by Cisco in 2003...
, Snom
Snom
snom Technology AG is a German company which manufactures Voice over Internet Protocol telephones, based on the IETF standard Session Initiation Protocol...
, and Cisco
Cisco
Cisco may refer to:Companies:*Cisco Systems, a computer networking company* Certis CISCO, corporatised entity of the former Commercial and Industrial Security Corporation in Singapore...
.
An Elastix hardware compatibility list
Hardware Compatibility List
A hardware compatibility list is a list of computer hardware that is compatible with a particular operating system or device management software. In today's world, there is a vast amount of computer hardware in circulation, and many operating systems too...
, maintained by the community can be found here
Call center module
Elastix was the first distribution that included a call center module with a predictive dialerPredictive dialer
A predictive dialer dials a list of telephone numbers and connects answered dials to people making calls, often referred to as agents. Predictive dialers use statistical algorithms to minimize the time that agents spend waiting between conversations, while minimizing the occurrence of someone...
, released entirely as free software. This module can be installed from the same web-based Elastix interface through a module loader. The call center module can handle incoming and outgoing campaigns. As of March 2009 this functionality is in early stages of development, and is not yet entirely functional.
History of the project
Elastix was created and maintained by PaloSanto Solutions, an Open Source support company based in EcuadorEcuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
. Elastix was released to the public for the first time in March 2006. It was not a complete distribution but a Web interface for CDR (Call Detail Records) reporting. It was not until late December of 2006 that Elastix was released as a Linux distribution with asterisk, zaptel and a number of other packages which were easily administrated via a user friendly Web interface that caught the community's attention.
The Elastix Linux distribution
Linux distribution
A Linux distribution is a member of the family of Unix-like operating systems built on top of the Linux kernel. Such distributions are operating systems including a large collection of software applications such as word processors, spreadsheets, media players, and database applications...
is based on CentOS
CentOS
CentOS is a free operating system based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux . It exists to provide a free enterprise class computing platform and strives to maintain 100% binary compatibility with its upstream distribution...
, which is the free and open source edition of Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a Linux-based operating system developed by Red Hat and targeted toward the commercial market. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is released in server versions for x86, x86-64, Itanium, PowerPC and IBM System z, and desktop versions for x86 and x86-64...
.
From its initial release until now the Elastix distro has grown in popularity. The project was nominated for two straight years (2007 and 2008) as finalist in the SourceForge
SourceForge
SourceForge Enterprise Edition is a collaborative revision control and software development management system. It provides a front-end to a range of software development lifecycle services and integrates with a number of free software / open source software applications .While originally itself...
Community Choice Awards.