5 ms·

Ask HN: What is the best VoIP library/service to add calls to an app?

46 points by jackdorsey 9y ago

the_common_man 9y ago
Maybe jitsi?
vxxzy 9y ago
Check out Tropo or use Asterisk AMI
a2tech 9y ago
With the tiny amount of details provided, we can't even begin to offer suggestions. When it comes to VoIP stuff though I always lean towards Twilio-but once again, it entirely depends on what you want to do.
- bootcat 9y ago
  https://www.twilio.com/ https://www.twilio.com/
- gregorymichael 9y ago
  Greg from Twilio here. Thanks so much for suggesting us. OP, if you want to drop me an email, would be happy to help. gb@twilio.com.
- cynusx 9y ago
  I am seeing quite some issues with google chrome and twilio lately, dropped calls and non-responses from twilio's RTC servers. It could be a chrome issue though because firefox works fine.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
king7532 9y ago
WebRTC. Specifically Google's libWebRTC for Android/iOS mobile platforms [1]. All the major web browsers (including Safari 11+) support WebRTC. For the server, I am interested in trying Jangouts (Janus Hangouts) [2]. [1] https://webrtc.org/native-code/ [2] https://github.com/jangouts/jangouts Update: Forget to add the reference.
- mmontagna9 9y ago
  Interesting, looks like a fair number of apps use webrtc directly. https://mightysignal.com/top-android-sdks?tag=47 https://mightysignal.com/top-android-sdks?tag=47 https://mightysignal.com/top-ios-sdks?tag=47 https://mightysignal.com/top-ios-sdks?tag=47
jaboutboul 9y ago
Are you planning on running your own service or are you looking for a SaaS/PaaS solution?
fenesiistvan 9y ago
It depends on the app (web? desktop? framework?). For web I can recommend the mizu webphone: https://www.mizu-voip.com/Software/WebPhone.aspx https://www.mizu-voip.com/Software/WebPhone.aspx
zackify 9y ago
Funny seeing this on HN the day I start building a PBX system that supports SIP and WebRTC in node. There's really nothing open source out there, that isn't 10 years old and horrible. Hopefully I can knock down some marketshare that the enterprise solutions have by making it super easy to build your own servers for this.
- PenguinCoder 9y ago
  Would love to have more details/information on this project, or possibly help. *Just a SIP/Asterisk enthusiast, not an actual SIP dev.
  - zackify 9y ago
    just starting on it now. https://github.com/encryption/pbx https://github.com/encryption/pbx. See my reply above :) Thanks
- mc_ 9y ago
  Just curious how you evaluated projects like FreeSWITCH and Kamailio and what you found lacking/horrible? We have been building on them for 8+ years now with no major issues. We've found both communities and core teams to be helpful and responsive with bug reports, feature requests, and pull requests.
  - otto_ortega 9y ago
    Hey! You seem to have a lot of experience on the VoIP field, any suggestion for my situation? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15690623 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15690623 Thanks
    - zackify 9y ago
      Every suggestion will be Asterisk / FreeSwitch (have fun learning how to configure it all and good luck coming back to it in a year) or a hosted solution, this is what I want to solve :) I will admit I am new to this field but that is my impression so far.
mc_ 9y ago
2600Hz has an API-driven platform, Kazoo[0], built on FreeSWITCH and Kamailio. You can use the APIs to start calls, modify in-progress calls, and more. Multiple commercial offerings[1] depending on your needs are provided by 2600Hz as well. Source: work there building Kazoo [0] https://github.com/2600hz/kazoo https://github.com/2600hz/kazoo [1] https://www.2600hz.com https://www.2600hz.com
rtx 9y ago
We have been using Plivo for sometime, good features. However they can improve on their support and documentation.
- otto_ortega 9y ago
  Do you know if Plivo supports all the features listed on my comment?: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15690623 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15690623
otto_ortega 9y ago
I have a related question. We are developing a "contact center" SaaS web application with the following functionalities: - Launch a call programmatically (from an extension to a phone number) while setting a custom caller ID. - Check extension status: idle / calling to {phone number} + call duration - Read call history log for the day (talking time, calls made) - Record a call - Monitoring functions over calls: listen/whisper/barge We are able to provide all of those already, but using FreePBX + a SIP trunk provider. The problem is, our approach seems difficult to scale, as we will have to develop the VoIP infrastructure to support new users, and we don't want to go that route, as we want to focus on the software. We would rather outsource that part to some VoIP provider with an API that enables those functionalities, however some well-known services (like 8x8.com) don't provide all those functionalities and some others that do provide them (like RingCentral) turn out to be too expensive, pretty much double our current cost. Any suggestion?
- mc_ 9y ago
  2600Hz is who you are looking for in this case! :) Let us build your VoIP infrastructure and help you with technical support when you have call issues. Contact sales@2600hz.com if you want a demo, talk through your requirements, etc. I can also answer your questions here as I'm able (one of the core developers of Kazoo).
- mc_ 9y ago
  Hi Otto, I'll try to list the reference docs that probably address your points: - If you plan to have devices/users in Kazoo, you can use the quickcall functionality[0] to connect them to a phone number. Includes setting custom caller ID. Some folks build queues using conferences and you can dial out[1] from them as well - With the channels[2] API you can query active channels per account/user/device. - With the CDRs[3] API you can fetch CDRs over a range of time - You can setup call recordings automatically for devices/users/accounts (see [4] for example). You can also enable them on-demand in the callflow (JSON tree that determines how to process a call). - Depends on whether you bridge two callers together or put them in a conference how you implement these features but definitely do-able. From what you've described, your use case fits in our sweet spot of providing the infrastructure for you to build on. You get the scaling of your app for free by using Kazoo, in that Kazoo presents one logical soft-switch while taking care of the bookkeeping of which media server calls and conferences actually exist on. You can setup Kazoo yourself to play with it (currently recommendation is to use CentOS[5] but Debian is coming), knowing that we have professional services and SaaS/PaaS/Iaas offerings to get you going faster as well. Hope that helps! [0] https://docs.2600hz.com/dev/applications/crossbar/doc/quickcall/ https://docs.2600hz.com/dev/applications/crossbar/doc/quickc... [1] https://docs.2600hz.com/dev/applications/crossbar/doc/conference/#dialing-an-endpoint https://docs.2600hz.com/dev/applications/crossbar/doc/confer... [2] https://docs.2600hz.com/dev/applications/crossbar/doc/channels/ https://docs.2600hz.com/dev/applications/crossbar/doc/channe... [3] https://docs.2600hz.com/dev/applications/crossbar/doc/cdrs/ https://docs.2600hz.com/dev/applications/crossbar/doc/cdrs/ [4] https://docs.2600hz.com/dev/applications/crossbar/doc/devices/#call_recording https://docs.2600hz.com/dev/applications/crossbar/doc/device... [5] https://docs.2600hz.com/sysadmin/doc/install/install_via_centos7/ https://docs.2600hz.com/sysadmin/doc/install/install_via_cen...
asidiali 9y ago
Kazoo / 2600HZ - open source voip platform, cloud PBX...https://www.2600hz.org/ https://www.2600hz.org/

46 points by jackdorsey 9y ago

the_common_man 9y ago

Maybe jitsi?

vxxzy 9y ago

Check out Tropo or use Asterisk AMI

a2tech 9y ago

With the tiny amount of details provided, we can't even begin to offer suggestions. When it comes to VoIP stuff though I always lean towards Twilio-but once again, it entirely depends on what you want to do.

bootcat 9y ago
https://www.twilio.com/ https://www.twilio.com/
gregorymichael 9y ago
Greg from Twilio here. Thanks so much for suggesting us. OP, if you want to drop me an email, would be happy to help. gb@twilio.com.
cynusx 9y ago
I am seeing quite some issues with google chrome and twilio lately, dropped calls and non-responses from twilio's RTC servers. It could be a chrome issue though because firefox works fine.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

king7532 9y ago

WebRTC. Specifically Google's libWebRTC for Android/iOS mobile platforms [1]. All the major web browsers (including Safari 11+) support WebRTC. For the server, I am interested in trying Jangouts (Janus Hangouts) [2]. [1] https://webrtc.org/native-code/ [2] https://github.com/jangouts/jangouts Update: Forget to add the reference.

mmontagna9 9y ago
Interesting, looks like a fair number of apps use webrtc directly. https://mightysignal.com/top-android-sdks?tag=47 https://mightysignal.com/top-android-sdks?tag=47 https://mightysignal.com/top-ios-sdks?tag=47 https://mightysignal.com/top-ios-sdks?tag=47

jaboutboul 9y ago

Are you planning on running your own service or are you looking for a SaaS/PaaS solution?

fenesiistvan 9y ago

It depends on the app (web? desktop? framework?). For web I can recommend the mizu webphone: https://www.mizu-voip.com/Software/WebPhone.aspx https://www.mizu-voip.com/Software/WebPhone.aspx

zackify 9y ago

Funny seeing this on HN the day I start building a PBX system that supports SIP and WebRTC in node. There's really nothing open source out there, that isn't 10 years old and horrible. Hopefully I can knock down some marketshare that the enterprise solutions have by making it super easy to build your own servers for this.

PenguinCoder 9y ago
Would love to have more details/information on this project, or possibly help. *Just a SIP/Asterisk enthusiast, not an actual SIP dev.
- zackify 9y ago
  just starting on it now. https://github.com/encryption/pbx https://github.com/encryption/pbx. See my reply above :) Thanks
mc_ 9y ago
Just curious how you evaluated projects like FreeSWITCH and Kamailio and what you found lacking/horrible? We have been building on them for 8+ years now with no major issues. We've found both communities and core teams to be helpful and responsive with bug reports, feature requests, and pull requests.
- otto_ortega 9y ago
  Hey! You seem to have a lot of experience on the VoIP field, any suggestion for my situation? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15690623 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15690623 Thanks
  - zackify 9y ago
    Every suggestion will be Asterisk / FreeSwitch (have fun learning how to configure it all and good luck coming back to it in a year) or a hosted solution, this is what I want to solve :) I will admit I am new to this field but that is my impression so far.

mc_ 9y ago

2600Hz has an API-driven platform, Kazoo[0], built on FreeSWITCH and Kamailio. You can use the APIs to start calls, modify in-progress calls, and more. Multiple commercial offerings[1] depending on your needs are provided by 2600Hz as well. Source: work there building Kazoo [0] https://github.com/2600hz/kazoo https://github.com/2600hz/kazoo [1] https://www.2600hz.com https://www.2600hz.com

rtx 9y ago

We have been using Plivo for sometime, good features. However they can improve on their support and documentation.

otto_ortega 9y ago
Do you know if Plivo supports all the features listed on my comment?: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15690623 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15690623

otto_ortega 9y ago

I have a related question. We are developing a "contact center" SaaS web application with the following functionalities: - Launch a call programmatically (from an extension to a phone number) while setting a custom caller ID. - Check extension status: idle / calling to {phone number} + call duration - Read call history log for the day (talking time, calls made) - Record a call - Monitoring functions over calls: listen/whisper/barge We are able to provide all of those already, but using FreePBX + a SIP trunk provider. The problem is, our approach seems difficult to scale, as we will have to develop the VoIP infrastructure to support new users, and we don't want to go that route, as we want to focus on the software. We would rather outsource that part to some VoIP provider with an API that enables those functionalities, however some well-known services (like 8x8.com) don't provide all those functionalities and some others that do provide them (like RingCentral) turn out to be too expensive, pretty much double our current cost. Any suggestion?

mc_ 9y ago
2600Hz is who you are looking for in this case! :) Let us build your VoIP infrastructure and help you with technical support when you have call issues. Contact sales@2600hz.com if you want a demo, talk through your requirements, etc. I can also answer your questions here as I'm able (one of the core developers of Kazoo).
mc_ 9y ago
Hi Otto, I'll try to list the reference docs that probably address your points: - If you plan to have devices/users in Kazoo, you can use the quickcall functionality[0] to connect them to a phone number. Includes setting custom caller ID. Some folks build queues using conferences and you can dial out[1] from them as well - With the channels[2] API you can query active channels per account/user/device. - With the CDRs[3] API you can fetch CDRs over a range of time - You can setup call recordings automatically for devices/users/accounts (see [4] for example). You can also enable them on-demand in the callflow (JSON tree that determines how to process a call). - Depends on whether you bridge two callers together or put them in a conference how you implement these features but definitely do-able. From what you've described, your use case fits in our sweet spot of providing the infrastructure for you to build on. You get the scaling of your app for free by using Kazoo, in that Kazoo presents one logical soft-switch while taking care of the bookkeeping of which media server calls and conferences actually exist on. You can setup Kazoo yourself to play with it (currently recommendation is to use CentOS[5] but Debian is coming), knowing that we have professional services and SaaS/PaaS/Iaas offerings to get you going faster as well. Hope that helps! [0] https://docs.2600hz.com/dev/applications/crossbar/doc/quickcall/ https://docs.2600hz.com/dev/applications/crossbar/doc/quickc... [1] https://docs.2600hz.com/dev/applications/crossbar/doc/conference/#dialing-an-endpoint https://docs.2600hz.com/dev/applications/crossbar/doc/confer... [2] https://docs.2600hz.com/dev/applications/crossbar/doc/channels/ https://docs.2600hz.com/dev/applications/crossbar/doc/channe... [3] https://docs.2600hz.com/dev/applications/crossbar/doc/cdrs/ https://docs.2600hz.com/dev/applications/crossbar/doc/cdrs/ [4] https://docs.2600hz.com/dev/applications/crossbar/doc/devices/#call_recording https://docs.2600hz.com/dev/applications/crossbar/doc/device... [5] https://docs.2600hz.com/sysadmin/doc/install/install_via_centos7/ https://docs.2600hz.com/sysadmin/doc/install/install_via_cen...

asidiali 9y ago

Kazoo / 2600HZ - open source voip platform, cloud PBX...https://www.2600hz.org/ https://www.2600hz.org/