Pingtel Will Make Enterprise VoIP Software As Open Source

Taking a cue from the Linux community, Pingtel Corp. announced today that it will make its software-based VoIP enterprise solutions an open-source offering to the design community.

While most VoIP providers rely in delivering hardware to customers, Pingtel has crafted software-based VoIP and IP PBX capabilities for enterprise customers. This software is developed around the session initiation protocol (SIP) and runs on Java and Linux platforms.

Now, to increase adoption of its software in the enterprise world, the Woburn, Mass.-based company will hand over the code for its software to a third-party non-profit organization, which will distribute the code as open source. Pingtel plans to release all of the elements in its portfolio, including its IP PBX platform and softphone solutions.

"One of the reasons Linux is enjoying success is due to the ecosystem that has been created," said Pingtel President/CEO Bill Rich. "By opening our products, we expect to see a similar ecosystem emerge around enterprise telecom."

Pingtel has not yet formed the non-profit group or handed over its software. However, the company expects the group to be established by late March. Similar to the Linux world, developers making any changes to the source code will have to hand those changes back to the developer community. Pingtel will also provide any changes it makes to the code back to the community.Once Pingtel hands over its software, the company will look to make its money through packaging the software with other elements like audio codecs. The company will also offer a host of professional and consulting service to customers.