In the digital age, trusted and reliable communications have become imperative to growing and scaling a business. Businesses of all shapes and sizes, including start-ups and large enterprises, are realizing the value of scalable and flexible VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) solutions for their growing communications needs. FreeSWITCH is recognized as a dominant VoIP platform that can meet these needs in a powerful and flexible way.
FreeSWITCH is an open-source communication platform that can route voice, video, messaging among similar and even dissimilar protocols and devices. It is a communication server, but more so, an engine that can be utilized to build new PBX call processing systems, conferencing booking solutions, softswitches and even real-time communication applications.
In this blog, we will provide an in-depth review of all the reasons FreeSWITCH is a good fit for your VoIP infrastructure and how the right FreeSWITCH development company could transform your ROI.
1. An Open Source Platform and No Licensing Fees
One of the main advantages of FreeSWITCH is that it is an open-source platform and is totally free. Unlike commercial VoIP systems that charge expensive licensing fees for their use, this gives businesses the ability to build advanced telephony solutions, without costing the bank.
Open-source does not mean unsupported and, obviously, it is feature-rich. FreeSWITCH offers enterprise-grade functionality making it an optimal base for building custom applications. Businesses are always looking for custom telephony options to control their communications stack, and with FreeSWITCH, you can utilize a flexible, affordable infrastructure.
2. Modular and Scalable Architecture
The FreeSWITCH architecture is modular, you only have to install the modules you need. This ultimately will limit excess components of operating overhead, unnecessary features, improve overall performance and reduce any security risks.
FreeSWITCH is highly scalable, whether it is 10 or 10,000 concurrent calls, it can grow with your needs. Under the right configurations, FreeSWITCH can handle an immense volume of calls suitable for VoIP carriers, contact centers, and enterprise-sized PBX systems like call centers, IPR, Telecommunications.
3. High Performance Call Handling
FreeSWITCH developers custom tailored every bit of this open-source communication solution. FreeSWITCH’s architecture is designed to prioritize speed and reliability as a core function. FreeSWITCH can process thousands of simultaneous calls and uses low latency for calling with remarkable audio clarity.
FreeSWITCH has both an asynchronous core, as well as multi-threading that makes it a favourable choice for using real-time voice applications, call routing, Interactive Voice Responses (IVRs), and conferencing engines. Customers using FreeSWITCH, use FreeSWITCH for its quality of calls & back-end support for high uptime, which is ideal for businesses located in mission communications environments.
4. Support for Broad Protocols and Codecs
FreeSWITCH provides cross-platform support for various protocols such as: SIP, H. 323, WebRTC and much more! With your maintained out-of-the-box data, you can simply integrate with varying devices on any protocol.
Of course, FreeSWITCH supports a diverse range of audio codecs too: G.711, G.729, OPUS and Speex just to name a few. When looking for high-fidelity audio codecs, bandwidth consumption, low-bandwidth codecs for use with international calling, there are many great codecs available.
5. Full WebRTC Support
WebRTC is radically changing how businesses are progressively creating real-time communications using browser-based audio, video, data sharing, for digital transformation. FreeSWITCH offers exceptional support when it comes to WebRTC and allows developers to use the WebRTC full-stack engine without using any third-party plugins to build browser-based communications applications.
With WebRTC integration, businesses can build the applications you need, whether it be: Video conference tool, Browser-Based softphones, Tele-medicine platforms, or virtual webinars or classrooms- All possible and powered by FreeSWITCH.
6. Flexible APIs and Integration Options
FreeSWITCH has been designed with developers in mind. It has a powerful API set, ESL (Event Socket Layer) APIs, REST APIs, it also has official support for JavaScript to build scripts in. The API suite allows for the integration of FreeSWITCH and CRMs, billing systems, helpdesk systems, and any other number of back-end enterprise systems.
In combination with the foundation from which FreeSWITCH is built around communications, the extensibility through the robust API means businesses can automate workflows, intelligently route calls, and create unique customer experiences.
7. Extensive IVR and Call Routing Functionality
IVR (Interactive Voice Response) and intelligent call routing are pivotal components of successful contemporary contact centers and modern business telephony systems. FreeSWITCH has built-in support for dynamic call routing rules, sophisticated IVR trees, and context-specific menus. Combining scripting languages like Lua and JavaScript allows procuring whatever behavior is required by your own business logic however complicated.
8. Enterprise-level Conferencing
FreeSWITCH is meant for you to build conferencing scalability. Audio conferencing and video conferencing are capable of hosting hundreds of participants, in addition to every modern feature, including, a moderator, ability to manage participants during the conference, in-conference chat, etc. FreeSWITCH can form the basis of any number of platforms, virtual events, collaboration tools, or enterprise meeting solutions.
9. Real-time Call Management and Reporting
FreeSWITCH provides tools for monitoring calls in real-time, logging calls, and performance analysis. In addition, these tools can be connected to third-party analytics tools and dashboards that offer first-rate metrics on call quality, average call durations, call routes, etc.
This is significant for organizations reviewing their operations, their overall SLA compliance, and improving service levels of customer-facing personnel.
10. Secure and encrypted communications
In the era of unprecedented threats to cybersecurity, FreeSWITCH is able to deliver secure communications. FreeSWITCH supports TLS (Transport Layer Security) encryption, SRTP (Secure RTP), and many other encryption standards allowed by any given standard. With proper deployment and security hardening, FreeSWITCH can be a secure communications backbone and continue to meet its compliance obligations like HIPAA, GDPR, etc. Involving security modules, firewalls, and IP blacklisting can help manage and reduce unauthorized access.
11. Engagement and Documentation
FreeSWITCH has an active community of developers. Community engagements appear often, while consistently posting community updates, fresh discussions, and open forums make it more effective to find help when trouble arises, debate, and locate material for the use case. FreeSWITCH maintains and makes freely available developer documentation, developer tutorials, and sample code to achieve quick development times.
12. Vendor Neutrality and Customization
FreeSWITCH offers unencumbered vendor neutrality, unlike commercial VoIP systems that box you into a specific vendor ecosystem. You can run FreeSWITCH on any OS (Linux, Windows, MacOS), host it anywhere (on-premise, public cloud, private cloud, etc.) and integrate with any third-party vendor. FreeSWITCH is amazing for developing custom VoIP deployments because enterprises have unique needs and we understand the ownership of the full stack.
13. Cost Efficiency
As an open-source solution, FreeSWITCH enables you to mitigate your capital costs upfront, especially as you contemplate scaling. You are purchasing your infrastructure (unit of hosting), and the services of a developer expert, at a significantly reduced cost. For start-ups and businesses that are growing, this means greater ROI and a lower TCO. All considered, FreeSWITCH is an economic solution, delivering enterprise functionality and performance without commercial licensing fees.
14. Proven Use Cases with FreeSWITCH in Many Different Industries
FreeSWITCH is used in many communication systems in different industries, such as telecommunications providers, BPOs, hospitals, financial organizations, and eLearning platforms. FreeSWITCH is behind various VoIP solutions, such as:
- Cloud PBX solutions
- Call center telephony
- Voicemail systems
- Telehealth
- Distance learning
- Over-the-top (OTT, user-managed) communication apps
FreeSWITCH is able to provide full-featured VoIP solutions because it also supports dynamic scaling, adaptable resource allocation for voice/video infrastructure, and it is the most scalable for deployment of real-time communications.
15. Expert Knowledge Means Faster Time to Market.
It is still time-consuming to build your own custom VoIP communication system from the ground-up. However, working with a FreeSWITCH development company will enable you to quickly prototype, deploy, and optimize your system for VoIP infrastructure.
Whether you are creating a white-labeled conferencing app, an enterprise PBX, a real-time messaging app with video, or some other VoIP solution, working with the experienced and capable professionals will allow you to experience the true power of FreeSWITCH.
Comparing FreeSWITCH to Asterisk?
You will see many apps and use-cases where FreeSWITCH is being compared to Asterisk. Although Asterisk is widely used, FreeSWITCH excels with multi-threading, conference handling, and integration with APIs than Asterisk.
In general, FreeSWITCH is preferred for larger deployments and video conferencing apps, while Asterisk is great for simple PBX applications. The best choice really comes down to your project goals and scale.
FreeSWITCH in the Cloud
FreeSWITCH can be deployed on cloud providers such as AWS, Google Cloud, and DigitalOcean which automatically creates additional scaling, redundancy, and easier maintenance.
Cloud-enabled FreeSWITCH is perfect for SaaS communication platforms or for any business that has global network users. You can quickly set up redundancy for auto-failover, geo-redundancy, and elasticity for additional capacity handling. You will have the freedom and flexibility of using an open-source platform integrated into a cloud provider.
Why Choose a FreeSWITCH Development Company?
FreeSWITCH is incredibly powerful, but it also requires that you use the appropriate professional handling. Working with professional FreeSWITCH development services will give you various benefits:
- Custom application development
- SIP trunking and gateway configuration
- User Experience interface and administrator panels
- Custom application development and third-party integrations
- Performance tuning and optimization
- Dashboards configuration and customize reporting
- Security assessments and compliance preparations
Power Your Communications With Sheerbit
At Sheerbit, we focus on building high-performance VoIP solutions using FreeSWITCH. Sheerbit has an excellent team of FreeSwitch developers, architects, and VoIP engineers to ensure we are able to work together and tailor complex telephony applications that are fast, secure, and scalable.
Whether you are building a new startup product, a conferencing platform, or extended additional capacity for your existing PBX system, we can utilize our development strategy of FreeSWITCH and customize development services to meet your organization’s visions and goals.
Conclusion
FreeSWITCH is a great platform to build a scalable, secure and customizable VoIP infrastructure. FreeSWITCH’s open-source software, modular code structure, and real-time communication uses can be useful to any organization which requires a flexible system for telephony capabilities or is upgrading existing telephony systems.
If you are at some stage in creating a system, be sure to see what FreeSWITCH can do in helping you enhance or create a scalable VoIP system.
