Using VoIP for Free or with Open Source

Open and free telephony

You can get VoIP through freeware from various sources, as listed below. There are also many providers of free VoIP. Of course, these free and open-source services offer less features than you would get with a paid subscription, and you will get little to no tech support if you run into problems. For open-source fans, though, these are worthwhile.

Phone-to-phone with open source

In terms of hardware, you can use an ATA and connect it to your PBX. This is cheapest, but you may run into problems with lack of robust capability. The system we recommend is to get three 8x8 DTA310 adapters along with a three-line subscription. You will also need a robust card; your best bet here is a TDM400P.

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Computer-to-phone

If you want to use computer-to-phone (with a headset, sound card, etc.), there are a number of other open-source alternatives for VoIP. Some worth taking a look at are:

Asterisk is one of the most popular VoIP freeware providers, it’s easy to download and use, if not entirely bug-free.
Ekiga is a free application with limited capability; it has no version available for MS Windows, for example. This app works with H.323 and SIP, and it does have video functionality (according to the specs).
The Switchboard is an applet that is still in development, although usable. It works from within a web browser and requires no installation.
Wengo uses SIP open standard. You can download the freeware for Windows or build it yourself.

Free - for now

If all you want is free, there are many closed-source alternatives, including the market dominator here, Skype. Other alternatives are numerous, but they include:

GoogleTalk from Google.
The Gizmo Project allows you to make free landline calls to over 60 countries.
iCall allows free calls to anywhere in the U.S. or Canada.
VoIP Buster offers free PC-to-landline calls to many countries including the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands and more. Service and quality changes if you use PC-to-PC.
Jajah requires no download or installation to activate VoIP between two normal phones.
VoIPStunt offers 300 minutes per week. The catch with this is that it’s not quite free - but then again, the fee of $12 every four months is nominal.