First incubator release for Apache OpenMeetings 2.0

The developers working on the Apache OpenMeetings project, currently incubating in the Apache Incubator, have announced their first release of the video conferencing, instant messaging and collaboration application under the Apache umbrella. Based on the OpenLaszlo RIA framework and Red5 media server, the OpenMeetings project began in 2006 and was accepted into the Apache Incubator in December 2011.

The 2.0 release brings a number of new features. A restyled user interface with a more common look and feel and fewer hard-coded icons is one of the more visible changes; it also supports theme changes at runtime. The calendar component of OpenMeetings has been refactored and given a new user interface and reworked timezone handling. It also has the ability to password protect event invitations and now offers a SOAP/REST API for working with events.

The reach of conferences has also been expanded with Asterisk integration, which allows conference call dial in and out from SIP or ordinary phones. A new Install/Backup/Import option is available from the command line, complementing the existing web interface administration tools, and the video components have been upgraded to use SWF10 for broadcast and reception of audio and video, which, the developers say, enables the use of echo cancellation built into SWF10.

The developers are also promising two new plugins that will allow integration with Atlassian Jira and Confluence; they have published a video demonstrating how Jira users can create meetings from within the issue tracking system (with a similar video for Confluence wikis).

The 2.0 release is available to download from the OpenMeetings site where installation instructions and tutorials can also be found. OpenMeetings is licensed under the Apache Licence 2.0.

(djwm)