Belledonne Communications

The company behind the Linphone and Flexisip open-source projects

Mission Team Expertise History Clients Adress

Linphone, does it ring a bell?

Discover Belledonne Communications in 3 minutes!

Who are we?

A French open-source company specializing in real-time communications.

Belledonne Communications was founded in 2010 by two partners: Simon Morlat, the original creator of Linphone, and Jehan Monnier, both former engineers at Hewlett Packard (HP). Specializing in telecommunications software development (VoIP, video calls, IM), we are the publisher of various open-source projects, including the Linphone softphone, the Liblinphone SDK, and the Flexisip server suite.

Belledonne

The mountain range of our region near Grenoble, known as the French Silicon Valley.

Communications

Our core business: internet communications.

Our mission

To offer you a complete communication solution

Our mission is twofold: on one hand, to provide a complete and modular VoIP technology to businesses looking to integrate real-time communication features into their products; on the other hand, to offer a turnkey communication solution that meets the telephony and videoconferencing needs of organizations. We develop a comprehensive solution for internet calling, chat, and video conferencing, using open protocols to ensure interoperability and an optimal user experience.

See the references

Open Source, our DNA

A virtuous model for users, clients, and the publisher alike.

The Linphone project was launched in 2001 as the very first open-source Voice over IP (VoIP) application for Linux. Its name is actually a contraction of ‘Linux Phone.’ This innovative and accessible solution quickly gained popularity, particularly within the open-source community, by offering an alternative to proprietary solutions. Transparency, reliability, independence, and innovation are some of the key benefits resulting from the choice of this development model.

To learn more about our open-source philosophy, please visit our community page.

Learn More

"How to Build a Profitable Company on an Open Source Project: The Linphone Story"

Watch the replay of the 20-minute conference (in English), presented by Elisa Nectoux, Sales Manager, and Jehan Monnier, Co-founder, at the open-source event OW2con' 2023.

Business model

From an individual open-source project to a sustainable business

Dive into our history, from the inception of the Linphone project to the evolution of our business model, and discover the motivations that led to the creation of Belledonne Communications.

Our values

Because we share them equally with our clients and our team members.

Kindness

Building strong relationships with our clients, always demonstrating kindness.

Proximity

Listening to clients and colleagues to facilitate communication and meet everyone’s needs.

Commitment

Providing effective technical support, ensuring intellectual property protection, and offering clear contracts.

Ambition

Delivering competitive products through strong R&D and achieving our goals with pragmatism.

Cooperation

Promoting collaboration and knowledge sharing, including with our clients.

The Linphone community

View

Partner associations

Discover the associations we are members of and support

Our team

Discover the behind-the-scenes of our company

Innovation and advanced technology
Expertise in communications
Diverse and international client profiles
Different teams working together: Flexisip, Application, SDK, Marketing, and HR
Flexible and balanced work environment

Message from the founders

Simon Morlat

Co-founder of Belledonne Communications and original author of Linphone

In 2001, when I developed Linphone, my goal was to create a solution that would make real-time communications accessible to everyone, without relying on proprietary technologies. Since then, the project has evolved into a company of over 30 employees. Despite this gradual growth, our philosophy remains unchanged: to place collaborative innovation at the heart of our products through open source and open protocols.

Jehan Monnier

Co-founder of Belledonne Communications

At Belledonne Communications, we believe in the importance of having open-source technology that is accessible to everyone and sovereign. By sharing our expertise and listening to our users, we continue to innovate to provide high-performance and secure communication solutions.

Join us

If you want to be part of our projects and join a dynamic team, don’t hesitate to send us your application! We are always looking for new talent.

Join the Linphone teams

Technical skills

Discover the areas of expertise of our 22 software development engineers

Mastery of software development

Core software in C/C++ with APIs for C#, Java, Swift.

Media stream management

One of the only open-source media stream management engines (voice, video, text) in the world.

Telecommunication protocols

SIP, RTP, ICE, TURN, codecs.

Secure communications

SIP/TLS, SRTP-DTLS, ZRTP, end-to-end encryption, and post-quantum encryption.

Mobile and desktop applications

Mobile applications in native languages (Kotlin, Swift), as well as frameworks Xamarin and Qt.

VoIP infrastructure

Integration with third-party SIP servers (such as IPPBX, SBC).

Development history

2001 - 2009

The beginnings of the Linphone project

In 2001, the first version of Linphone was released, becoming the first open-source VoIP client for desktop computers on the Linux OS. The original creator of Linphone, Simon Morlat, named the project ‘Linphone,’ a contraction of ‘Linux’ and ‘Phone.’ From 2001 to 2009, Simon Morlat single-handedly pursued his ambition to develop an open-source communication solution as an alternative to proprietary ones.

2010

Creation of Belledonne Communications and porting to smartphones

Belledonne Communications was founded by Simon Morlat and Jehan Monnier, who are still the current partners and co-managers of the company.

The Linphone application, already available on Linux and Windows for audio and video desktop functionality, was adapted in 2010 to the rise of smartphones. To keep up with this market evolution, Linphone was then deployed on mobile, with initial versions for iOS and Android, initially offering audio functionality only. The software was tailored to work efficiently on this new type of hardware.

2012

Integration of video calling on iOS and Android

The Linphone app takes a significant step in the evolution of real-time communication on mobile by integrating video calling in the iOS and Android versions. With this advancement, users can now make high-quality video calls directly from their smartphones.

2014

Positioning in the secure communications market

Belledonne Communications positions its Linphone product in the secure communications market by implementing and adding the ZRTP protocol, which enables encryption of audio and video communications. This evolution responds to the growing demand for privacy in communications.

2015

First commercial release of the Flexisip server

After four years of intensive development of a SIP server solution, the company launches a new product to offer its clients a complete and well-integrated solution. This marks the birth of Flexisip, initially a SIP proxy.

2018

Launch of secure instant messaging

From 2015 to 2018, significant R&D investments were made to develop a secure group instant messaging solution with end-to-end encryption.

Two new software products were launched:

Flexisip Conference Server: In 2018, dedicated to group text conversations.

Linphone Instant Messaging Encryption (LIME): A library for end-to-end encryption of messages and attachments.

2022

Innovations in Post-Quantum encryption and videoconferencing

The Linphone / Flexisip solution is enhanced with advanced videoconferencing features, based on a modern SFU (Selective Forwarding Unit) server.

At the same time, Linphone’s encryption technology evolves to meet future challenges, with the first open-source implementation of a quantum-resistant encryption algorithm in a SIP client, designed to withstand attacks from future quantum computers.

The Flexisip Conference Server is now used for both instant messaging and videoconferencing.

Creation of the post-quantum encryption module

2023

Launch of the account and configuration manager: Flexisip Account Manager

A new server module is developed to simplify the deployment of Linphone in larger organizations: the launch of Flexisip Account Manager.

The company reaches 2 million euros in revenue.

Today...

Key developments of the Linphone solution for organizations

A new commercial offering is launched, dedicated to organizations looking to deploy the Linphone solution to meet their needs for softphone and secure unified communications.

The R&D team consists of 20 software development engineers, who are particularly focused on the following major developments:

Linphone 6.0: Complete redesign of Linphone's graphical interfaces.

Innovation in encryption technology, with the development of an end-to-end encryption solution for conferences.

The integration of Linphone into clients' information systems is simplified thanks to remote configuration, Single Sign-On authentication, and contact search in corporate directories.

They trust us

Discover our clients and their testimonials following the completion of their projects

300

Clients

700K

SIP service users

900K

Mobile downloads

"We needed a complete library kit (SIP, RTP, codecs) to implement telephone communication functionality in our software […]. Linphone proved to be very stable. Support by email works well, responses are fast and comprehensive. The fix is short, elegant, and the quality of code is quite high."

Haavel Rein, Head of Department of Cybernetica

"We chose Belledonne Communications because they are a leader for this particular telecom market. We appreciated regular deliveries and their very reactive support. They helped us manage a large number (hundreds) of phone calls in real time."

Bénédicte Bouché, R&D manager at Eloquant