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Ekiga 2.00 is finally out!

Submitted by Anonymous George on Sun, 2006-03-12 18:58. Ekiga
Ekiga

Ekiga 2.00 is finally out! Today's announcement represents one year of relentless work. Just a reminder to everyone that Ekiga is now the first Open Source software to support both SIP and H.323 in the same application. Ekiga previously known as GnomeMeeting was already a pioneer among the Open Source Voice over IP softphones. Let's hope Ekiga will continue in this way!

Among the features, you can find:

* Full SIP Support
* Full H.323 Support
* Audio and Video Support
* Call Transfer (SIP and H.323)
* Call Forwarding on Busy, No Answer, Always
* Call Hold
* DTMFs Support
* Basic Instant Messaging
* Ability to Register to Several SIP Accounts Simultaneously
* Possibility to Use an Outbound Proxy (SIP) or a Gateway (H.323)
* Message Waiting Indications (SIP)

Brand new features include:

* Better Audio Quality
* Support for Wideband Codecs (16 kHz)
* Echo Cancellation
* Easier NAT traversal
* Improved camera Support
* Improved Video4Linux2 Support

Finally, this revolutionary version allows you to register a free SIP address at http://www.ekiga.net. If you would like to know more about how to test Ekiga, please refer to the FAQ section.

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Full Duplex Emulation by Anonymous George
Re: Full Duplex Emulation by Anonymous George
Not my card by Anonymous George

Bad name

Submitted by saxa on Tue, 2006-03-14 03:30.

Ppl, where have you been when they were choosing the name ???
Its easy to say that its a bad name, try to propose a good alternative
and we will see if you are able to name it better !

Rgds
Saxa

We did! by Anonymous George

Re: We did!

Submitted by dsandras on Thu, 2006-03-16 04:18.

I do not see the relation between a podium and a Voice over IP application Pete (Shinners).

Moreover, both ChatterBox.com and podium.com already exist.

The problem is that most people who proposed names didn't check if they already existed or not.

Damien Sandras

We did!

Submitted by saxa on Wed, 2006-03-15 10:42.

Do you ppl, really think that name matters so much ??
I'm not of that opinion. If a software package is good, then no matter
what name it has, it is used by many ppl. So let see the final judge
when the gnome-2.14 is out and the software is shipped with.
But for sure will not become another Skype or something just because it has a bad name.

Rgds
Saxa

We did!

Submitted by saxa on Wed, 2006-03-15 10:43.

P.S. I beleave the interface is really ugly and should be done some work on the lift-up of the UI.

Re: We did!

Submitted by dsandras on Thu, 2006-03-16 04:15.

All suggestions are welcome to improve the interface.
I believe most people want an interface like Skype, with a contact list.

That will be the objective for a further release, but we had no time to do better for this time.

If you have ideas, remarks, or better patches, feel free to discuss them on gnomemeeting-devel-list.

Thanks!

Damien Sandras

Ekiga's Gizmo configuration

Submitted by Eugenia on Tue, 2006-03-14 02:18.

On the Account window:

Account Name: gizmo
Registrar: proxy01.sipphone.com:5060
User Name: Your Gizmo *number*
Password: Your Gizmo password
--More Options
Authentication Login: Your Gizmo *number*
Realm/Domain: proxy01.sipphone.com
Registration Timeout: 3600

Unfortunately, Ekiga uses names like "registrar" and "domain" instead of also calling them STUN and PROXY, making things difficult for most people to understand it and configure it correctly. Also, on Ekiga's preferences other STUN and proxy settings are present which makes things VERY confusing to the end user. Why Ekiga's default account is not available on the Accounts window and instead it's on the preferences window? Does this mean that my Gizmo account uses Ekiga's STUN now? Why can't I use different STUN servers for different accounts? It's all very confusing UI-wise. But I welcome this nice application.

STUN

Submitted by Anonymous George on Tue, 2006-03-14 04:27.

I think you are confusing things...

"Why can't I use different STUN servers for different accounts?"

Because that doesn't make sense. A STUN server is a server that will try detecting holes in your NAT router. So it is unique, and independant of any account.

"Ekiga uses names like "registrar" and "domain" instead of also calling them STUN and PROXY"

I think you are confusing things, a "registrar" has nothing to do with a STUN server. A registrar is the place where you will register your account at the provider side. That is the correct naming.

Also, about the domain, you shouldn't worry about it. If it is hidden in the options, that is to make things easier for you, and because it is automatically filled with the best guess for the information. Finally, the domain has nothing to do with the PROXY. It is the SIP realm used for the authentication.

"Why Ekiga's default account is not available on the Accounts window and instead it's on the preferences window?"

You are probably confusing with the "outbound proxy". The "outbound proxy" shouldn't be used if you are using STUN. An "outbound proxy" has a role similar to an HTTP proxy. It has nothing to do with being the default account, or not.

I understand VoIP is still difficult for many people, but unfortunately, there is nothing they can do about it, except locking users into a unique provider so that this kind of detail can be hidden.

I don't think it is Damien's policy, but you could ask him, he is a very kind and open person.

Clearer UI

Submitted by murraycu on Tue, 2006-03-14 05:51.

This should probably be made clearer in the UI then.

Re: Clearer UI

Submitted by Anonymous George on Tue, 2006-03-14 06:34.

You can always suggest improvements. But personally, I do not see how it could be "clearer". A STUN Server is a STUN server, a PROXY is a PROXY, ... Correct terms are used, and I would say that Ekiga is even easier to use and configure than typical softphones.

You are however free to talk to Damien.

Nice, and PC-to-phone works wonders

Submitted by mjr on Mon, 2006-03-13 19:45.

I had to call a Japanese hotel to change a reservation, so I decided to get a PC-to-phone account (from the default provider) and check it out. Worked just fine, and was way cheaper than a regular international call.

If I'm to make more use of this, though, I'll probably have to get a good USB headset. My current one hooked up to the MB sound does work, but apparently the volume stays rather low even tuned to the max in the mixer. (Wonder if one could kludge Alsa to filter it to be louder, or if Ekiga could be suboptimal equipment friendly enough to optionally boost the levels.)

Mic Boost

Submitted by mjr on Tue, 2006-03-14 19:55.

Oh my. Duh. My preferred mixed, gnome-volume-control, just hid that option by default, but I found it now that I knew to look for it.

Thanks a bunch.

Gizmo

Submitted by Eugenia on Mon, 2006-03-13 17:05.

Apparently Ekiga can support the Gizmo network and make calls through it. Configuration is not too difficult.

Wrong URL by Anonymous George

Submitted by Twigman on Mon, 2006-03-13 22:40.

http://www.ekiga.org/index.php?rub=6

The first link is to http://www.ekiga.net. The description is:

The free ekiga.net SIP service providing you SIP addresses.

The url in this article was to the SIP service as was mentioned, not to the project address...

The very first text of this

Submitted by stro on Tue, 2006-03-14 08:32.

The very first text of this article is a link pointing to the Ekiga website.

Horrible name by sanmarcos

Re: Horrible name

Submitted by fafnir_b on Mon, 2006-03-13 09:24.

I second this; especially since in Germany, "kiga" ist a common short form of kindergarten. So this program sounds like "electronic kindergarten" to me - which after all may not be so far from the truth ;-)

Pronounciation

Submitted by claus on Mon, 2006-03-13 16:52.

Germans should speak Ekiga as 'i-kai-ga'; the sound of the name is totally different to kiga.

Program names like [Ekiga]

Submitted by ebassi on Mon, 2006-03-13 12:28.

Program names like [Ekiga] are generally bad for Linux.

As opposed to Firefox, Thunderbird, Evolution...

You do know what Ekiga means, right?

Debian - Even Hell Freezes Faster. -- seen on #debian-devel

Re: Horrible name

Submitted by Anonymous George on Mon, 2006-03-13 10:11.

Ekiga is a fine name. It would be horrible if all Gnome apps would be GnomeBlaablaa. Epiphany=Gnomebrowser, Nautilus=Gnomemanager.. Ugh.

Congratulations to Damien for the release.

Re: Horrible name

Submitted by Anonymous George on Mon, 2006-03-13 09:51.

Thank you for the compliment about the application.

Damien.

Msn or skype?

Submitted by lobais on Mon, 2006-03-13 01:53.

Can I talk/see msn or skype people, with Ekiga?
Not that I like people using these programmes or anything, I just don't know anybody using other programmes.

Just now I tested Ekiga with by Anonymous George

What do you say you did?

Submitted by lobais on Mon, 2006-03-13 06:08.

So should I create an msn acc with my sip info, or should I create an sip acc for every single msn acc I want to see/talk with?

As far as I know, you do not by Anonymous George

Skype won't let you talk

Submitted by murraycu on Mon, 2006-03-13 03:45.

You can't talk to Skype with anything but Skype. It's closed and they want to create lock-in.

killer features by Anonymous George