Re: Has anyone tried Ekiga for VOIP?

[Geoff Lane <geoff -at- gjctech -dot- co -dot- uk>]

On Saturday, August 1, 2009, Rick Stone wrote;

> Can you please expound on what you mean about the "legal issues" with Skype?

> What about the issues is making you feel you need to suddenly find 
> something different? Is Skype about to explode or something?
---

I hope not, since Digium has spent a fair amount of effort to create
a Skype gateway for Asterisk (currently in beta).

If you take the time to learn how to use Asterisk (and have a spare
computer to take on the role of PBX) you'll find a world that's based
on the SIP and IAX2 standards rather than Skype's proprietary
protocols. You'll also find a wide range of providers rather than
having to rely on Skype for inbound and outbound links to the PSTN.
Asterisk is open source, so all that it need cost is the spare
computer (plus a suitable card if you want to hook up a regular
telephone line).

FWIW, my Asterisk system integrates two SIP providers, one IAX2
provider, and my analog PSTN line. Asterisk dial plans are hugely
configurable, and I've implemented least-cost outbound routing,
inbound routing depending on incoming CLI, blacklisting for known
nuisance telemarketers, and much more.

VOIP can help cut costs. For example, some ISPs bundle minutes with
certain accounts, some VOIP providers offer free or low-cost calls,
and you can usually make international calls for no more than the
price of a local call in the destination country. Additionally, ENUM
and DUNDI offer lookup facilities so that if the number you're calling
is a registered VOIP number your PBX can place the call direct (and
thus free of charge) rather than via the PSTN.

Also, with VOIP you can be part of your office exchange from anywhere
in the World that has a decent Internet connection.

That said, Asterisk is not the only system and the material on VOIP
Info (http://www.voipinfo.org/) is a good place for anyone considering
moving to VOIP to start.

HTH,

-- 
Geoff

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Free Software Documentation Project Web Cast: Covers developing Table of
Contents, Context IDs, and Index, as well as Doc-To-Help  
2009 tips, tricks, and best practices.
http://www.doctohelp.com/SuperPages/Webcasts/

Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control! http://www.helpandmanual.com/

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info. 

Please move off-topic discussions to the Chat list, at:
http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/listinfo/techwr-l-chat