Ekiga - The open-source SoftPhone, Video Conferencing and Instant Messenger application.
I wrote this short tutorial to inform my friends on Skype that an alternative to Skype does exist and that is what i am using.
1. You can download the windows version of
Ekiga here:
http://wwwuser.gwdg.de/~mrickma/ekig....6-release.exe
In Fedora:
Code:
su
yum install ekiga
Next you need to register here
https://www.ekiga.net/?page=register
Now open Ekiga and follow the setup wizard or continue on with this tutorial if you want to use Ekiga to make calls to phone numbers.
To add your account username to ekiga without using the set-up wizard click
Edit >
Ekiga.net > Right click to
edit
and fill in the details.
Example:
Name: Ekiga.net
Registrar: ekiga.net
User: Your Username
Authentication User: Your Username
Password: Your Password
Timeout: 3600
And
tick the '
enable box'.
Click
OK and the Status button should read '
Registered' You might need to close and restart Ekiga for the connection to take place.
2. To
call phone numbers in Ekiga you need to
create an account first with
https://www.diamondcard.us or with some other company if you choose to do so. I chose
diamoncard.us since it is the default service.
Once you have created your account and added some credit via
PayPal or by some other means remember to
reply to the email to
verify the required payment or credit check. Once you have received an email to verify your payment you then
log into https://www.diamondcard.us/login to get your
'account id' and 'pin code'. When you log in to
diamondcard click the
Home icon on the top left hand corner of the screen. The
home page will give you your
'account id' and 'pin code'.
Example:
Your account id: 00000
Your pin code: 000000000000
Next open Ekiga and use the setup wizard if you have not already used it before. If you used it before click
edit >
Accounts > click the
Accounts icon > Add an
Ekiga Call Out Account > and fill in the
'account id' and 'pin code' boxes and tick the 'enable' box.
To add a contact, click the
Chat tab >
Add Contact details and phone number:
Example:
Name: Ms Apple
Address: sip:+61359000000
Then to call a contact you
right click the name
'Call [Ekiga Call Out]' to dial.
Note It must show "sip.diamondcard.us" at the end of the string to send the call through to Diamondcard.
By the way the word 'sip' stands for 'Session Initiation Protocol'. It is a standard for user sessions that involve multimedia elements such as video, voice, instant messaging, online games, and virtual reality.
I think Ekiga is a much better alternative to Skype and more importantly it is an open-source SoftPhone, Video Conferencing and Instant Messenger application that is native to Fedora. In my opinion the audio reception and recording is much better than it is in Skype.
Time to say good bye to authoritarian regimes.
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