Skype...

Phonix

It's got nothing to do with AOL instant messenger. AIM is just one of the 'protocols' is supports, abit like how Skype and SIP are protocols.

I supports all of the protocols that are supported by trillian, IRC, Yahoo msn etc. It differs from trillian because it's published under the global public licence which stipulates that the source code of the software must be distributed with the compiled software, meaning if wanted to you could build your own instant messaging client around it. It also means trillian could use the code too, if they were to publish their software under the GPL.

have a read about it here http://gaim.sourceforge.net

Please do not judge a book by its cover, especially when you misinterpret what the cover represents.

mike_paterson

loafer wrote:

If they made a plugin I could use skype within trillian - I don't need another messenger.

Why not ask Trillian to do it then - they seem to have written interfaces with a lot of other products ?

mike_paterson

Phonix wrote:

Loafre just use SIPphone and phonegaim instead. It's just as good if not better than trillian. SIp is also technically superior and more extensible thanskype.

Skype is certainly better quality than SIP IMO - maybe SIP is technically superior - (I don't think so) if it is - then why is the line quality not as good as skype ?

bunking_off

I believe there's a great deal of mixing apples & pears going on here, though to be honest I can understand why as it's a complex subject.

In the main there are two things to look at for standards around telephony, namely the signalling system used to set-up calls, and the codecs (coder - decoders) used to encode your voice into digital packets.

Skype is proprietary on both counts. For call setup internally Skype uses filesharing technology, though for breakout calls they actually use SIP facing other networks (this is irrelevant to us as users, as it "just works"). The codecs are proprietary, and are better quality than conventional telephony and all the other VoIP providers I'm aware of, as they fundamentally code a larger frequency range of sound than is the case for standard telephony.

SIP is a protocol for establishing calls. It's meaningless to talk about whether SIP has superior or inferior sound quality, because SIP doesn't define that...it defines the protocols by which the end terminals negotiate which codec they'll use, but does not define what these codecs are and how they work. Typical codecs that are used in VoIP are compliant with ITU-T G.711 or G.729. The former gives call quality analogous to a standard phone (given a following wind and low packet loss etc), while the latter gives lower quality, but doesn't eat bandwidth as much. Either way, it isn't SIP that defines the call quality.

andy88_2

Naively, from not too much knowledge of either, it seems to me the 2 huge advantages of SIP are that you can use a hardware phone when the computer is off, and you can have a phone number with it too (so you can receive pstn calls).

So Skype looks like a fun friend to friend product, whereas SIP looks like it could be the future of all phone systems.

ps what about Babble?

bunking_off

I understand that Skype will be launching an inbound service, with numbers for various UK cities, later this year.

Incidentally, you ARE right that SIP is the future....BT and most other telephone companies are planning to migrate their networks to operate VoIP internally, and the underlying technology is....SIP.

NB that SIP isn't just restricted to voice, it can be used to initiate any form of session (hence its name : Session Initiation Protocol), and that includes e.g. video.

Daniel_B

Hi all,
wasn't sure whether to post this in home phones or internet - plumped for here!

So, my title sums it up - is it any good, for general calls, and is it good enough if your just using a stanrads 56k ISP, or do you need broadband?

Im assuming a headset is a must, as you'll likely get feedback with a mic and speakers?

Cheers

Dan

shrek101

You can also get a phone now to plug into pc (see below for link). I only used skpe on pc a few times on broadband whilst quality is good it isnt as good as a phone in my view. Its the messing about getting the headset and setting it up carefully (no feedback) etc that puts me off. Also the 18899 is just as good as skype.

http://www.firebox.com/index.html?dir=firebox&action=product&pid=1025

Daniel_B

Nice one guys - many thanks for that, will check the firebox link too!

Dan

Edinburghlass_2

Daniel I am going to merge this thread with the other thread on Skype.