+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Links: family / facebook / twitter / linkedin / google / instagram / random | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | _______ | Life! Can't live with it, can't live | | ,--'.:::::.`-._ | without it. | | /..:::::::::::..\ | | | /..:::::::::_;::::| | | | || `---'----' _|:::| | | | || `;:::| | | | |' ==== ==== |-::| | | | |-( @ )-( @ )--|O):| | | | | ` | ` |/::' | | | . v |:/ jeremy@ | | | | ___, || malcolm | | | \ -- _/| .id.au | | | \_____.-'__/-.__ | | | _| _/|::.\.::-._ | | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | [ ] news [ ] about [*] writing [ ] journal [ ] images [ ] guests | | +->> latest | | |--- archive | | `--- search | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "Skype alternatives" :: [2013-01-25 03:40PM] | | author: Jeremy Malcolm | | | | With the release of an open letter to Skype this week about concerns that | | Microsoft has enabled Skype for covert wiretapping, there has never been a | | better time to switch. And you can: there are alternatives out there that | | are more free, more secure, and just as easy. | | | | For your desktop PC, no matter what operating system it's running, | | probably the best alternative right now is Jitsi. For your phone or | | tablet, Linphone is a good cross-platform option. Both of these programs | | support everything that Skype does - including chat, audio, video, and | | call encryption (but without a wiretapping back door). | | | | Unlike Skype, they also interoperate with a range of other software. Jitsi | | is the better of the two, because it uses both of the two major open VoIP | | protocols - SIP and XMPP, which means you can call more people. Linphone | | only supports SIP, though Bria is a proprietary alternative for iOS and | | Android that supports both. | | | | You'll also need an account so that people can call you, and so that you | | can call out. You may already have an account that you can use for calls | | to many of your existing contacts: Google Talk and Facebook both use XMPP | | behind the scenes. But you'll also want to be able to call SIP addresses, | | which are the equivalent of Skype usernames. A SIP address looks like an | | email address (and indeed it is possible to use the same address for email | | and voice calls). | | | | To get one, you'll need to sign up with a service provider. Although this | | step is different than Skype, which bundles the phone app and the provider | | together, it's actually far better, because you're not locked into a | | single provider's network. So you can swap your SIP account at will, and | | keep the same app and all of your existing contacts, just like when you | | swap the SIM in your mobile phone. | | | | I'm not going to recommend a SIP provider to you, because there are | | thousands of them. Most of which offer a free option, with the ability to | | add credit if you want to make or receive calls from the traditional | | telephone network, at similar rates to Skype. Personally, I use PennyTel, | | but Googling for "SIP providers" will help you find more. | | | | Sure, there will be a little bit of pain in telling all your Skype | | contacts that you no longer use Skype. But just tell them how easy it is | | to switch away from Microsoft's proprietary Skype network, and they'll | | come around. | | | | reply (0 comments) | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | page generated in 0.139 seconds sadlittlewebjournal 3.2.4 | | content (c) its respective creator(s) web administration | | valid html 4.01 transitional rss feed | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+