Ekiga Interoperability
Please report any errors and make comments to the Ekiga users mailling list or join us on IRC : irc.gnome.org/6667 channel #ekiga.
For installation instructions, see:
Contents |
Softphones (VoIP)
Linux
- Green: Compatible with Ekiga
- Orange: Requires third party software OR don't work as expected
| Software name | Free Software | Protocol |  Text messages
(protocols) |
 Audio
(codecs) |
 Video
(codecs) |
Privacy
(protocol) |
Presence
(protocol) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ekiga | Yes | SIP, H323 | Yes
(SIMPLE) |
Yes
(Speex narrow&wide band, G.711A/U aka PCMA/PCMU, iLBC, GSM and G.726 16 24 32 or 40 kbps) |
Yes
(H.261, H.263, H.263+, MPEG 4 Part 2, H.264, theora) |
No (SRTP soon) | Yes
(SIP SIMPLE) |
| Linphone 1.5 | Yes | SIP | Yes
(SIMPLE) |
Yes
(Speex narrow&wide band, G.711U/A, iLBC, and GSM) |
Yes
(H.263+, MPEG 4 Part 2 and theora |
No | (SIP SIMPLE) |
| QuteCom 2.2 (formerly known as WengoPhone | Yes | SIP | Yes
(SIP SIMPLE, MSN, Yahoo, AIM, Jabber and Google Talk) |
Yes
(G.711, iLBC, Speex and GSM) |
No | No | Yes
(SIP SIMPLE) |
| Twinkle 1.0 | Yes | SIP | No | Yes
(G.711A/U, iLBC, GSM and G.726 16, 24, 32 or 40 kbps. Speex narrow&wide band don't work properly) |
No | No (ZRTP/SRTP) | No |
| Gizmo | No | SIP | No Pidgin or other third party software. (Jabber) |
Yes
(G.711U/A, iLBC and GSM) |
No | No | No
(Jabber) |
| X-Lite 2 | No | SIP | ? | Yes
(G.711U/A, iLBC, Speex, GSM) |
No | No | No |
| Pidgin 2.1.0 (ex-Gaim) | Yes | SIP | Yes
You must disable composing feature: |
No | No | Yes On the Pidgin side, you'll only know if Ekiga is online or offline.
(SIP SIMPLE) | |
| telepathy-sofiasip (Empathy 0.23.1) | Yes | SIP | Yes
|
Yes (speex was tested one way: empathy->ekiga 2.9, and PCMA both way empathy<->ekiga 2.9)
|
Yes
(H.263+) |
No | No |
Mac OS
- Green: Compatible with Ekiga
- Orange: Requires third party software OR don't work as expected
| Software name | Free Software | Protocol | Text messages
(protocols) |
Audio
(codecs) |
Video
(codecs) |
Privacy | Presence
(protocol) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Telephone | Yes | SIP | ? | Yes
(G.711U/A, speex, iLBC, GSM) |
No | No | ? |
| XMeeting | Yes | SIP, H323 | No | Yes
(G.711U/A) |
Yes
(H.261, H.263, H.263+ (being implemented for SIP), H.264 (being implemented for SIP) |
No | No |
| X-Lite 4.0 | No | SIP | Unknown
(SIP SIMPLE) |
Yes
(G.711U/A, DVI4, GSM, Speex, iLBC) |
Yes
(H.263, H.263+) |
No |
(SIP SIMPLE) |
| QuteCom 2.2 (formerly known as WengoPhone | Yes | SIP | Yes
(SIP SIMPLE, MSN, Yahoo, AIM, Jabber and Google Talk) |
Yes
(G.711, iLBC and Speex) |
No | No | Yes
(SIP SIMPLE) |
| Gizmo | No | SIP | Pidgin or other third party software.
(Jabber) |
Yes
(G.711U/A, iLBC, GSM) |
No | No | No
(Jabber) |
| Blink (as of v0.22.2) | Yes | SIP | MSRP | Yes
(G.711U/A, G.722, speex, iLBC, GSM) |
No | ? | ? |
| Jitsi (formerly known as SIP Communicator | Yes | SIP | SIMPLE | Yes
(G.711U/A, speex) |
H.263 ? JPEG ? | ? | ? |
Windows
| Software name | Free Software | Protocol | Text messages
(protocols) |
Audio
(codecs) |
Video
(codecs) |
Privacy | Presence
(protocol) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ekiga | Yes | SIP, H323 | Yes
(SIMPLE) |
Yes
(Speex narrow&wide band, G.711A/U aka PCMA/PCMU, iLBC, GSM, LPC10 and G.726 16 24 32 or 40 kbps) |
Yes
(H.261, H.263, H.263+, MPEG 4 Part 2, H.264, theora) |
No (SRTP soon) | Yes
(SIP/SIMPLE) |
| Windows Messenger 5.1 (Messenger is not MSN) Tutorial for configuration |
No | SIP | Yes
|
Yes
(G.711 and GSM6.10) |
Yes
(H.261, H.263) |
No | Unknow. (See MS Website) |
| X-Lite 3.0 Download Latest 3.0 |
No | SIP | No | Yes
(Speex narrow&wide band, G.711U/A, iLBC and GSM) |
Yes
(H.263, H.263+) |
No |
(SIP SIMPLE) |
| eyeBeam 1.5.7 | No | SIP | No | Yes
(Speex narrow&wide band, G.711U/A, iLBC and GSM) |
Yes
(H.263, H.263+, H.264) |
No Signaling: TLS Media:ZRTP/SRTP |
(SIP SIMPLE) |
| Kapanga | No | SIP | Unknown
(SIP SIMPLE) |
Yes
(G.711, iLBC, Speex, GSM, G.726) |
Yes
(H.263, H.263+, theora(need testing), MPEG 1/2, MPEG 4 Part 2(need testing), H.264(need testing) |
No Signaling: TLS Media: ? /SRTP |
(SIP SIMPLE) |
| Netmeeting | No | H323 | No | Yes
Install Speex 8000 bps or GSM codec first. |
Yes
(H.261) |
No | |
| QuteCom 2.2 (formerly known as WengoPhone | Yes | SIP | Yes
(SIP SIMPLE, MSN, Yahoo, AIM, Jabber and Google Talk) |
Yes
(G.711, iLBC and Speex) |
No | No | Yes
(SIP SIMPLE) |
| Gizmo | No | SIP | Pidgin or other third party software.
(Jabber) |
Yes
(G.711U/A, iLBC, GSM) |
No (Non Standard Video) | No | No
(Jabber) |
| Pidgin 2.1.0 (ex-Gaim) | Yes | SIP | Yes
You must disable composing feature: |
No | No | Yes On the Pidgin side, you'll only know if Ekiga is online or offline.
(SIP SIMPLE) | |
| PacPhone | No | H323 | Unknown | Unknown (G.711,iLBC,GSM,Speex,LPC-10) | Unknown (H.261,H.263, H264) | ||
| Express Talk Basic | No | SIP | No | Unknown (GSM, uLaw, ALaw, PCM and G726) Record, Conference |
No | No (has support...) | No |
| IBM Lotus Sametime | No | SIP | Unknown | Unknown (Audio codec: G.711 or G.723) | Unknown (Video codec H.263+) | No SSL/TLS |
Unknown (SIMPLE) |
| Microsoft Office Communicator | No | SIP | No, incompatible | Unknown RTAudio, G.711 |
Unknown | No SRTP |
Unknown |
| Viable Vvision | ? | ? | ? | Unknown | Unknown | ? | Unknown |
Android
| Software name | Free Software | Protocol | Text messages
(protocols) |
Audio
(codecs) |
Video
(codecs) |
Privacy | Presence
(protocol) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Android 2.3.4 native SIP-client | Yes | SIP | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Sipdroid 2.0.1 Beta | Yes | SIP | No | Yes
(Speex, G.711A/U, GSM, G722) |
? | No | No |
| CSipSimple 0.02-01 | Yes | SIP | ? | ? | No | ? | ? |
| Linphone 1.0.16 | Yes | SIP | No | Yes
(Speex 8KHz/16KHz, G.711A/U, GSM, G722, iLBC) |
No | No | No |
| Vyper | No | SIP | No | Yes
(Speex, G.711A/U, GSM) - not tested yet |
No | No | No |
Some extra remarks:
- Android 2.3.4 SIP-client: if you are behind NAT, then with this client you might not be able to register and get a '606 Not Acceptable' answer from the ekiga.net server. This problem is also nicely described at http://www.jitsi.org/index.php/Documentation/FAQ#ekiga.net As long as Android's native SIP-client does not support some kind of NAT traversal technology like STUN, ICE,... you will not be able to register. See also the feature request at http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=15685
- Sipdroid: there appear to be some issues with video, see http://code.google.com/p/sipdroid/issues/detail?id=801 Also, according to the messages at http://sipdroid.org/ Sipdroid can only send video, not receive it. More notes on Sipdroid and Ekiga can be found at Dave Koelmeyer's blog
- CSipSimple: currently has no video, but support seems to be on the way, see http://code.google.com/p/csipsimple/issues/detail?id=112&q=video
- Jitsi (previously SIP Communicator): has no port to Android yet, but according to http://www.jitsi.org/index.php/Documentation/FAQ#android this is planned for 2011 or 2012.
PBX (telephony platform)
Asterisk
"Applications such as voicemail, hosted conferencing, call queuing and agents, music on hold, and call parking are all standard features built right into the software." Asterisk: The Future of Telephony
If you want to use your Ekiga as a client to Asterisk, see this page: Ekiga as an Asterisk client
Another note (Connecting Asterisk to ekiga.net) tells how to set Asterisk up so that you can call - and receive calls from - your friends on ekiga.net.
FIXME: More documentation.
CallWeaver
CallWeaver (ex-OpenPBX) is a fork of Asterisk. It has "built-in STUN support for SIP NAT traversal", "full T.38 fax over IP support".
FreeSWITCH
FIXME : test and document... http://www.freeswitch.org/
Service discovery
Avahi (Plug'n Play)
Avahi is a system which facilitates service discovery on a local network. This means that you can plug your laptop or computer into a network and instantly be able to view other people who you can chat with, find printers to print to or find files being shared.
How to reach contacts on a LAN with Avahi ?
Which programs don't work with Ekiga ?
Ekiga is not compatible with Skype or MSN and will never be compatible for direct phone calls as long as their protocols stay proprietary. We do not think using closed protocols for communications is a good thing. Google talk has a "plan to support SIP"...
That Google Talk page doesn't mention SIP any more. Has this been dropped?Ekiga users and Skype users can, of course, communicate by calling each other over the regular phone network. Skype has a service called "SkypeOut" which allows users to call the public switched telephone network or PSTN. Skype also has a "SkypeIn" service that provides their users with a regular phone number. As Ekiga can also connect to the regular phone network (you'll need to use an appropriate provider), Skype and Ekiga users can talk each other, but it will cost.
FAX
Ekiga can't deal with fax (T.38). You can try OpenPBX.
Web
Web button
Using Javascript
We have implemented a small script for displaying status information on Ekiga.net. To use it, simply add this to your web page:
<script src="http://www.ekiga.net/status/presence.php?user=YOUR_ID_ON_EKIGA.NET"></script>
replacing YOUR_ID_ON_EKIGA.NET with your username.
Users who have configured their browsers to associate the SIP protocol with a SIP capable program (like Ekiga) can then call call the number by clicking the button if the user is on line. This has been tested and found to work with Firefox.
Using HTML image
Another Beta service, which uses just HTML for the same result, is at http://www.ekiga.net/yannick/helper.php. It has more features: 2 sizes of buttons, a text link, HTML code to copy and paste on your web page and a very basic API to use this service in your own plugin.
Vinicius Depizzol designed the button (reusing well-known GNOME icons).
ekiga-callto Greasemonkey script
The ekiga-callto Greasemonkey script written in python and javascript which parses web-pages and turn phone numbers it spots into links. Ekiga can then be used to call the number by a click of the mouse. Download the script (available as rpm and tar.gz packages) and follow the installation instructions in the README file.
Note that phone numbers aren't always given on the form which the script expects, so there will be false positives as well as false negatives.
If anyone thinks it's worth the effort, please consider providing new localisations. Just grab the po/en_GB.po file, fill in the 12 lines and upload them to ftp://mumin.dnsalias.net/pub/upload.- See further discussion about phone number formats at phone format API.
