18 Mar
2005
18 Mar
'05
5:59 p.m.
On Fri, Mar 18, 2005 at 04:08:55PM -0500, Rob wrote:
On Friday 18 March 2005 15:44, Eric Dantan Rzewnicki
wrote:
That is my impression as well. But, how to convince management that the
current most popular solution is not the best thing for the organization
to roll out just because it's what has made the first big splash in the
general population ....
I know very little about skype and don't have
much time or personal
interest in learning about it. But, it's making inroads. I want to
understand what it does and what free software alternatives are
available. Is it possible for free software alternatives to inter
operate with the skype world?
Free software VOIP typically takes the form of SIP, or Session
Initiation Protocol, which is as close to a standard for end users as
VOIP really has. Skype doesn't have any SIP gateways as far as I
know, though they're supposed to offer something called "SkypeIn"
this summer to do that. Personally, I'd rather just avoid them
altogether, as it seems what they've brought to the mix is primarily
marketing. I would say Linphone is the most widely used free SIP
client software,
at least under Linux. Linspire seems to be throwing some money at
PhoneGaim, though, so maybe it'll be grandmother-friendly before
Linphone.
I'm afraid of management getting caught up in hype, offering a service
to users and down the road realizing that they are locked into a
proprietary protocol. I just did some googling and realize my fears are
founded. The skype protocol is entirely closed as far as I can tell.
I'm aware of SIP and h.323. We just had a DC linux user's meeting here
on Wednesday night about asterisk and how VoIP interfaces to the PSTN.
Basically what is wanted is a way for people (most of whom probably
don't run linux or care at all about Free Software) who aren't able to
get through during our call-in shows to leave messages without paying
the toll free (for the caller) charges of using the PSTN. Skype offers a
viable option for that, _now_. While I can't help feeling that it is a
slippery slope that will come back to bite the organization in the
future ... I also cannot offer a Free alternative with the same ease of
use and practically non-existant barrier to entry for the potential
callers.
/me scratches head and stares into the screen ....
--
Eric Dantan Rzewnicki | Systems Administrator
Technical Operations Division | Radio Free Asia
2025 M Street, NW | Washington, DC 20036 | 202-530-4900
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