Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Cross-Platform, Simple Voice Chat Software?

Posted by Cliff on from the bridging-the-LD-gap dept.

nordicfrost asks: "My wonderful girlfriend and I have a dilemma. We want to talk to each other via the net to save money and still have a conversation. But she is a strictly Apple girl, and I'm a Debian man, who compromises with Windows at work. So, does anyone have the solution for an easy cross-platform voice chat application, preferrebly without having to altering my GF's firewall router via the phone?"

6 of 58 comments (clear)

  1. OpenH323 by Curtman · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Have you looked at OpenH323? There's a multitude of clients that it can communicate with. I've used it to communicate with family who use Windows, and friends who use Macs. As a bonus, video works great too.

    1. Re:OpenH323 by transiit · · Score: 4, Informative

      This is generally good advice: stick to the standard protocols.

      Note that VoIP (which is what's being asked about, even under the moniker "Voice Chat") does still have a multitude though: H.323/Q.931 is one (h.323 is mostly encoding, q.931 is mostly signalling. probably the most like the standard telco ss7 stack, but then it is an ITU standard), SIP (session initiation protocol) is another. MegaCo is another. There's more.

      SIP and H.323 seem to be the big ones right now, although there's no de facto standard going yet. YMMV.

      -transiit

    2. Re:OpenH323 by Earlybird · · Score: 5, Informative
      I second the H.323 recommendation. On Windows you can use NetMeeting or OpenPhone. On Mac OS X you can use ohphoneX.

      This being a standard protocol, these apps will communicate with each other. However, H.323 relies on UDP communication, which is always a problem with routers. Many routers (such as the 3Com OfficeConnect broadband router) come with built-in "NetMeeting support", ie. H.323 support.

      Other applications I know about, but haven't tried: iVisit, Marratech, PictureTalk, vrvs (open source).

  2. Re:Teamspeak? by Earlybird · · Score: 4, Informative

    Please pay attention. The poster specifically listed MacOS support as a requirement. That rules out TeamSpeak, which only runs on Linux and Windows.

  3. Try Yahoo... by BladeMelbourne · · Score: 5, Informative

    Yahoo is free, and runs on Mac, Window$ and Linux. You could create a private "user" room, when you are online, and only allow each other to join it. Once in the room, you can use voice to talk to each other. Sound quality is acceptable, even on a 56 Kbps modem.

    Using Yahoo also allows you to send "sweet" messages when she's not there - she will get them when she logs on next. Be really lovey-dovey and romantic - and she will be eager to avail her body to you on your next meeting.

    This method also works with multiple girl friends, but best results are only possible when only one girlfriend is online at any one time.

    Mike

  4. He could get GF an old PC. by Futurepower(R) · · Score: 5, Informative


    Please DON'T pay attention. Many of us who read this don't have exactly the same problem. It's appropriate to talk about a wide range of solutions. Anyway, maybe he could get his GF or himself an old PC for $20 from the newspaper classified ads. Voice applications don't require much computing power. Skype, below, says 400 MHz is enough.

    I just want to connect with friends in France and Brazil. I don't need any standards like SIP. I would just like to use the sound card for sound. I want to avoid use of a server for making connections, because all the companies will soon begin charging for this unnecessary service.

    I've never used it, but for the MAC and PC there is the free version of the Xten software. Requires that you connect through someone's server. Free World Dialup was suggested to me.

    For the PC, Skype works perfectly. The sound quality is better than regular telephones. However, there are some problems: 1) Skype is made by the same people who made KaZaa. Possibly it has hidden functions like KaZaa does. I've already found that every time it is used it keeps installing itself so that it runs every time the computer is turned on. The download page says, "no spyware, no adware". 2) Skype requires an intermediate server. I would like to connect directly to my friend's IP address. 3) I haven't verified this, but Skype seems to use a hard-coded public key, so that, even though the voice is encrypted, it would be easy for anyone to decrypt.

    Skype can communicate through any firewall. If it doesn't find other ports open, it works on port 80. (For those who don't know, that's the HTTP browser port.) It would be great to find some open source software that could do that, because I don't like punching holes in firewalls. (However, if voice can go through port 80, so can absolutely anything else.)

    What other "Voice Chat" or "VOIP" software have you used, and what has been your experience?