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PhoneGaim Brings Phone Calling To IM Users

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the get-your-voip-on dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Eweek has an article on how PhoneGaim integrates IM and phone into one program making it possible for AOL/ICQ, MSN and Yahoo users to call each other, landlines and cellphones. It talks about how it could be a Skype-killer since it's based on open standard SIP and comes with free PSTN calling (5 minutes per day), free voicemail via email, and even supports incoming phone calls from PSTN. It's out first for desktop Linux (maybe the start of a new trend?) but it's open source so expect a MSWin version shortly from Gaim team."

8 of 158 comments (clear)

  1. BT/Yahoo in UK announced service in UK by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    This week BT/Yahoo announced an upgraded yahoo messenger product that does the same, however pc->phone connects are billed to users landline account. PC->PC are free, International charged at destination countries local rates.

    1. Re:BT/Yahoo in UK announced service in UK by roror · · Score: 3, Informative

      but, they use the public internet. So, basically the user is paying the higher landline cost for the lower phone-over-public-internet quality.

  2. Re:O. S. X! O. S. X! by silas_moeckel · · Score: 4, Informative

    You can do this now. Asterix makes a good PBX you just and outward and inward facing physical lines as you desire more inside extensiuons (Groups of phones) and outside lines. The cards are a few hundred and it needs a modest PC to run everything. Pretty much you can add any type of extension be it VoIP or POTS and any type of outside line be it VoIP POTS ISDN or a PRI. You can implment outgoing dial plans so that long distance is autmoticaly routed to the VoIP with fallback to land lines etc etc etc. Right now I run my house with these (it helps that I baught a small pile of dirt cheap Diamond USB attached inside POTS lines) every phone is it's own extension and I have POTS and VoIP external lines.

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    No sir I dont like it.
  3. Re:If only.... by wfberg · · Score: 4, Informative

    unless/until somebody develops a SIP IM client for linux...

    Does a java client cut it?

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    SCO employee? Check out the bounty
  4. Re:What I would like to see by blastedtokyo · · Score: 3, Informative
    It exists...it's called FWD

    For vonage the instructions are here while for Packet8 it's here.

  5. it looks like gaim-vv by bferrell · · Score: 5, Informative

    with terminating POTS service hung on the back of it.

    see http://gaim-vv.sourceforge.net/

  6. Open Source by samhalliday · · Score: 3, Informative

    in fact... its more than just open source. its *free software8 and is distributed under the GPL. sweet! (remember... not all "open source" software is free, it simply means the source code is viewable; like java.)

  7. Re:No credit to the Gaim team, in the slightest by magefile · · Score: 3, Informative

    The full quote is: "Available immediately. Exclusively for Linspire, PhoneGaim can be downloaded and installed with one-click," meaning that Linspire's exclusive "thing" is the 1-click installation. Whether it's really one click or not, and whether that'll actually be exclusive once RPMs come out, is another question. Misleading, but I think you misinterpreted it.