17 Ekiga: Using Voice over IP #
Ekiga is an application you can use for making phone calls via Voice over IP (VoIP), for video conferencing and for instant messaging.
Before proceeding, make sure that the package ekiga is installed.
Before starting, make sure that the following requirements are met:
Your sound card is properly configured.
A headset or a microphone and speakers are connected to your computer.
For dialing in to regular phone networks, a SIP account is required. SIP (Signaling protocol for Internet Telephony) is the protocol used to establish sessions for audio and video conferencing or call forwarding.
There are many VoIP providers all over the world. One provider is the Ekiga project itself, go to https://ekiga.org to learn more.
For video conferencing: A Web cam is connected to your computer.
17.1 Starting Ekiga #
Start Ekiga by clicking › › .
17.2 Configuring Ekiga #
On first start, Ekiga opens a configuration assistant that requests all data needed to configure Ekiga. Proceed as follows:
Click .
Enter your full name (name and surname). Click .
Enter your Ekiga account data or choose not to register with Ekiga. Click .
Enter your Ekiga Call Out Account data or choose not to register with Ekiga. Click .
Set your connection type and speed. Click .
Configure the audio devices to use by choosing the audio ringing, output and input device driver. In general, you can keep the setting. Click .
Choose a video input device, if available. Click .
Check the summary of your settings and apply them.
If registration fails after making changes to your configuration, restart Ekiga.
Ekiga allows you to maintain multiple accounts. To configure an additional account, proceed as follows:
Open › .
Choose › . If you are unsure, select .
Enter the to which you have registered. This is usually an IP address or a host name that will be given to you by your Internet Telephony Service Provider. Enter , and according to the data provided by your provider.
Make sure is activated and leave the configuration dialog with . The account is displayed in the Ekiga main window, including its , which should change to
Registered.
17.3 The Ekiga User Interface #
The user interface has different modes. To switch between views, use the toolbar. The first mode is , the second is and the last one is . Click the camera icon to open the . It displays images from your local Web cam (or from a remote Web cam during a call).
By default, Ekiga opens in the mode. This view shows you a local address book which lets you quickly open connections to often-used numbers.
Many of the functions of Ekiga are available with key combinations. Table 17.1, “Key Combinations for Ekiga” summarizes the most important ones.
|
Key Combination |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Ctrl–O |
Initiate a call with the current number. |
|
Esc |
Hang up. |
|
Ctrl–N |
Add a contact to your address book. |
|
Ctrl–B |
Open the dialog. |
|
H |
Hold the current call. |
|
T |
Transfer the current call to another party. |
|
M |
Suspend the audio stream of the current call. |
|
P |
Suspend the video stream of the current call. |
|
Ctrl–W |
Close the Ekiga user interface. |
|
Ctrl–Q |
Quit Ekiga. |
|
Ctrl–E |
Start the account manager. |
|
Ctrl–J |
Activate on the main user interface. |
|
Ctrl–+ |
Zoom in to the picture from the Web cam. |
|
Ctrl–- |
Zoom out on the picture from the Web cam. |
|
Ctrl–0 |
Return to the normal size of the Web cam display. |
|
F11 |
Use full screen for the Web cam. |
17.4 Making a Call #
After Ekiga is properly configured, making a call is easy.
Switch to the mode.
Enter the SIP address of the party to call at the bottom of the window. The address should look like:
for direct local calls:
sip:username@domainnameorusername@hostnamesip:username@domainnameoruserid@sipserver
Click or press Ctrl–O and wait for the other party to pick up the phone.
To end the call, click or press Esc.
If you need to tweak the sound parameters, click › .
17.5 Answering a Call #
Ekiga can receive calls in two different ways. First, it can be called
directly with sip:user@host, or via SIP provider. Most
SIP providers enable you to receive calls from a normal land-line to your
VoIP account. Depending on the mode in which you use Ekiga, there are
several ways in which you are alerted to an incoming call:
- Normal Application
Incoming calls can only be received and answered if Ekiga is already started. You can hear the ring sound on your headset or your speakers. If Ekiga is not started, the call cannot be received.
- Panel Applet
Normally, the Ekiga panel applet runs silently without giving any notice of its existence. This changes when a call comes in. The main window of Ekiga opens and you hear a ringing sound on your headset or speakers.
Once you have noticed an incoming call, click to answer the call then start talking. If you do not want to accept this call, click . It is also possible to transfer the call to another SIP address.
17.6 Using the Address Book #
Ekiga can manage your SIP contacts. All of the contacts are displayed in the tab, shown in the main window after start-up. To add a contact or a new contact group, select › .
If you want to add a new group, enter the group name into the bottom text box and click . The new group is then added to the group list and preselected.
The following entries are required for a valid contact:
- Name
Enter the name of your contact. This may be a full name, but you can also use a nickname here.
- Address
Enter a valid SIP address for your contact.
- Groups
If you have many contacts, add your own groups.
To call a contact from the address book, double-click the contact. The call is initiated immediately.
17.7 For More Information #
The official home page of Ekiga is http://www.ekiga.org/. This site offers answers to frequently asked questions and more detailed documentation.
To set up a private telephone network, you might be interested in the
PBX software Asterisk
http://www.asterisk.org/. Find information about it at
https://www.asterisk.org/community.