Ekiga Reviews

Ekiga Description

Ekiga, which was originally called GnomeMeeting, is a free and open-source application that provides SoftPhone, video conferencing, and instant messaging capabilities via the Internet. It offers high-definition sound and video quality comparable to that of DVDs. Utilizing the two main telephony standards, SIP and H.323, it ensures compatibility with a wide range of service providers along with various hardware and software solutions. The application made its debut in 2001 under its former name as part of a graduation project. At that time, technologies like voice over IP, IP telephony, and videoconferencing were still emerging and not widely adopted, unlike today. The GNU/Linux desktop environment was still developing, and multimedia functionalities were very limited. Many webcam drivers had significant issues, ALSA was yet to be introduced, and achieving full-duplex audio posed challenges. Performance was often a concern, particularly due to the prevalence of proprietary codecs. Despite these technological hurdles, Ekiga emerged as a pioneering solution! Its early introduction laid the groundwork for advancements in communication tools that we often take for granted today.