[Gloucs] H323

[David Corking]

Geoff Bagley  wrote:

> Since getting interested in VoIP,  and buying a SIP phone  (actually two
> !),  I have been reading about H323.
>
> Do any of the gang use this ?

I don't but I used it in the past.  I made a few calls over dial-up
internet access.

>  Is it Linux-friendly,  and is it an
> alternative to SIP ?

Yes.  There are end-user applications (such as the ekiga softphone)
and open source libraries (such as h323plus and opal)
http://www.h323plus.org/
http://www.opalvoip.org/

> I note that it is  sponsored by the ITU.
> Are the service providers cheap and plentiful ?

Apparently there is a lot of high-end videoconferencing equipment that
supports it.  If you pay big bucks for a dedicated videoconference
suite from the likes of BT, I think it likely that it will be H.323.

However for consumers and small businesses there are very few
providers.  Microsoft switched off its NetMeeting ILS directory
server, as did the ekiga project (formerly gnomemeeting.)  Both groups
moved toward SIP.

Diamondcard reputedly offers H.323 interconnection with the public
phone network.

http://www.diamondcard.us/corporate?sr=/secondary/corporate&pr=/templates&ht=/templates//support_ins.htm&p=gnomemeeting.htm&lc=

It is very inexpensive.

If you just want to connect to another H.323 user, then, like all
VoIP, you don't need a provider, just an internet connection.  You
might want a provider for the directory service.

The big difficulty is that the IPv4 internet arguably ran out of
addresses a long time ago, so many people use NAT/PAT routers to
connect to broadband.  H.323 is very challenging indeed to set up
across such a router - it really needs a real routable IP address at
each end.

> Any suggested  "RTFM" material  welcome !

Dig into the above websites.  Have fun!