Alternatives to skype needed that wont randomly crash.

[Crinkle]

I need something like skype, but where you can video and voice call people without skype randomly quitting (no error message). unless anyone has had this error and knows how to solve it? It needs to be a program that also runs on windows too, because thats what the person at the other end uses.

The problem is, when i call other people, it closes skype out of the blue within 20 seconds. If they call me, it crashes the moment i accept the call.

[GreatDanton]

I never had problems with skype on Ubuntu.
This could be an alternative to skype (I am not familiar with): https://www.google.com/tools/dlpage/hangoutplugin?hl=en

2nd alternative: https://jitsi.org/

[ronniew]

I need something like skype, but where you can video and voice call people without skype randomly quitting (no error message). unless anyone has had this error and knows how to solve it? It needs to be a program that also runs on windows too, because thats what the person at the other end uses.

The problem is, when i call other people, it closes skype out of the blue within 20 seconds. If they call me, it crashes the moment i accept the call.

Linphone

[Crinkle]

Hangouts doesnt look terribly good, but i might try it. Linphone doesnt have a linux download, only windows, mac and "tar.gz". Even thought it says its for linux?;

[Lars Noodén]

In addition to Linphone, there are also Blink, Ekiga and Jitsi. All four can talk to each other because they use SIP, but AFAIK Skype cannot. So you will need to install one of these parallel to Skype at least at the beginning as you phase out Skype. Your contacts will also need one of the four to be able to talk with you. A further advantage is that they probably don't have the surveillance that is built into Skype.

I made the transition from Skype a while ago and one of the improvements I notice is (usually) better sound quality. There can be a bit of an echo sometimes, but some of that is dependent on how the other party is set up hardwarewise. Skype always sounded distorted and SIP sounds clearer. And the Skype calls often broke off, needing reconnection.

[Lars Noodén]

Hangouts doesnt look terribly good, but i might try it. Linphone doesnt have a linux download, only windows, mac and "tar.gz". Even thought it says its for linux?;

Look in the Software Center or Synaptic. Linphone and Ekiga are in the repository. Whenever possible use what is provided in the repository, it is worlds easier to install and maintain.

Jitsi you can download from https://jitsi.org/ It has a few dependencies that you must also install, but those are all in the repository. And Blink you can get from http://icanblink.com/

[ajgreeny]

There are several SIP alernatives to skype, just search VOIP in software-centre or synaptic, but be aware that none of them can talk to skype, so if your friends have skype you will not be able to speak to or see them unless you persuade others to use the same or another SIP system,all of which can see each other.

[Crinkle]

ok i installed linphone throught sudo and it has my "indentiy" at the bottom. does it HAVE to include my ip address or can i change it somehow? theres not much help for linphone!

[Lars Noodén]

You can call directly to an ip address but the better way is to get an SIP account, that is mentioned at the top of the FAQ.

Linphone provides that service, so does SIP2SIP, Ekiga and others.
http://www.linphone.org/eng/linphone...e-account.html
https://mdns.sipthor.net/register_sip_account.phtml
https://www.ekiga.net/?page=register

There are others if you look around, but they are all free of charge. You can call out to land lines on some of them, but to do that you'll have to register a credit card or some other payment system.

[Crinkle]

Ok linphone doesnt work, seems to be the same problem, video or the call cuts out, but it doesnt crash.