I've had enough of trying to get skype to co-operate with linux OS. They can keep my £4 UK. Moved on to Ekiga now full video, works well with usb phone, clear voice and a wide variety of networks to contact. Tried Wengo and Gizmo both had issues with my OS (Mandriva).
That's it. Bye Bye.

wengo is still in development, i suggest you to try in a month... the NG release should be stable enough then.

I'd like to try ekiga for pc-to-phone, but when I click on the 'get account' link under Tools, nothing happens. I went to ekiga.net, hoping I could purchase the account there, but there is nothing but information about my basic account.

Does anyone know how to purchase a pc-to-phone account?

If you have setup web links to launch a browser then the link on Ekiga should work. You don't say which desktop you are using, nor web browser. I use KDE and Firefox and they are both easy to setup via kde desktop configuration. You really do need to register via the Ekiga dialog box as any other means doesn't seem to work. I have registered in the way I describe and it all works well.

Hope that helps you somewhat.

Well i use an sip account for pc2phone calls.
The one i use is sipdiscount.

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So do I, and click on links in emails and usenet posts and firefox opens and goes to the site. But not with Ekiga.
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and they are both easy to setup via kde desktop configuration. You really do need to register via the Ekiga dialog box as any other means doesn't seem to work. I have registered in the way I describe and it all works well.

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I'm registered to the extent that I can successfully make a test call to the echo number - 500...something. It's just the pc-to-phone part that isn't set up.

I'm using a version that is part of the repository being used by Mepis. It's designated as 2.0.2-0ubuntu6. I downloaded another, presumably later, possibly actually working, version from Ekiga.net but it wouldn't install because of this missing library and that missing library.

Since I don't enjoy hunting for software and patching it together, I guess I'll have to wait until the repository is updated and try a later version.
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Hope that helps you somewhat.

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Thanks, it helps to the extent of making me think the version on the repository isn't ready for prime time. The test I did to the echo number sounded very good, however, much better than the linux version of skype. When Ekiga gets to the point of being completely useable on my pc, I'll try it again.

Since you have a pc-to-phone account, can you give me some idea of the rates they charge for calls within Canada and the US?
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Sorry canam101,
first I am using a Mandriva distro whether it is different or not I don't know, maybe someone else will know. As for charges, I am in the UK and so the charges will be different. All I can say is they are much much cheaper than our own phone company (British Telecom).
I feel rather silly at the moment as I seem to have opened my mouth without putting the brain into gear. I tend to forget how intercontinental these forums are.

hi all,

as you I am a happy consumer who is lefting skype for their incapacity to have a little consideration to their consumer.

So, to day I succeed to make a pc to phone call with ekiga and a wengo account. -> you can use other things that diamondcard

to give you an idea of how to configure ekiga here is my conf for wengo (it's quite the same things for other sip provider. it's just the servers which changes):

parameter->network: stun server :stun.wengo.fr (if you use stun, ie if you are behind a firewall/nat)
if you are NOT behind a firewall/nat, you also will have to set a proxy, in sip parameter

account :

name account : wengo
registar: voip.wengo.fr
user: your user
password :your password (for wengo check the official forum, there is a tip for the password)
identifiant: your user
real/domain :voip.wengo.fr
... :3600

enjoy, and for any question contact directly the ekiga mailing list

I am considering changing as well now.

My Skype client crashed for the 4324523:th time. It's really tiresome with crashes and sound system lockups.

I really wish they could do some work on the Linux client soon!

I have had really good luck using Twinkle and the sipphone network which is shared with gizmoproject.com. If you go to the gizmoproject's forum, there are clear instructions on how to set up Twinkle so that it will work with sipphone.com. (Search for a post by a guy by the name of "zaidinero" in the gizmoprojects's forum).

Good rates, you can get a call-in number and it works with any standard sip soft-phone such as Ekiga or Twinkle.

Even better, I got a linksys PAP2 ATA and configured that to use my gizmoproject account using the voxilla (do a google search) wizard for sipphone.com. Now I can use a regular phone to call and it even works when my computer is off.