Skype Alternative - FaceFlow

[NoWorries]

For some time now I have been looking for an alternative to Skype as the performance of version 2.2 is totally unacceptable for me and I currently use 2.1. Also, with M$ buying Skype, I expect that no further development of Skype for Linux will happen.

On the Skype forum I came across and alternative that seems to have potential. It is FaceFlow at http://www.faceflow.com/. With FaceFlow, which is free, no downloaded software is required. All the Internet video calls are done by logging on to their site with your web browser which is required to have the flash plugin installed. I hope to test it soon with a friend who uses Windows. One minor problem that I have with it at the moment is that it defaults to a Webcam that I do not want to use. I cannot configure it to use my preferred Webcam after login to the site. If you have more than one Webcam then it can be changed after a video call is started.

If I find this approach acceptable, I will then have to get my Skype contacts to have FaceFlow accounts. This has the potential to be a Skype Killer.

I would like to hear from anyone else who tries FaceFlow and the experiences they have of it.

[Teunis]

Re: Skype Alternative - FaceFlow

It is not nearly a replacement for Skype as it doesn't allow calls to regular numbers, it's more of a chat thing like MSN.
But for what it can do it looks fine.

[Linkmaster]

Re: Skype Alternative - FaceFlow

I think Ekiga has a chance of being a Skype-killer; it offers nearly everything Skype does, its free and opensource, it allows PC-landline/cell calls, you can actually adjust the resolution of your camera[unlike skype] and from my personal experience with GreyGeek, the sound and video quality was better.

Another alternative is Blink, which is great if you're not running Natty. I know it works well in Lucid, and I'm not sure about Maverick. Blink does not yet have video call, though they have almost everything needed for video call in place, so it won't be long. And also, Blink has this ability to record your calls/videos. The only way I've ever seen this is to use external software.

The last I noticed is a proprietary software called Brosix, mainly designed for businesses, though its free for individual use. It has a huge amount of functionality, an example being able to control each others desktops through the screensharing feature.

GG and myself tested last night, and we determined several things:
If your internet is on the slower side[mine is], Brosix gets pretty choppy and doesn't have very clear sound. The desktop sharing/control works great otherwise though. I personally noticed that Brosix was acting like Skype on my computer, which was horrid. But the interface is nice and clean.

We also determined that Ekiga has extremely sharp video quality and sound quality, though the sound quality doesn't match Blink's sound quality. GG could talk to me with his Blink account to my Ekiga account.

My advice, Ekiga works great for Natty, while Blink doesn't[package interference, Blink needs packages that are too 'old' for Natty]. and Brosix is good for better internet connections, so don't be outside your wireless zone trying to use Brosix.

Last thing we noticed, using both Brosix and Ekiga at the same time resulted in strange things happening with the Ekiga accounts, neither of us could send messages to the other if we had Brosix running, though we could recieve messages fine.

Further testing would probably be good, and if we can convince all our friends to swap from Skype to Ekiga/Brosix, things would be very good.

[geoaraujo]

Re: Skype Alternative - FaceFlow

Other alternatives are Qutecom and Jitsi. To use them you need a SIP number.

[oshunluvr]

Re: Skype Alternative - FaceFlow

"Skype Replacement" is a subjective description IMO.

I mainly use Skype when I travel away from my family. Expecting an Internet Cafe in Kiev to have something other than Skype installed is borderline lunacy.

However, when I have my own computer with me, these other choices become useful.

No doubt, someone will fork Skype or come up with a free replacement that will be compatible so we're not out in the cold. Part of the beauty of the linux community.

[GreyGeek]

Re: Skype Alternative - FaceFlow

I'm "GreyGeek" on FaceFlow.

[jpenguin]

Re: Skype Alternative - FaceFlow

Blink has a version for natty and a tarball for other linux now

[NoWorries]

Re: Skype Alternative - FaceFlow

I was hoping to have tested FaceFlow this weekend, however all those who I thought would be able to do so were not available. One of whom is busy studying for exams and will not be free till the end of the month.

For calls to landlines, I do not use any computer package such as Skype - I just pick up a phone and use a phone card for long distance calls. Up till now, I only use Skype for video calls. Unfortunately, my experience is that Skype 2.1 is not compatible with Windows Skype 5.3 whereas Linux Skype 2.2 is. Unfortunately the video quality that I send is much darker and of lower quality. Most of my Skype contacts are using Windows Skype 5.3. To solve this problem I assume that my Windows contacts would be reluctant to install and setup a package such as Ekiga.

I consider FaceFlow to be the least difficult alternative application for a Windows user. I have found a very useful warts and all review of FaceFlow at http://www.itbusinessreviews.com/201...ust-a-browser/. I was encouraged by the future direction being taken with this project.

[NoWorries]

Re: Skype Alternative - FaceFlow

I'm "GreyGeek" on FaceFlow.

I have not been successful in seeing you on FaceFlow. The problem may be related to time zones. I live in Adelaide, South Australia and if you are on the East Coast USA, a suitable time for me would be around 8:00am or 8:00pm East Coast USA time

[GreyGeek]

Re: Skype Alternative - FaceFlow

The biggest problem I have with FaceFlow is that Flash, in that context, isn't very stable or reliable. Tab away and then return and your connection is often broken and/or resets, loosing the connection.

The problem I have with Uibqq is that every link is unique and one side has to create a "room" and then send the URL for that "room" to the other party via email or chat, then wait for them to connect. If, for any reason, the link is broken one cannot use the same URL to re-establish the connection. Also, only two people can communicate at a time, unlike FaceFlow. Such a pain.

[NoWorries]

Re: Skype Alternative - FaceFlow

Thanks for your patience. I found that I had the flashplugin-installer installed but not the flashplugi-nonfree. I have now installed the latter as well as Mozilla Firefox 5.0 which was in the updates this morning. So hopefully the next attempt will be more successful.

NoWorries

[NoWorries]

Re: Skype Alternative - FaceFlow

The biggest problem I have with FaceFlow is that Flash, in that context, isn't very stable or reliable. Tab away and then return and your connection is often broken and/or resets, loosing the connection.

The problem I have with Uibqq is that every link is unique and one side has to create a "room" and then send the URL for that "room" to the other party via email or chat, then wait for them to connect. If, for any reason, the link is broken one cannot use the same URL to re-establish the connection. Also, only two people can communicate at a time, unlike FaceFlow. Such a pain.

After our test it certainly seems as though Flash could be the problem. In summary of our experiences, I will make the following observations:

• The full screen mode does not work as advertised. The image size is unchanged from that before selecting full screen except that the images are side by side and surrounded by a white background.
• There is no echo suppression which means that participants have to wear headphones. This is not practical when more than one person is communicating from each end. I did not have headphones on which degraded the audio because of no echo suppression. Our normal Skype session involves my wife and I talking to our Son and his wife. Can you imagine how well that would go down with everyone wearing headphones!
• I have a 2Mpixel Logitech QuickCam which is capable of HD Video. With FaceFlow the image it gave was of reasonable quality but lower than 30 frames per second. In fact it at times it froze and it seemed as though the frame rate sometimes less than 5 frames per second. (Skype has no problems with this Web-cam.)
• To measure delay, I used my web cam to show GreyGeek the image of him that I was receiving. He then did a clap to see how long it took to see the clap. He estimated that it was about 1s, which is satisfactory.

From these experiences, I CANNOT RECOMMEND FaceFlow. I do not think it will make the grade unless the above problems are resolved. My understanding is that the limitations of Flash will not allow all problems to be fixed.

In the meantime, I now have an update to Skype which is version 2.2.0.35 and the video and audio problems that I was experiencing are now fixed. No longer do I send noisy dark images and it recognizes pulse audio settings .

So back to Skype for the time being.

[GreyGeek]

Re: Skype Alternative - FaceFlow

I concure with NoWorries observations. I will use Skype when I must, Blink or Ekiga when I don't, which is most of the time. Ubiqq is a total pain to use, is limited to two PCs, and presents no way to expand the video to more than the 1 1/2" square it occupied. The sound is poor. Brosix only gives you a video link IF both ends have Intel video chips, although the audio, screen share and remote control work ok.

Someone mentioned Jitsi, which looks good. Trying to connect with it using my ekiga.net server credentials.