[GnomeMeeting-list] News from 2.00

[Damien Sandras <dsandras seconix com>]

Hello to all,

---
I have a few good news concerning the 2.00 release development.

You probably know that except for video, most of important features are
already implemented. There were 2 *big* exceptions :
  - you could not be transferred to a remote endpoint (except when using
Asterisk which intercepts the call). It is now implemented for SIP.
  - some proxies like Asterisk issue Re-INVITES during sessions. That
allows to change the remote IP address/port where to send RTP data, but
also the codec, during a call. It is now implemented. You can for
example be in a call with an IP Phone using G.711, the traffic going
directly between GnomeMeeting and the IP Phone, then the IP Phone user
decides to put the call on hold. Asterisk will then take the relay and
send an MP3 directly to GnomeMeeting using another codec than G.711,
e.g. GSM (the remote party is not the IP Phone anymore, but Asterisk, so
a Re-INVITE is issued). That feature is unique in the Linux softphone
world, and some CISCO IP Phones even crash if you are using it, but
GnomeMeeting supports it.

I would say that except for Video (on which Robert is working), the SIP
features list is almost complete. 

Basically, here is what remains to do :
* SIP: bugfixing and stability testing
* H323: Call Hold and Call Transfer must be reimplemented from OpenH323
* General: audio codecs and video 
(Robert has worked on video, and it seems that raw video can already be
transmitted between 2 SIP/H.323 endpoints without using any codec)
* GnomeMeeting: Various UI enhancements (Druid, Instant Messenging, ...)

---

Another good news is that a french provider will most probably (I have
not signed yet) provide a P4 server with 1GB of RAM and 20Mbits/s of
bandwidth to host the new generation seconix.com. It will be named
gnomemeeting.net and will host several new services for our users :
   * A SIP Registrar, allowing each user to have a universal
@gnomemeeting.net SIP address, callable from anywhere in the world with
any SIP softphone
   * A public conference room for audio-only and for a limited number of
users
   * Probably VoiceMail, but it is not sure yet
   * Various other services

More news to come later,

-- 
 _      Damien Sandras
(o-     GnomeMeeting: http://www.gnomemeeting.org/
//\     FOSDEM 2005 : http://www.fosdem.org
v_/_    H.323 phone : callto:ils.seconix.com/dsandras seconix com