Bob: Hello, Pete: Aloha, Bob: Whats up dude?...

Tutorial: Creating your own Grade-I VoIP network so that you can Voice Chat with your buddies. [Part I]



What you need:
1. A computer (obviously!).
2. A softphone application (I suggest X-Lite, just go to www.google.com and search for X-Lite download).
3. A Soft-PBX (go to http://www.freeswitch.org and download).
4. A DNS name for your system (go to http://www.dyndns.org and register for a free account).



The 'Low-Down' on Voice Chatting:



I will explain the basics here because I feel that if you have a little background on the subject, it would be much more easier to have your voice chatting service up and running.
Okay, so here goes....

• To voice chat with your buddies, you must have a way of identifying them independently of their IP and port address combination. This is where a server comes in. Basically, all your buddies register on the server. They obtain identifers of the form 'user@domain'. (We will be using FreeSwitch, also known as FS). Note that the 'user' part is an extension number. You use this when you dial a friend.
• The server functions as a 'registrar', meaning that people register here, and it stores a database mapping the users current IP and port to the identifier.
• Once all your buddies are registered on the server, they must use a 'Softphone' application. This is software that can make and recieve VoIP calls. Technically, it is known as a SIP UA.
• To make a call to a friend, all you have to do is dial his extension and Hey Presto!!!, you are calling your friend.

I must admit, this was a very 'Non-Technical' introduction, but you don't need ALL the details to do it practically. Nevertheless, I will write a post highlighting the technical details.



Well, so much for this post. I will write the exact process in a later post. This series is going to be quite a long one, so, till then...