Re: [Ekiga-devel-list] Handling ordinary phone numbers ( Yet Another Approach)

[thomas schorpp <thomas schorpp googlemail com>]

@Eugen, pls don't top post, You're ruining threads on this list ;)

Alec Leamas schrieb:
> thomas schorpp wrote:
> > Alec Leamas schrieb:
> > > Trying to explain this once again, hopefully better. Questions in the 
> > > end...
> > >
> > > The problem I try  to solve is that users typically stores telephone 
> > > numbers, often formatted and without countrycode, whereas Ekiga today 
> > > requires a complete URL to place even an ordinary PSTN call. 
> >
> > No it doesn't. This is SIP-providers' switches business. A good 
> > VoIP/PSTN-provider with a fine designed switch does not require 
> > +<countrycode>... for local country #s.
> > With sipgate.de e.g. You dial WYSIWYG on Ekiga's dialpad, care about 
> > @sipgate.de only, press green and off you go.
> But you still have to handle the @sip.xxx suffix to connect to the right 
> provider, which is a Bad Thing. 

No. Only in "chaos" environments of unprofessional VoIP setups.

> And besides the expansion, there is also 
> what happens when you paste a formatted number into Ekiga.  And you run 
> into trouble when making DBus/CLI calls to connect to a specific number 
> since Ekiga of today does not have the notion of a default PSTN provider.

Yes it does, multiple SIP-accounts is a _optional_ feature competing products 
like x-lite do _not_ support at all and it is practically not needed in office and private 
real life because we got PBXes like Asterisk easily installable on all router platforms 
like AVM Fritzboxes and professional linux gateways etc which are invented 
for handling multi-accounts.

> A more basic question is if Ekiga should support current users, and the 
> providers they have. Or be used to put pressure on providers to 
> implement certain features... I'm not sure that Ekiga currently is in 
> the situation where it can put a pressure big enough to be useful. And 
> users don't really want to wait for what the further spreading of 
> electronic notepads and mobiles will lead to... Do you?
>
> Note that this is *not* about supporting providers that break the 
> standards. It's about supporting a reasonably wide set of providers, and 
> the way they implement standards.

I must object. You guys are trespassing out of best HMI and manual data handling ergonomic 
and software/data security practices wich will lead to millions $ of economic damage 
cause users will try to feed computer interfaces machine unreadable data if we 
software engineers support such habit, look at this:

After 2011 all EU bank accounts will have this notations:

- Paper format IBAN: IBAN BE61 3101 2698 5517

- Electronic format IBAN: BE61310126985517

Why the need for 2 formats? For easy and error-proof human data 
transfer between unconnected computer system or by copy&paste e.g., inventing _Your way_  
You will support _wrong habit_ working with computers and could try to c&p the paper form someone used illegally in mail or on website 
in a GUI form input field which may _cut_ characters at the end without notice _after_ You click "OK", 
there're many of such GUIs and webforms still around, so the bank transfer will fail without 
notice and You'll pay punishment fees for violating SEPA-criteria, and here You want to violate the SIP-Standard by breaking up 
SIP-URIs, this is inacceptable.

> Skype is out there, people are actually comparing  Ekiga w Skype. In 
> Skype, you just enter the number, and it just works. Why should Ekiga be 
> more complicated? 

VoIP-Freedom  with SIP is always "complicated", especially to the ones long been unfree with Skype + MSN.

> Cheers!
>
> --a

y
tom