[GnomeMeeting-list] Re: [GnomeMeeting-devel-list] GM 3.00, big changes, already partly introduced in 2.00

[Peter Robinson <pbrobinson gmail com>]

Hmm, Sounds a bit like gaim-vv :-)

I like the idea of favourites for people you call regularly, but then
its sort of like an expanded recent calls list, people your calling
regularly are going to be in the list. Like with my mobile most people
I call are in the 20 or so people in my recent calls list (Or a quick
dial). Some sort of quick search in the interface which would search
all the sources would be cool.

The online presence sort of thing seems very similar to what they are
trying to achieve in Evolution with the ability to see at a glance
who's online (see the gnome bounties).

One thing that I would like to be able to do is right click on a
contact in Evolution and click call and be able to use gnomemeeting to
do any call (to another h323/sip client or PC to Phone) without having
to modify the phone numbers (as I sync my evo with my mobile phone).
To do this we'd need to be able to set a 'default' PC to Phone
provider (I use Freshtel) and have gnomemeeting strip any non numeric
chars (+- ) add the prefix and suffix to the number and dial (so
+61812345678 would become sip:61812345678 freshtel net).

To me the contacts seems like a slimmed down address book attached to
the main interface instead of another window sort of like the buddies
list in GAIM / MSN or most other IM clients. I think we'd be better
off making the address book better.

Just some of my not so coherent thoughts.

Cheers
Pete

> Following a few polls, on the mailing list, and formerly on the website,
> it appears that GnomeMeeting clearly has two types of users :
> 1) users who want to video chat with family and friends. They don't care
> about the protocol as long as it is easy, and as long as it works.
> 2) corporate users who want to use GnomeMeeting as a softphone with an
> IPBX like Asterisk, or Cisco, or anything else.
> 
> There are more users in the first category than in the second, that's
> why I plan to redesign the GUI to ease things for that category of users
> without making things harder for the second category.
> 
> Here is the list of use cases for GnomeMeeting :
> 1) I want to call a friend using his phone number via a PC-To-Phone
> provider OR I'm a corporate user who wants to call somebody's real
> phone. I need to enter an URL.
> 
> 2) I want to call an online friend. I don't want to have to remember his
> address, so I can put him in my address book. I would like to see if he
> is online or not. LDAP is not well-suited for that as it is not
> real-time. Jabber is well-suited. I just want to double-click on him.
> The URL will be put in the URL bar and the call will begin.
> 
> The URL will be known because either we have associated to the user when
> adding it to the address book, or because he is publishing it (through
> Jabber for example).
> 
> ---
> 
> >From this, we can see that the URL bar should become the second choice
> for calling people. Having to know their URL is not convenient, so most
> calls are done either through ILS or through the address book where we
> have put "bookmarks".
> 
> The address book is convenient for the less used URLs and phone numbers,
> or when you want to meet new people publishing their info in the yellow
> pages (ILS), but it is not convenient when you want to call your
> relatives. If there is a person I want to call often, I don't want to
> have to remember his/her URL and I don't want to have to open the
> address book to call him/her.
> 
> That's why we need a contacts list.
> 
> We can not know if the person is online or not. But SIP allows to send
> text messages. For example, I would have my girlfriend in my contacts
> list, with URL sip:600010123123 seconix com, and without knowing if she
> is online or not, I could message her. If she is present, she will
> answer and I can begin to call.
> 
> So having a contacts list for your favorites, and the address book for
> the yellow pages (ILS) and for the contacts you do not call so often
> (phone number of the police, phone number of the talking clock, ...) is
> definitely required.
> 
> Having a system to see if the user is online is also required. That can
> be done later through jabber. The contacts list can be extended to
> support Jabber contacts, with a small phone icon next to their nickname
> if they accept H.323 or SIP calls.
> 
> The URL bar needs to stay to be able to call other people and phone
> numbers than the ones that are in your address book and in your contacts
> list.
> 
> ---
> 
> Here is the proposed design for GnomeMeeting 2.00 (which won't support
> jabber except through GOSSIP, because of the lack of time and of
> developers).
> 
> Main GUI :
> 
> |-----------------------------|
> | Menu                        |
> |-----------------------------|
> |                             |
> |Fav. | Dialpad | Current Call|
> |Statistics                   |
> |                             |
> |                             |
> |                             |
> |                             |
> |                             |
> |                             |
> |                             |
> |                             |
> |                             |
> |                             |
> |-----------------------------|
> |                       |   | |
> |-----------------------------|
> 
> * The Fav. tab will contain a sort of roster with 2 categories :
> - the SIP/H323/IAX/Jabber accounts, their status (online/offline) and
> the number of voicemails for each of them, if applicable
> - the contacts without online presence, just an association between a
> name and an url
> - the Jabber contacts, merged with those contacts without online
> presence, and organised in groups of contacts
> 
> When clicking on a contact, you will be able to text message him, except
> if he is an H.323 contact. It will only work for SIP and Jabber
> contacts.
> 
> * The Dialpad tab will contain the dialpad.
> * The current call tab will be invisible when there is no call, and
> visible when there is a call. It will display your remote contact and
> sliders to update your video and audio transmission settings
> * The statistics tab will stay the same.
> 
> You will notice that the bottom of the UI still has an URL bar with the
> same connect/disconnect button. You will be able to enter URLs for less
> common contacts directly using that URL bar, for example, when using GM
> with Asterisk, and dialing random phone numbers. It will be a quick and
> efficient way to dial.
> 
> Text Chat:
> 
> The text chat window will be separated from the main GUI. That will
> allow resizing it. It will also contain tabs, a bit like GAIM's window
> currently.
> 
> ---
> 
> FAQ.
> 
> Q1: So, GnomeMeeting will finally become an INSTANT MESSENGER?
> A1: No, GM will not become an instant messenger supporting badly
> videochat and voip, it will be the opposite : a softphone supporting
> instant messenging.
> 
> Q2: Will it support proprietary protocols like MSN, Yahoo, SKYPE.
> A2: No, GM is a softphone, not an IM, and my little spare time doesn't
> allow me to spend nights on the reverse engineering of protocols that
> will surely change every 6 months. We also want quality VoIP and
> VideoChatting, not hacks.
> 
> Q3: Will it be compatible with Windows?
> A3: It will be ported to Windows (anyone to help?). And it will support
> only STANDARD protocols, so the answer is yes.
> 
> Q4: What will it be useful for, if it is not compatible with MSN or
> skype ?
> A4: It is a softphone, not an IM. Try to use Skype with an IPBX. But
> anyway, you are free to use something else. When enough people will use
> something else, I will silently retire and get a decent family life...