Re: [Linphone-users] Searching other users

[Stuart Gathman]

On 03/20/2017 06:04 AM, PICI.1251 wrote:

Hi to everybody,
I would like to know if, with Linphone, there is a way to find other users on the internet, like I can do with Skype.

For federated services that relay SIP to work around IP4, this depends on the service.  For instance, ekiga.net has a user lookup.  You first have to know what service said person is using.  Skype is worse - it not only can't lookup users not on Skype, it can't connect you when you do find a sip/iax/facetime/gtalk/oovoo/other VOIP address for a party.  All the SIP services can talk to each other (for the most part).

For decentralized SIP  (use IP6 and just connect directly to the other party), DNS or Namecoin easily provide a directory - but no one is forcing everyone to use the same standard/convention, or even to publish their IP at all.  Lot's of people have a web page with their sip address - you can just google to find those.   Skype and many SIP services will connect you to POTS for a fee.  If you can find the telephone number of your party, call them up and ask for their sip address.

I've found that email serves as a lowest common denominator.  Once you find their email, ask them what their sip address is.

I've gotten the most buy in with the telephone model.  Your IP6 address is your "phone number".  Especially when it is a cryptographic mesh ip, such as cjdns (so that it stays with a device regardless of what ICANN internet connection it is currently using and is authenticated).

Ask your friend for their "phone number", and add it to your local directory - just like with a smartphone.

For example, if your friend address@hidden is on cjdns, and tells you their ip is fc1c:d462:9ce6:0c52:4346:0965:a67d:ef22 (dummy ip with private key discarded),  you would add the following to your linphone directory:

sip:address@hidden:d462:9ce6:0c52:4346:0965:a67d:ef22]

NOTE, at least on linphone-3.6.1, you have to switch between IPv6 mode for direct connections, and IP4 mode for federated sip relay services, and also switch your identity (which does not automatically switch when switching IP mode).  This is annoying, and I hope that a convenient way to switch appears soon - or else support for both at the same time!