QuteCom (previously called WengoPhone) was a free-software SIP-compliant VoIP client developed by the QuteCom (previously OpenWengo) community under the GPL-2.0-or-later license. It allows users to speak to other users of SIP-compliant VoIP software at no cost. It also allows users to call landlines and cell phones, send SMS and make video calls. None of these functions are tied to a particular provider, allowing users to choose among any SIP provider.

History

Development on WengoPhone began in September 2004. The first published version was released as version 0.949. A next-generation version of WengoPhone (WengoPhone NG) began development in 2005. The last release of WengoPhone before the change to QuteCom was version 2.1.2. A WengoPhone Firefox

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has also been published, which is currently available on Mac OS X and

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

, with a Linux version under development. On 28 January 2008, Wengo, the original sponsor of WengoPhone, transferred the sponsorship of the project to MBDSYS, and it became known as QuteCom.Wengo entrusts the OpenWengo project to its partner MBDSYS
On 15 May 2008, osAlliance presented kvats as a branded 2.2 version of WengoPhone/QuteCom with the preferred SIP provider A1, a brand of mobilkom Austria. As of 29 July 2016 the domain qutecom.com is registered with a domain broker. Whois seems to indicate this happened on 30 March 2016.

Calls

PC-to-PC calls have Hi-Fi quality and use several codecs such as iLBC, G.711 ( PCMA or PCMU), G.722, AMR (license needed), AMR-WB (license needed), G.729 (license needed). It is possible to start a conversation with other users of the same software or any other software that is SIP-compliant such as

Gizmo A gizmo is a gadget, especially one whose real name is unknown or forgotten. Gizmo may also refer to: Technology * The Gizmo or "Gizmotron", an effects device for electric guitars * Gizmo key, found on certain flutes * Gizmos, interactive onli ...

. QuteCom also allows users to make video calls using FFmpeg. Supported video codec is

H.263 H.263 is a video compression standard originally designed as a low-bit-rate compressed format for videotelephony. It was standardized by the ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG) in a project ending in 1995/1996. It is a member of the H.26x fam ...

. Since version 2.1, QuteCom allows IM chats with

MSN MSN (meaning Microsoft Network) is a web portal and related collection of Internet services and apps for Windows and mobile devices, provided by Microsoft and launched on August 24, 1995, alongside the release of Windows 95. The Microsoft Net ...

YIM Yim may refer to: *Im (Korean surname) or Yim, a common Korean surname. See Jangheung Yim clan. * YIM or Yahoo! Messenger People with the surname * YIM, Chung-sik (任), Korean general and former minister of defense, Republic of Korea * IM, Jon ...

, AIM, ICQ and XMPP users. This has been achieved by using the libpurple library. Concerning calls to landlines, the default server configuration is the one from Wengo, which was the primary sponsor of the OpenWengo project. After the release of version 2.1, QuteCom could be used with any SIP provider. This gives users an economic advantage, as they can choose the SIP provider according to how much the provider charges per minute and not according to the software they use.

User interface

The GUI is similar to those of other VoIP softphones such as Gizmo5 or Skype. From the main GUI, tabs allow access to the contact list, recent calls list, and user account information. Technically, it is written in Python and Qt/ C++ programming languages.

Features

The features of QuteCom are: * SIP compliance * Provider agnostic * Allows users to send SMS to France * NAT traversal * Cross-platform * Audio smileys * Qt-based GUI * Chatting with MSN, AIM, ICQ, Yahoo and XMPP users * Encryption via SRTP, but key exchange over Everbee key that is not a Standard * Uses standard

Session Initiation Protocol The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is a signaling protocol used for initiating, maintaining, and terminating communication sessions that include voice, video and messaging applications. SIP is used in Internet telephony, in private IP telepho ...

Limitations

The main limitations of the QuteCom are: * Lack of true privacy features such as encryption. A beta AES-128 encryption using SRTP is available since 2.1 version of QuteCom * Does not support H.261 and sends wrong

packets, preventing communication with other videophones * Does not support audio conferences with more than three people * Key Exchange for encryption is not a standard, so it works only between QuteCom clients

References

4
Binary files for Windows and source code
{{DEFAULTSORT:Qutecom Instant messaging clients that use Qt Voice over IP clients that use Qt Videoconferencing software that uses Qt Free instant messaging clients Free VoIP software MacOS instant messaging clients Windows instant messaging clients Discontinued Mozilla plug-ins Videotelephony