<s>
Ekiga	B-Language
(	O
formerly	O
called	O
GnomeMeeting	B-Language
)	O
is	O
a	O
VoIP	B-Application
and	O
video	B-Application
conferencing	I-Application
application	O
for	O
GNOME	B-Application
and	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
distributed	O
as	O
free	B-Application
software	I-Application
under	O
the	O
terms	O
of	O
the	O
GNU	B-License
GPL-2.0-or-later	I-License
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
the	O
default	O
VoIP	B-Application
client	O
in	O
Ubuntu	B-Operating_System
until	O
October	O
2009	O
,	O
when	O
it	O
was	O
replaced	O
by	O
Empathy	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ekiga	B-Language
supports	O
both	O
the	O
SIP	B-Application
and	O
H.323	B-Protocol
(	O
based	O
on	O
OPAL	B-Protocol
)	O
protocols	O
and	O
is	O
fully	O
interoperable	O
with	O
any	O
other	O
SIP	B-Application
compliant	O
application	O
and	O
with	O
Microsoft	B-Protocol
NetMeeting	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
supports	O
many	O
high-quality	O
audio	O
and	O
video	O
codecs	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ekiga	B-Language
was	O
initially	O
written	O
by	O
Damien	O
Sandras	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
graduate	O
from	O
the	O
University	O
of	O
Louvain	O
(	O
UCLouvain	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ekiga.net	O
was	O
also	O
a	O
free	O
and	O
private	O
SIP	B-Application
registrar	O
,	O
which	O
enabled	O
its	O
members	O
to	O
originate	O
and	O
terminate	O
(	O
receive	O
)	O
calls	O
from	O
and	O
to	O
each	O
other	O
directly	O
over	O
the	O
Internet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Features	O
of	O
Ekiga	B-Language
include	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Ekiga	B-Language
is	O
integrated	O
with	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
different	O
software	O
packages	O
and	O
protocols	O
such	O
as	O
LDAP	B-Protocol
directories	O
registration	O
and	O
browsing	O
along	O
with	O
support	O
for	O
Novell	B-Language
Evolution	I-Language
so	O
that	O
contacts	O
are	O
shared	O
between	O
both	O
programs	O
and	O
zeroconf	B-Application
(	O
Apple	B-Application
Bonjour	I-Application
)	O
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
auto-detects	O
devices	O
including	O
USB	B-Protocol
,	O
ALSA	B-Application
and	O
legacy	O
OSS	B-Library
soundcards	O
,	O
Video4linux	B-Application
and	O
FireWire	B-Algorithm
camera	I-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ekiga	B-Language
supports	O
a	O
Contact	B-Protocol
list	I-Protocol
based	O
interface	O
along	O
with	O
Presence	O
support	O
with	O
custom	O
messages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SIP	B-Application
URLs	O
and	O
H.323/callto	O
support	O
is	O
built-in	O
along	O
with	O
full-screen	O
videoconferencing	B-Application
(	O
accelerated	O
using	O
a	O
graphics	O
card	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ekiga	B-Language
was	O
originally	O
started	O
over	O
Christmas	O
in	O
the	O
year	O
2000	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sandras	O
wanted	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
Netmeeting	B-Protocol
clone	O
for	O
Linux	O
as	O
his	O
graduating	O
project	O
at	O
UCLouvain	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ekiga	B-Language
was	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
GnomeMeeting	B-Language
until	O
2004	O
when	O
a	O
name	O
change	O
was	O
thought	O
necessary	O
by	O
the	O
developers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Concerns	O
were	O
cited	O
that	O
the	O
original	O
name	O
was	O
associated	O
with	O
a	O
discontinued	O
Microsoft	O
product	O
called	O
NetMeeting	B-Protocol
,	O
and	O
not	O
always	O
recognized	O
as	O
VoIP	B-Application
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
also	O
proposed	O
that	O
some	O
people	O
assumed	O
they	O
needed	O
to	O
run	O
GNOME	B-Application
to	O
run	O
GnomeMeeting	B-Language
,	O
which	O
was	O
no	O
longer	O
the	O
case	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Eventually	O
on	O
January	O
18	O
,	O
2006	O
the	O
name	O
Ekiga	B-Language
was	O
chosen	O
based	O
on	O
an	O
old	O
way	O
of	O
communicating	O
between	O
villages	O
in	O
Cameroon	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Around	O
that	O
the	O
time	O
the	O
direction	O
of	O
the	O
software	O
project	O
was	O
changed	O
and	O
it	O
turned	O
into	O
a	O
SIP	B-Application
client	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Added	O
support	O
for	O
G.722	B-Algorithm
audio	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
unified	O
the	O
support	O
for	O
H.263	B-Algorithm
and	O
H.263	B-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
November	O
2012	O
-	O
Ekiga	B-Language
4.0.0	O
,	O
"	O
The	O
Victory	O
Release	O
"	O
,	O
is	O
a	O
major	O
release	O
with	O
many	O
major	O
improvements	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
February	O
2013	O
-	O
Ekiga	B-Language
4.0.1	O
,	O
"	O
The	O
Victory	O
Release	O
"	O
,	O
this	O
version	O
has	O
many	O
improvements	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
2015	O
;	O
-	O
Ekiga	B-Language
5.0	O
,	O
new	O
Version	O
with	O
GTK+	O
3	O
and	O
new	O
codecs	B-General_Concept
announced	O
.	O
</s>
