New Tech For BoST Calls – Experiments

[Lars2i]

Hi @BoST,

We need a new solution for our BoST calls. Skype does not support older Apple hardware and some Linux distros and Google is suppressed in China which makes Google Hangouts useless for us. We can’t continue to lose the first 15 to 20 minutes of the call dealing with technical issues.

I asked people in FB for suggestions and I got a lot. I suggest, we test them all till we found one that works. I will set up – and invite you install if necessary – a test run for a new solution for the future BoST calls. Be prepared.

##Solutions to test
Here are the suggestions for solutions I got. Not all of them are free.

###TeamSpeak
TeamSpeak – Audio only. Is for gamers. You need to install it on your machine.

TeamSpeak for broadcasting to >10 people seems to be okay, but haven’t tested it when everyone is allowed to speak (e.g. for discussions)

###Talky

I have not, but had good luck with http://talky.io in some cases. It uses WebRTC to make a direct (peer to peer) connection, so your data does not go through a central server, except the initial connection.

###Appear.In

I use https://appear.in/ successfully with up to 3 people. Haven’t tested it with more people.

This will be our FIRST EXPERIMENT. Join this room (Runs only with Chrome, Firefox or Opera): https://appear.in/oscedaysbost If you can make it test it before already. So we know if it works or not.

###Mumble

Mumble is an alternative

This is what my distributed team uses. It takes setup but just works. / No video, but the benefit of not wasting ten minutes on whether your tool is working is just invaluable in terms of time and frustration.

###Jitsi

https://jitsi.org Haben alles probiert. Es gibt’s imao nichts besseres. | TRANSLATE: We tested everything. In my opinion there is nothing better.

###Zoom

https://zoom.us/

works very well is my experience

zoom works often well and is worth the investment if conference calls are a central part of your work

[JayKay]

Teamspeak works very well if we can find a stable server. I friend of mine is running a Teamspeak server, ill ask him if he is up for hosting a OSCEday Channel for us.

[transitionmica]

Mumble seems the obvious choice as it’s OS and we don’t need video for BoST calls (by the way, why is the T spelled in capital and not BoSt?)
There is a version I could download, and I supect my hardware is about the oldest, but I haven’t installed it yet

My son, an avid gamer, has very good experiences with TeamSpeak. There seems to be software for my MAC OS too.

Both Mumble and TeamSpeak need a server to host calls, I don’t know how that works.

[Lars2i]

Cool @JayKay - Let’s give it a go with Teamspeak at your friends server.

Mumble would be the better alternative for us because it is OS but we don’t have someone to set it up and maintain it properly at the moment. With Johnnys friend there is someone there for Teamspeak already.

[JayKay]

I’ve asked him to set up a channel, ill keep you guys posted on when it’s online!