There are many VoIP software solutions out there. I tried pretty much of them since I wanted to be able to call friends in far away countries for free. Skype is not really a solution – proprietary formats plus the linux version does not support webcam yet (plus too many weirdos calling when you enter "female" in your profile). Then there are Gizmo and WengoPhone which come with a very nice interface, but none of them I got to work for me either. I suppose the problem was the DSL router between me and the internet and I didn't feel like touching the router configuration and forward ports for that issue.
In the times of Window's NetMeeting (does that still exist?) there was also GnomeMeeting as a Linux pendant. GnomeMeeting is now Ekiga and what shall I tell you – it works like a charm. It comes with a STUN service which avoids all the pain with forwarding ports and fiddling with the router. You can register to a SIP account at the Ekiga server, but you can use your SIP account from other providers with Ekiga as well.
I just talked with a guy from Arizona/USA over Ekiga. Good audio quality, Webcam works likewise.
My SIP account is missmarple _at _ ekiga.net – feel free to call!

There are many VoIP software solutions out there. I tried pretty much of them since I wanted to be able to call friends in far away countries for free. Skype is not really a solution - proprietary formats plus the linux version does not support webcam yet (plus too many weirdos calling when you enter "female" in your profile). Then there are Gizmo and WengoPhone which come with a very nice interface, but none of them I got to work for me either. I suppose the problem was the DSL router between me and the internet and I didn't feel like touching the router configuration and forward ports for that issue. In the times of Window's NetMeeting (does that still exist?) there was also GnomeMeeting as a Linux pendant. GnomeMeeting is now Ekiga and what shall I tell you - it works like a charm. It comes with a STUN service which avoids all the pain with forwarding ports and fiddling with the router. You can register to a SIP account at the Ekiga server, but you can use your SIP account from other providers with Ekiga as well. I just talked with a guy from Arizona/USA over Ekiga. Good audio quality, Webcam works likewise. My SIP account is missmarple _at _ ekiga.net - feel free to call!

Been there, done that, left scratch marks ...