Kcall and Decibel: Telephony and Messaging for KDE 4
While the KDE Team is busy working on version 4, more and more Linux desktop applications and interfaces keep on appearing. Kcall 0.7 and Decibel 0.5 bring integrated desktop software for Computer Telephony Integration (CTI), VoIP and real-time messaging to KDE.
The Decibel real-time messaging framework, which has now reached version 0.5, combines CTI, VoIP, chat and other instant messaging solutions. As a D-Bus-based API it also complies with the Telepathy specifications and provides interfaces to KDE applications without integrated telephony or chat functions. From the user's point of view, Decibel provides a standardized control center for all accounts, connections and settings in the real-time communications field.
Just a few days later, Kcall 0.7 was released, the first port of an application with Decibel support for KDE 4. Kcall is a telephony client which integrates with Kontact and uses its phonebook giving KDE users the ability to establish connections by clicking on a phone number in the address book. Kcall outputs ring tones or pops up a dialog to signal incoming calls via VoIP, for example. Connection data and accounts are managed by Decibel.
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