Reviewing the options below, can you speak to what solutions your own organization or the organizations that you work with in the Global South use to address these needs? Are there solutions that are particularly well-suited that we should be looking into? Are there solutions that we should avoid? And, if so, why?
To date, Beautiful Trouble has been using the Calliflower audio conferencing service, mostly for the global dial-in numbers (though, they don’t reach the target countries for this project), as well as Skype and, more recently, Google Hangouts.
The minimum requirements for the project's needs are:
- Audio conferencing for multiple participants
- Either local dial-in numbers, or accessible via the Internet (VOIP, WebRTC, etc.)
The "would be nice" requirements are:
- Call recording
- Video conferencing for multiple participants
- Slide or screen sharing
For the initial in-country session in Burma/Myanmar, we have decided to pilot the Jitsi audio/video conferencing solution(s). We believe that this combination will provide the in-country sessions with:
- An audio/video "window" into the event for remote participants
- A privacy-enhancing environment, where no web services or log-ins are required to access the conference
Additionally, it will enable session facilitators, and our team more broadly, to:
- Set-up permanent "rooms" for various working groups
- Work on a shared document (integrated Etherpad)
- Record session audio when necessary
We will explore hosting this solution on Beautiful Rising infastructure to help to ensure that access and session logs are in our control, and possibly to provide access to the service through a hidden Tor service.
If you have questions, comments, or suggestions on the above, [please let us know][team].
Secure video calls, conferencing, chat, desktop sharing, file transfer, support for your favorite OS, and IM network. All this, and more, in Jitsi - the most complete and advanced open source communicator. https://jitsi.org/
- 100% open source 👍
- Encrypted by default 👍
- HD audio with Opus 👍
- No account needed 👍
- Presentations and desktop sharing 👍
- Integrated chat 👍
Who to talk to:
- @gabi at Tactical Tech said "We're trying to switch over to Jitsi Videobridge at Tactical Tech"
Video relaying for efficient multi-party video conferences https://jitsi.org/Projects/JitsiVideobridge
- Standalone. 👍
- Call encryption with DTLS/SRTP.
Who to talk to:
- @gabi at Tactical Tech said "We're trying to switch over to Jitsi Videobridge at Tactical Tech"
Skype alternative: video calls, conferencing, chat, file transfer, etc.
https://jitsi.org/Main/Download
- Cross-platform: Linux, Windows, Mac 👍
Who to talk to:
- Your name here...
BigBlueButton enables you to share documents (PDF and any office document), webcams, chat, audio and your desktop. It can also record sessions for later playback. http://bigbluebutton.org/
- Open source software 👍
- Hosted & commercial support options available 👍
- Hosted in Canada 👍
Who to talk to:
- @phillipadsmith for the The Knight-Mozilla learning lab
- Ross at Mayfirst about their instance of BBB
From Ross:
Our audio conferencing system is up and running at and currently has two language support built in. Glocal is building it out to be a full multi-lingual conferencing system with moderation capabilities as well.
Anonymous, peer to peer, video chat built on open source awesome
Cloud-based video collaboration service, you can forget about needing any additional hardware or software.
- Multi-Vendor, Multi-Device Interoperability 👍
- Mobile and Browser Integration 👍
- Secure Meetings 👍
- Seems to require a browser plug-in 👎
Anny Levy says:
If not already on your list, Bluejeans (while not free), is low cost and has become a very widespread tool for video/audioconferencing with multiple people calling in from different places.
A New Kind of Instant Messaging
Tox provides an easy to use application that allows you to connect with friends and family without anyone else listening in.
- Messages
- Calls
- Video
designed as a secure skype replacement.
- One to one chat with friends
- Group chats
- File transfers, with previewing of images
- Audio calls, including group calls
- Video calls
- Tox DNS and Tox URI support
- Translations in various languages
- Avatars
- Auto-updates on Windows and Mac, packages on Linux
Who to talk to:
- Mentioned by Ross
Mumble is an open source, low-latency, high quality voice chat software primarily intended for use while gaming.
Ross says:
I would also include mumble as an option, it's super low bandwidth and the most stable solution I know of at this point. The only barrier is the initial configuration, but after that it's pretty amazing for what it does.
Ostel is a tool for having end-to-end encrypted phone calls.
- Cross-platform, kinda' 👍
- Open source software 👍
- Encryted 👍
- Free worldwide calling 👍
- Part of the Guardian Project 👍
Seecrypt SC3 allows you to make and receive secure voice calls and text messages between Seecrypt-enabled devices, anywhere in the world.
Cryptocat is a fun, accessible app for having encrypted chat with your friends, right in your browser and mobile phone. Cryptocat is open source, free software, developed by encryption professionals to make privacy accessible to everyone.
Telegram is a messaging app with a focus on speed and security, it’s superfast, simple and free. You can use Telegram on all your devices at the same time — your messages sync seamlessly across any of your phones, tablets or computers.
ChatSecure is a free and open source encrypted chat client for iPhone and Android that supports OTR encryption over XMPP. ChatSecure was originally available for only iOS devices, but is now also available on Android via The Guardian Project’s similar app, formerly named Gibberbot.