[TL;DR Guide] Looking for a conference alternative to Skype? Mumble is the answer

Here's the tutorial on first-time setup, in case you're ready RIGHT NOW.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTgN_Usnrds <-- direct link

There are a lot of reasons why Skype, although 1 to 1 is a great alternative to other free chat software in communications, just plain ol' doesn't just cut it when it comes to conference calls.

There are a lot of smaller clans that still use Skype conference calling, seeing as only having a few members in a clan running on an *almost* free software doesn't hurt anyone, and no one has to flip a bill. Well, when managing communications when a clan gets larger may seem a little bit scary, having a stable communications platform when it comes to larger groups always brings peace of mind. Now Skype, while it's international computer calling service being free, has a lot of drawbacks. I'm going to let this guide outline the differences between Skype, Mumble, and the olde trusty Ventrilo.

https://mmo-mumble.com/help/ComparisonChart

Other outlined points:

• Skype's resources in a conference call can reach some pretty high peaks. I've seen Skype's system resources monitor surpass Runescape on High settings. Now, I'm running on a performance PC, so all of us higher end users are really just thinking, "So what?" Well either way, if you've ever needed to play on a lower budgeted computer, or a laptop, sometimes resources can get spread waaay too far out. For players who aren't using a laptop cooling pad, they can quickly notice the difference of temperature when running pretty high on the CPU percentages, which can cause unnecessary damage to their computers. Lets face it, unless you're running on either a newer ASUS, or a custom built Sager, (referring to both models' engineering with the spaceship-esque rear fan exhaust) your laptop fans are going to suck. A lot of suck.
  
  Now I'm not saying, "Oh no! Skype can burn your computer up just by running it! It's TERRIBLEFK A;HFALJKSDF" but what I am trying to point out is that when users are attempting to run Skype, they're most likely going to be running other programs, such as Runescape, and lets say a Browser. It compounds the resources required, which can build up that unnecessary temps that we touched based on before.
  
  This is the one of the founding basis for switching over to Mumble; because whether or not you don't care about Skype's resources having hardly any effect on your computer, it might just be bending over someone else's $500 HP Laptop with large quantities of heat, and the possibility converting it's processing purpose into Sadomasochism.

• Another unmentioned, but somewhat touched upon topic is network. In the comparison chart, it mentions the voice quality on Mumble is on another tier than both Ventrilo, and Skype. Mumble has very low latency combined with good sound quality; it uses CELT and Speex, not just the voice compression technology, but also the voice pre-processing to remove noise and improve clarity. Mumble also has positional audio for supported games, meaning the other players' voice will come from the direction their character is in game.
  
  Combined with using Push-To-Talk and voice pickup, Mumble uses a lot less network resources/bandwidth than Skype, which uses a constant/never-ending compressed open mic setting, (although you can enable open-mic in Mumble, it still uses hardly any bandwidth.) When using Skype, you might find that when multiple users are in the same conference while your connection is dropping, your audio quality shits the bed. Mumble doesn't do this whatsoever, and just waits for the audio packets to reach your connection. Seeing as they're very small packets, there is a virtually no lag between user conversations. Seeing as how I live in Alaska and our internet here is utter shit, I've noticed no lag whatsoever when switching over from using Skype conference calls to our Mumble server.

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A few other noticeable differences:

• Mumble's server client functions somewhat like an IRC based chatroom when connecting; there are plenty of free provided empty/in-use rooms that are open to just about anyone. However, when hosting a Mumble server, you can keep it private, and connect just like an IRC with the correct host name, port number, and Password, (if required).

• There is a very flexible inter-channel/user-to-user chat system that works somewhat like Teamspeak. If you haven't used Teamspeak, basically there is a window showing the users, and side panel for text. The main differences is that the text messages you can send are able to be sent per-channel, and per-user (private messages) Much of the user interface and chat rooms have benefits such as customizable positions, fonts, color, and even add custom user textures. You can reskin the Mumble UI as well, rather than just changing the colors, which is limited to such in the Ventrilo program. Your user can also have pictured comments, videos, links, and PhP scripts in them, although I haven't fully tested that part yet.

• MOTD's are EXTREMELY customizable, with images, layouts, headers, PhP support, link/video support, and paragraph format support. Posting rules, clan logo's, or just plain images in the MOTD can be changed through either your provider, or your Murmer server.

• And my last favorite item on the list: rather than Ventrilo only allowing up to an 8 player personally hosted server, Mumble can host UNLIMITED user servers on any computer that can handle it through the Murmur program on your network. There is more information on Murmur at http://mumble.sourceforge.net/FAQ/English.

There you have it, if you're interested, follow the installation video posted on the top of the page.
Thanks for reading.

 

HEY! Mumble! Now thats a familiar sight! My BF3 and Steam clan use it we are known as FNG or furneticsgrid I must say its a lot easier and more user friendly than Vent or other VOIP programs I have tried. Skype just uses too much memory for some and it can be the last push over the edge for some when we are gaming together. Where as Mumble is simple to setup nice clean GUI not obtrusive and has a nice overlay GUI when in games like TF2 and CSS. *The overlay doesn't always work for some games and Mumble must be started before the game is loaded in order to work.*

In other words I vouch for this program.

 

thanx

 

you could also use irc