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SIP is a disaster. There are so many issues with configuration, firewall traversal, and general user experience that saying end users should be using it is just
by orev 9y ago
SIP is a disaster. There are so many issues with configuration, firewall traversal, and general user experience that saying end users should be using it is just disconnected from reality. Skype nailed it for a reason—because all the dumb SIP stuff you need to deal with just to get it going is too much. You need to be able to install an app and just go. Especially with interviews and any time you’re dealing with people outside of you controlled little environment.
SIP is successful in the telecom space because it still requires specialized knowledge and dedicated teams of people to run it, and preserving that might be the reason it’s still such a pain.
- Godel_unicode 9y agoI think SIP lives in Telco land for a similar reason Cisco does (or Kerberos in enterprises). Yes it's complicated, but that's just a funny way of spelling flexible. Most people just want to make calls and are happy with a locked down one-size-fits-all solution, so they just use Skype and it's good enough. Some people want to tune their own systems to get them closer to just right and aren't afraid of the complexity. It has options for multiple stream transports, a proper SIP gateway can even allow two totally incompatible clients to talk to each other by relaying and converting the calls. There's no reason half of your call can't be webrtc to someone's browser (asterisk SIP gateway supports this out of the box) or even POTS in an emergency. Your asterisk solution could include a webpage and webrtc, which would actually be an easier client setup than Skype. No app, just hit this URL and start talking.