Choose one of the ways below to install Speak-Freely. Choose the best one for you. RPM is the easiest, if your system can handle RPM packages.

When is the last time you used your microphone? It's a good idea to test to make sure that it works.

Adjust your sound settings with alsamixergui or whatever you have available.

What is your IP Address? This is the basic network address of your computer. This may change each time you connect your computer to the internet.

The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) has
        reserved the following three blocks of the IP address space
        for private internets: 10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255 (10/8
        prefix) 172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255 (172.16/12 prefix)
        192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255 (192.168/16 prefix)

Open your network to allow incoming sound to your machine:

sfspeaker &

Now tell your machine to start sending data from your microphone to the network:

sfmike [destination_ip_address]

You need a real public IP address to initiate a connection to. The person with the valid IP address must let the other person initiate the call (open a connection).

Use the following services to notify the person you wish to speak to: Jabber , ICQ, Yahoo Messenger, or MSN Messenger. It does not matter which service you use, as long as you can contact the user you want to talk to. Personally, I prefer Jabber , which is decentralized and allows IM function between any other existing instant messaging solutions.

A Jabber client can integrate with ICQ, Yahoo, AIM, and MSN. It is friendly with Microsoft, Linux, Mac, and any other operating system wherever your friends are.

OR: Use global SMS messenging to send your IP address

OR: Put on a pair of sneakers and run to share your IP address with the person you intend to voice chat. In the old days, this is known as the Sneaker Net.

The main way to connect is to choose New... under the Connection menu and type your friend's IP address into the box and click OK. This is why you need prior knowledge of the called party's IP address since most Internet Service Providers assign each user a different IP address each time they connect to the Internet. The other person will need to find out their current IP address ahead of time, which they can do in Speak Freely by choosing the Help menu and selecting About Speak Freely, as shown above.

The second way to make a call is to use ICQ to establish the call. Do this by clicking on the desired person's name in ICQ, point to Internet Telephony/Games, and select Speak Freely. Then, enter a reason for the call, and wait for them to connect.

Once you have established the call, you can talk to the other person the same way you tested with the echo server. Press the space bar to start tramitting sound from your microphone to them.

Congratulations! You are now capable of making free long distance calls over the Internet! After you are comfortable with the flow of the conversation, you can experiment with the other options such as Voice Activation. Generally, the best way to make a call function just like a regular telephone is to use Voice Activation on a full duplex call. To go into full duplex mode, both parties double click their mice in the connection window to force constant transmission with the ear icon showing. See the Voice Activation section for help in setting the optimal volume level. As with the echo server, when you are ready to end the call, just click the X in the connection window to disconnect. Have fun!