The first version of the decentralized communications platform Jami, codenamed "Together," has been released . Jami is part of the GNU projects and was previously developed under the name Ring (formerly SFLphone), but was renamed in 2018 to avoid trademark conflicts with companies developing communications solutions.
Unlike traditional communication clients, Jami can transfer messages without contacting external servers by arranging a direct connection between users using end-to-end encryption (end-to-end keys are only present on the client side) and X.509 certificate-based authentication.
In addition to secure messaging, the program allows you to make voice and video calls, create teleconferences, exchange files, organize file sharing and screen content.
About Jami
Initially, the project was developed as a softphone based on the SIP protocol, but it has gone far beyond this framework in favor of the P2P model, while maintaining compatibility with SIP and the ability to make calls using this protocol.
The program supports various codecs (G.711u, G.711a, GSM, Speex, Opus, G.722) and protocols (ICE, SIP, TLS), and provides reliable encryption for video, voice, and messages. Service features include call forwarding and hold, call recording, searchable call history, automatic volume control, and integration with GNOME and KDE address books.
Main news of Jami “Together”
During the development of the new version, it was decided to transform Jami from a simple P2P system into a group communication system that allows organizing communication between large groups, while maintaining a high level of confidentiality and security during individual communication.
Performance on low-bandwidth networks has been significantly improved. For user interaction, a bandwidth of only 50 kB/s is now sufficient for video streaming and 10 kB/s for audio calls.
Reduced resource consumption by version for Android and iOS platforms, both for background activity and when making calls, which has a positive impact on the battery life of the devices.
The Jami client for the Windows platform has been completely rewritten , now fitting more organically to the Windows 10 interface and usable in tablet mode.
Also noteworthy are the improved tools for creating video conferences with multiple participants. In the new version, the conferencing implementation has been streamlined and restrictions on the number of participants have been removed; the size of the conferences is now limited only by available bandwidth and system resources.
The "Meeting Points" feature has been proposed , which allows a client application to be transformed into a conference server with a single click . Meeting points are created as a special account, to which multiple participants can connect by sending them invitations. Both private and public conferences can be created.
These conferences are constantly active and do not interfere with other calls. For example, a teacher can create a meeting point and use it to teach students remotely. To connect after receiving an invitation, just make a call to the account associated with the meeting point.
A JAMS (Jami Account Management Server) was implemented , allowing for the centralized management of accounts within a local community or organization while maintaining the distributed nature of the network. JAMS can be used to integrate with LDAP, maintain an address book, and apply specific configurations to user groups.
In addition, the ability to connect add-ons was implemented , allowing the creation of additional features without having to study the internal aspects of Jami.
At this stage, plugins are limited to processing video streaming, for example, the GreenScreen plugin has been proposed, which uses machine learning methods to hide or replace the background in video calls.
Finally, the binaries are prepared for different systems, such as Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, SUSE, RHEL, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android and Android TV, and several options for interfaces based on Qt, GTK and Electron are being developed.