Voice over Internet Protocol

TS redirects here. For other uses, see TS (disambiguation).

Voice over Internet Protocol (aka VoIP) is a method of transmitting audio over the Internet by encoding analog audio in a digital form, transmitting it over the internet, and decoding it back to analog form for listening. It is also known by the acronym "VoIP".

Many guilds in World of Warcraft have access to dedicated VoIP servers to help make communication during raids easier. Two of the most popular 3rd party VoIP clients are TeamSpeak and Ventrilo, although Mumble has recently become very popular.

World of Warcraft Voice Chat

As of 19.07.2018 at Patch 8.0.1, this section is outdated. The old Voice Chat implemented in 2.2.0 has been replaced by the new Voice Chat after the introduction of the "Communities" feature. Official Patch Notes state:

"(...) You can now create and join cross-realm social groups in World of Warcraft. Communities make it easier for you to find and play alongside adventurers who share common interests. Hit default hotkey ‘J’ to get started.

Voice Chat is now available in all groups, Guilds, and Communities. Select the headset icon wherever you see it in game to talk with other players. (...)"

This article will be reworked. Below is the outdated entry until a new one has been written.

As of Patch 2.2.0, a VoIP client is built into World of Warcraft and features include:

• The default user interface will display voice chat information, making it easy to identify who is talking.
• The interface allows for clicking the portrait of the speaker to allow for easy assisting or healing.
• Expanded API to allow interface addons the ability to interact with the voice chat system.
• Push-To-Talk as well as auto.
• Can talk to party, raid or chat channels.
• Mute function (Same as Ignore).
• Automatic volume control for in-game sound if you or someone else is talking.

Patch 2.2.0

The patch went live on September 25, 2007 and included the built in Voice Chat. At time of release, only a few realms were slated to have the chat service turned on as to test it with all remaining realms to be enabled within the following week. Upon implementation, there were a few problems reported and Blizzard did rolling restarts on the realms to turn off the Voice chat functionality. September 28th, Blizzard had voice chat running on a very small list of realms since 7pm the previous night and was actively monitoring them. By late afternoon on October 1st, Blizzard had fixed the issue with voice chat and has since turned on the service for all realms.

Imvox

Imvox is another Voice over IP (VoIP) software released under a proprietary license on Windows and OS X. The makers have licensed Skype's Skypekit SDK to bring the capabilities of Skype to gamers. Unlike Skype, however, which becomes significantly more demanding with larger voice conferences, Imvox mixes everything in the cloud on servers they host. This means a single audio stream from their servers for lower bandwidth and CPU usage, but maintaining Skype-like quality with the SILK codec. The Skypekit also provides echo cancellation for use without headsets and smart firewall traversal, making it easily usable on campus and professional networks.

Also, unlike Skype, Imvox supports conferences of up to 200 users per channel, a tiered tree like Ventrilo to organize users, assignable push-to-talk (PTT), individual muting of users, microphone normalization.

Server management is done through the desktop client and any user can create/customize their own server, which is currently free and hosted by Imvox so no external server is required.

Imvox links

• Website
  • Downloads
  • Twitter

Mumble

Mumble is a free/open-source voice chat application for groups. While it can be used for any kind of activity, it is primarily intended for gaming. Mumble has very low latency combined with good sound quality; it uses Speex extensively, not just the voice compression technology, but also the voice pre-processing to remove noise and improve clarity. Mumble is open source, which means the source code is freely available, servers don't require a license, and people who are software savvy can alter the code and contribute to the project.

Mumble is able to sound much clearer then its other voice applications thanks to de-noising. This is a standard part of Speex 1.1 and above. Removing the noise from the input means that the audio will be clearer and that the needed bit-rate will decrease.

The client runs on Mac, Linux or Windows. The server is mostly bandwidth bound, so as long as your network hardware is sufficient it should run on pretty much anything.

Mumble has a positional-audio component that makes players' voices appear relative to other players' positions, but as it accesses WoW's memory, it runs contrary to the ToU (see §2.C) and EULA (see §2.D).

Mumble links

• Mumble Home Page

TeamSpeak

TeamSpeak, or "TS", is a Voice Over IP (VoIP) gaming client. TeamSpeak's platform offers a client-server architecture where client and server software is clearly separated. This means the server product runs as a dedicated server, rather than peer-to-peer. The TeamSpeak server software is capable of handling thousands of simultaneous clients or users, which results in an Internet-based teleconferencing solution that works for a repertory of different applications such as an alternative to conference calls, cutting long distance telephone costs, or just as a method of personal communication with friends and family.

The software is released under proprietary license free of charge to non-profit entities while commercial or for-profit entities have the ability to become part of a licensing program.

TeamSpeak links

• Website
• Downloads
• Forums

Teamspeex

Teamspeex is an unofficial 3rd party TeamSpeak client for Mac OS X which allows you to connect to TeamSpeak servers that utilize the Speex codec. TeamSpeex is sanctioned by the TeamSpeak developers.

• Website
• Download

Ventrilo

Ventrilo, or "Vent", is another Voice over IP (VoIP) software released under proprietary freeware license. It offers surround sound positioning and special sound effects on a per user, per channel, per server or global configuration level.

Ventrilo uses various codecs include Speex and GSM[1]. Generally the GSM codec, while it uses slightly higher bandwidth is the preferred due to its higher quality. Issues exist however, since all Ventrilo users on a channel must use the same codec and the GSM codec is not available for the Mac. Because of this, the server admin must create special Mac Speex channels for Mac users. Overall Mac support is poor for Ventrilo, and many screens show 'Feature Not Implemented' and they have yet to release a 64-bit version.

Ventrilo is based on a client/server model. Servers under 8 individuals can be self-hosted with Ventrilo's server software. Larger servers must be leased from various hosting companies, which in turn pay a royalty to the makers of Ventrilo.

Guild Site Integration

Since many guilds use Ventrilo as an important form of communication, some guild hosting sites have taken to offering Ventrilo as an optional add-on service/module.

One example integration is available on Guildomatic guild hosting sites, where Ventrilo status is updated in real-time and displayed on guild home pages as a popup display. Another example of integration is available on Ejeet Networks guild hosting sites, where Ventrilo status is updated in real-time and displayed on guild home pages as internal block, which automatically adjusts to your theme. This allows guild members to easily see things like when their friends are online, which instances are currently being run, and so forth even when they're at work or somewhere where they can't play the game. Sample screenshots of the hover display can be found at the Guildomatic Ventrilo Spotlight page.

Platform Compatibility

Ventrilo servers allow the administrator to configure various codecs with which voice data is encoded and transmitted. Current best practices are to use the GSM codec if your users are Windows-only, or the Speex codec if you will have MacOS users as well.

Codecs

There are several different families of codec used by Ventrilo. The most popular are GSM and Speex. GSM is the same codec used in cell phones, while Speex is open source and available on all operating systems. If you have Mac users in your guild, you'll need to use the Speex codec. If you don't have Mac users, you may want to use GSM.

More importantly, make sure you have the highest quality codec turned on. Double check to make sure your Ventrilo host has all of the highest quality codecs available. Most do, but only for an extra charge. Be sure to read their site to see if they support the high quality codecs.

Volume Normalization

One problem that Ventrilo has is that it has no automatic volume normalization. While using "vent" you might notice that some people might be annoyingly soft whilst others are earbleedingly loud. To avoid this you simply have to change a few of the settings. This is not available on the Mac.

• Go to Setup
• Enable Direct Sound
• Select the "SFX" Button
• Select Compressor and click "Add".
• Under Compressor Properties use the following settings
• Gain = 15 (Change depending on your preference of how loud you want it to be)
• Attack = 0.01
• Release = Around 500
• Threshold = Around -30
• Ratio = 100
• Pre delay = 4.0

Ventrilo links

• About page
• Download page
• Mac Status page

List of free Voice Over IPs

Mumble servers

• Hostname: mumble.warglaive.com
  • Port: 64738

• Status: Up

• Hostname: wowmumble.typefrag.com
  • Port: 4135

• Status: Unknown

TeamSpeak 3 servers

• Hostname: ts.voxmonstr.com
  • Port: 9987

• Status: Up

Ventrilo servers

• Hostname: wow.publicvent.org
  • Port: 4135

• Status: Up

• Hostname: sandiego.nationvoice.com
  • Port: 3835

• Status: Up

Advantages and Disadvantages

• The disadvantage of World of Warcraft in-game chat is that a disconnect from the game server will result in a total loss of communication, whereas in the case of a 3rd party client, communication will still be possible. When players are disconnected from the game server during combat or boss fights it is often useful to maintain communication, especially when a boss has been downed and is about to be looted. ("Wait, I have DC'ed, I'm busy relogging!")
• The advantage of World of Warcraft in-game chat is that it does not require 3rd party software. Setting up channels and passwords on 3rd party clients like TeamSpeak can often be quite challenging.

Choosing your VoIP

There are many possible choices. If you'd like to start small and want to speak with your friends while playing, you will most likely start with Skype. Skype however is based on a peer to peer model, which can put great strain on the user's bandwidth and CPU in larger conferences, and if the initiator of the call drops, all participants drop.

On most servers, there is one system prevailing. You need this one installed if you want to PUG. If you want to get your own server, you have a wide range of choices — again. If you are recruiting for your guild, most players would only join if you support their favorite system — or don't want to use VoIP.

Overall, considerations are generally cost, the Mac/PC makeup of the group, open source licensing, bandwidth and CPU consumption, voice quality and game integration

Similar programs

• Server/Client based
  • Roger Wilco - http://rogerwilco.gamespy.com/
  • GameComm - http://www.gamecomm.com/
  • TeamTalk - http://www.bearware.dk/
• Peer2Peer Based
  • Google Talk - http://talk.google.com/
  • Skype - http://www.skype.com/