Y'know what? I do not want a #mobile #phone.
What I **want** is phone services on my laptop. We're talking voice and video calls, messages, and equivalent answering/recording services.
We have all these possible via #XMPP, now, but none of them are easy to use.
So, sorry about Android, but I really do not want anyone to put the effort into fixing it. I won't back that. But I will back projects enabling me to use my current hardware instead of a pocket spy.
@Amgine SIP is a good option for phone calls too (cf. Linphone)
Dino is very decent on desktop, and it's easy to call from it, can you explain why you don't find it easy to use? Devs are on ActivityPub btw ( @dino ). I think that Gajim plans to reintroduce modern calls too.
On Libervia (the one I'm working on), you can even make call from the CLI, meaning that you can easily make automation or your own UI with that (e.g. associate keybinding to someone you call often).
Just to clarify, I need an alternative to the existing global telephone system. I need to be able to initiate and to receive connections for voice, SMS/MMS, and (old tek) FAX, with a telephone number.
If possible, I want these services to operate on the same priority backbone as the global telephone system.
I am clarifying because the examples I am working through thus far do not mention these capabilities in their introductory docs & FAQs.
[EDIT: using a phone number.]
@Amgine in the XMPP world, you probably want to check JMP Chat, https://jmp.chat/ , the company is from Canada, but I believe they also offer calls to other parts of the world, and that they do SMS. It's probably the best expertise in connecting XMPP with phone lines.
There is also the SMS4You project (by @debacle) at https://sms4you-team.pages.debian.net/sms4you/ . This one uses a device, not sure if this is what you are looking for.
Beside that, the SIP world is known to connect to phones.
Amgine
Goffi