# Looking for a GSM phone application

## szatox

So, it seems there are quite a few cell phone models running linux (aside of android), and yet I can't find a single application that would allow me to make a voice call over GSM network using a USB-attached GSM modem.

I'm actually certain these things are capable of making voice calls. Possibly even interleaving them with data.

It seems this is also how cell phones do that.

And yet I can't find a single application that will connect to the modem on one end and to the headset on the other. Nope, it's either VOIP or a data connection.

Any tips?

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## spica

asterisk + chan_dongle + compatible usb dongle, for example, E1550. Probably, usb_modeswitch is also needed, depends on the dongle you have.

USB dongle requirements are well explained here http://www.raspberry-asterisk.org/documentation/gsm-voip-gateway-with-chan_dongle/

For calls you can use soft phone application (sip)

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## CaptainBlood

pinephone OS spins must have something alike...

Thks 4 ur attention, interest & support.

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## szatox

Is there no simpler way to make a phone call from a linux PC than with a sip-phone through an asterisk gateway?

It's really hard to believe.

Sure, it has some uses, it would be great for sharing a line in a small office or something like that, but in case of a single device it sounds ridiculous. Like mobile phones.

So... Thanks for the hint, but still looking  :Wink: 

I already have a few USB-attached GSM modems, I've been using them for connecting my linux machines to the internet, and I do know for a fact that at least one of them is capable of making voice calls. It comes with a windows soft-phone application which supports voice calls, USSD codes, and sms on top of connecting to the internet. I just need a dialler that will link it with speakers instead of the network stack.

Another modem pretends to be an ethernet device by default, can be manually switched into alternative mode which accepts AT commands, so it should do just fine too.

No idea about the one on my laptop's mobo. This one is also USB-attached, and visible as wwan0.

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## CaptainBlood

```
eix ofono

* net-misc/ofono

     Available versions:  1.31 {+atmodem bluetooth +cdmamodem +datafiles doc dundee examples +isimodem +phonesim +provision +qmimodem tools +udev upower}

     Homepage:            https://01.org/ofono

     Description:         Open Source mobile telephony (GSM/UMTS) daemon
```

Thks 4 ur attention, interest & support.

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## szatox

Ofono is a really weird piece of software.

If I get it right, it's a daemon that is supposed to work as an abstraction layer between the modem itself and some UI application. And - guess what - I can't find any UI for it either. Oh, and it doesn't even seem to accept any configuration options at all, so I guess this UI must be capable of providing everything over dbus.

Perhaps telepathy-ring + empathy + ofono could do the trick; I found some resources suggesting this stack, but telepathy-ring is not in portage, so getting it to work will require some extra hacking.

Other than that is either Ubuntu Touch or Plasma Mobile.     :Confused: 

Also, NetworkManager has ofono use-flag, and yet I don't see any difference between NM connecting to the internet via ofono or modemmanager.

Like in: it currently is able to connect at boot (starting ppp on the modem's serial interface), and then all things that want to manage the modem crash and burn. The ppp connection keeps working but can't be controlled in any way. I guess I'll have to recompile it a few times with various flags, reboot between attempts and see how it goes.

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## CaptainBlood

```
eix app-mobilephone/*
```

may help...

Thks 4 ur attention, interest & support.

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## szatox

I stumbled over this:

https://www.alsatux.com/Pinephone

There are a few command-line examples using modemmanager at the bottom of this page. It does look somewhat promising, so I'm linking it for future reference

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