This is probably another “What after skype retirement?!” topic… but it’s not.
It’s also a heartfelt petition to the Jami community of developers and contributors still exploring ways to improve the product usability and accessibility.
Let’s assume Jami is the After-Skype… especially for use cases where young families need to periodically connect via Audio/Video calls to relatives and elderly families (also overseas) who may have serious cognitive/physical accessibility challenges or just not tech/digitally savvy.
Use Case scenario Core Requirements:
Peer-to-Peer A/V Calls Only
Direct connection (no group conferencing)
Highest possible stability and audio/video synchronization
Prioritized audio clarity over video quality, if bandwidth-constrained
Hardware Environment
Windows PCs on both sides
Mini PC or equivalent compact form factor (Elderly Side)
Audio/Video in via USB webcam + embedded microphone (no Bluetooth or wireless peripherals)
Connected via HDMI to a TV on the elderly side (A/V out to the TV)
Network Topology
Both PCs behind home modems/routers
Dynamic public IPs updated via dynamic DNS (e.g., young.mooo.com, elderly.mooo.com)
Tomato, OpenWRT, or similar router OSS firmware allowing full port forwarding and NAT configuration
Call Initiation Behavior
The “young” side primarily initiates calls
The “elderly” side should auto-answer with no interaction
User Interaction Constraints (Elderly Side)
No required user input beyond powering the system/TV and switching to HDMI
Zero-tolerance policy for:
UI/UX changes
Popups, update notifications, feedback requests, or system alerts
Floating toolbars or auto-hiding interfaces
Sounds, banners, or badges for “new features”
System Boot Behavior (Elderly Side)
Autologin into Windows
Auto-start Jami in full-screen mode
Auto-ready to receive calls (status: online/available)
Software Behavior
Jami must never auto-update “spontaneously”
Config and layout should remain static over time
Disable or hide anything not strictly required (contacts, settings, extras)
Reliability/Recoverability
Auto-reconnect after network loss or Jami crash
Automatic re-initialization after power failure or reboot
Minimal to no user visible diagnostics (no “connecting…” messages, etc.)
Configuration Details:
Jami Settings (Elderly Side):
Enable auto-answer for specific contact (young)
Fullscreen window with no decorations (use a third-party tool if necessary, but better have an option to send the video full-screen when A/V session is consistently established)
Set Jami to start with Windows via Task Scheduler or Startup folder
Disable automatic updates at both Jami level and Windows level (Group Policy + firewall block to update URLs)
Optionally script a watchdog to monitor Jami process and restart if crashed
Network/Router:
Is there any simplified Jami network configuration that can leverage the fact that public IPs are known via the FQDNs young.mooo.com, elderly.mooo.com?
Port forwarding on both routers for required Jami ports (UDP/TCP depending on Jami version and NAT traversal settings)
Dynamic DNS clients running reliably on both ends
Static local IPs for the PCs (to simplify port forwarding)
System Hardening (Elderly PC):
Disable all non-essential notifications in Windows
Strip down startup items and taskbar/system tray icons
Lock in known-good GPU/webcam drivers (no auto-driver updates)
Use HDMI-CEC if possible to simplify “TV on + HDMI input select” process
Jami may theoretically fulfill this use case, but only if heavily customized and sandboxed from future changes. The biggest long-term risk lies in interface volatility and auto-updates, which require countermeasures outside of Jami itself.
If Jami is selected, consider creating a snapshot image of the working system to quickly restore from in case of failure.
This thread is open to anyone’s recommendations relevant to the best and simplest possible Jami configuration for call reliability and acceptable A/V performance.
I’m available to invest time and effort to support all sort of tests and further scenarios in hope to offer a concrete solution to as many people as possible.
It’s overly disappointing that in 2025 we still don’t have a working and stable affordable solution for such use cases.
Hi, this is exactly my use-case with my mother. I live in Canada, she is in Europe. I am using DWService - Accès à distance, Administration à distance, Support à distance (free) to control her computer in case of need. I can start JAMI for her if needed and answer the call (DWService is way better compared to TeamViewer - I am using the former since 2019). I tried this several times, it is working very well to replace Skype. The video feed has sometimes some artefacts, but it is quite reliable; the sound is great, never had a hiccup. We are using an old 1080p C920 Logitech webcam on both sides (can be found for cheap on ebay). For us, it worked out of the box with the default setup. I am using JAMI on Win11 and Linux (Zorin 17.3), she is using JAMI on a Win10 laptop. We installed the beta version of JAMI.
When I need to access her computer remotely, I just need to log via the online DWS interface, then I can control her desktop through my browser (it works even if the person is at the login step in Windows). The only little annoying part was to have the DWS client installed on her computer (only once; see How do I install the agent? – DWService – Docs). Then, the clients updates itself automatically on her computer so nothing else has to be done. You can also maintain the computer of the distant elderly relative with ease with that procedure (e.g. updates, adding other software …). DWService is Open Source.
7:28 PM Tuesday, April 22, 2025 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)
Ok, so apparently the Original Post cannot be edited any more… The answer is NO. Jami cannot fill this gap.
Quality of calls quite bad and inconsistent.
Audio and Video issues with every call attempt.
Artifacts at time over video, audio not enabled at times and when working is lagging several seconds.
Unable to start full video/audio call automatically upon reception of an incoming call.
Solution is still too fragile.
Community pretty much not existent.
So disappointing!
I’ll have to keep looking for something else.
It’s heartbreaking that the delay is due to geographic distance and there doesn’t seem to be much that can be done about it at the moment, other issues need to be dealt with by the developers.
Regarding video quality, I just made several calls (North America - Europe) and can state that my experience is as good as with Skype. I had the best quality with 1-to-1 video calls between two iPhones (with the default Jami app settings). Regarding PC-to-PC calls (Win10 to Win11, or Linux Zorin 17.3 to Linux Mint [Debian, LMDE6], or Win11 to Linux Mint [Debian LMDE6]), quality was good, but the bandwidth needs to be considered. If the emitter or the receiver of the call (or both) has/have a low bandwidth, selecting 1920x1080 video resolution will result in unsatisfactory results. Maybe try with a 1280x720 or 800x600 resolution in that case.
The video resolution can be adjusted in the Media tab:
Thanks for your contribution… I’ve noticed and properly set this option as well (as one of the major pre-requisites).
However, in several tests I performed, it looks like it doesn’t activate video on the receiving side automatically. It’s still a manual operation.
Other solutions (teams, whatsapp, skype, facetime) can guarantee this A/V lag is quite contained and barely noticeable… so this is not technically unachievable.
Seriously!?!?
I have to wait 15’ before I can respond to different replies with different topics?
I cannot maintain the OP with findings and feedback for the sake of clarity and thread organization?
I’m outta here…
Jami is very different from these server-centric solutions that you list.
With Jami the data is sent P2P encrypted direct. This solution is aimed at users who are concerned about their privacy.
Jami [is] a decentralized communications tool emphasizing privacy and security […] with heightened privacy. Jami is a peer-to-peer network that eliminates intermediaries, reducing the risk of eavesdropping or failure.
Jami uses end-to-end encrypted communications to ensure secure messages from source to destination. Jami’s decentralized architecture makes it particularly resistant to hacking attempts in the telecom sector and allows security experts to examine its code regularly.
I’m not criticizing the architecture of Jami.
I just trying to evaluate the fit of Jami for this universal use case.
Which - as advertised by the platform - was indeed apparently within scope and reach.
Especially when it came to the P2P nature of the use case… encryption was just a plus - but again not a strict requirement.
No, establishing some of the stable direct connections required for Jami to work well requires a very good network environment, which usually means a device that can act as a server.
I’ve dived into another Jami trial after about a year and it has massively improved, OK not perfect but message reliability has improved greatly. Messaging/file transfer I’ve not had a failure, they are delivered within about 10 seconds. id think if you want performance of skype/teams etc you would need a server in the middle.
