[Speex-dev] Starting point

[Julian Ford]

Hello there,
I know newbie messages are often a pain, but everyone has to start
somewhere...

I am new to the world of VoIP, and want to get started with a "simple"
point-to-point
application...no bells and whistles, just two users connected and able to
talk.
I stumbled on the Speex CODEC, and it looks as though it fits my needs...now
I
just have to figure out how to use it.

I don't want to burden you guys down with a million questions, so can anyone
recommend
a good starting resource?  VoIP for dummies (LOL)?  I need to learn about
frame rates
(do we cut the speech up into 30ms chunks, and send these chunks along?),
and packeting--
I've read that TCP/IP is insufficient (too bulky), so datagrams are better
(UDP).  I have built
applications that exchange data using TCP/IP, but have no experience with
UDP or idea how
to use it (like I said a real newbie here).  The DLLs that come with Speex
lead me to believe
that I can call into the library, passing the appropriate information.  I
develop in Smalltalk,
so this will be no problem.  I just need help with the first few steps....

Thank you for your attention.  Any help would be greatly appreciated....

Regards,
Julian Ford