Currently, we have no out-of-the-box application for IM, voice and video in Ubuntu. I have been waiting forever for Gaim/Pidgin to build voice/video support.
Instead of adding new functionality to applications that support several protocols, we should add protocol support to applications that already have all essential functionality.
Ekiga is one application with all text, voice and video support built into it. But it is not compatible with popular protocols like Yahoo, Google and MSN. There are ways to use video/voice with people using these protocols/messengers, but the procedure is too tedious especially for new users. Its not a solution at all, its only a work-around.
When a user switches to Ubuntu he/she still wants to keep in touch with friends that still use Windows. However, many video and voice over IP services are either unsupported, or difficult to setup in Ubuntu. Even though Ekiga is installed by default. It's unrealistic for a new Ubuntu user to ask his/her friends to switch services to keep in touch. Ubuntu should support common existing protocols by default.
Currently, the only such service Ubuntu supports is Skype.
I'd honestly just want the option of having voicemail through VoIP already on my computer rather than have to forward it to a WAN server or a local server that's incredibly difficult to configure.
It would be nice to have software that could be used as a primary voice communications tool between myself and other people that use the same software. I mean, really, if it's being installed by default, Ekiga really ought to come with this kind of feature.