Internet connection. If you want high-quality Internet telephone calls, get the fastest modem connection you can. The ideal choice is a high-speed connection such as cable modem or DSL. Microsoft recommends at least a 28.8Kbps connection for Windows Messenger.
Internet telephony paraphernalia. To make Internet calls, you need PC speakers and a microphone. Or you can use a multimedia headset with earphones and a microphone.
You can also use an Internet telephony package. For example, Net2Phone's two YapGear Internet phones—the Yap Phone (a telephone handset) and the Yap Headset—simply plug into your computer. The Yap Phone plugs into a computer's USB port and sports an early 1960s George Jetson style. The Yap Headset plugs into a PC's sound card and looks like a typical multimedia PC headphone and microphone. The headset phone will replace a computer's external speakers, unless you also use a y-cable and a pair of speakers with an on/off button. Both YapGear phones come with Net2Phone software.
Actiontec Electronics makes internal and external InternetPhoneWizard applications that let you plug a conventional telephone into the Internet with any Win98 or later PC. If you have an unused PCI slot available on your PC, you can add the internal InternetPhoneWizard to a PC that uses either a 56Kbps modem or a broadband connection. Or if you have an unused USB port, you can plug in Actiontec's external InternetPhoneWizard, connect a phone, install the Actiontec software, and start chatting.
Internet telephony software. If you don't use a prepackaged Internet telephony system and you have a pre-XP version of Windows, you can download Internet telephony software from an Internet telephony service such as Net2Phone (http://net2phone.com), deltathree's iConnectHere (http://www.iconnecthere.com), or BuzMe (http://www.buzme.com). For information about configuring Internet telephony software to make calls, see the sidebar "Making the Call," page 85.
Internet Telephony vs. Real Phones
After you've connected your hardware to your PC and installed Internet telephony software, you can start making calls. One difference you'll notice between using regular phones and placing Internet calls is occasional tiny but noticeable delays during Internet calls because of the PC's processing limitations. The quality of your call will depend on the power of your system, the number of applications you have running, and the Internet traffic at the time of your call; you can expect lower quality during peak Internet traffic hours.
Most Internet phones can call out to Internet and regular phones. But most won't let you receive incoming calls from a conventional telephone. When vendors overcome this software limitation, Internet telephony use will likely soar.
But Internet telephony's low cost might outweigh any reduction in quality and lack of dial-in capabilities. You can use Internet telephony to call relatives on the other side of the world for much less money than a regular call would cost, to call for a pizza delivery when you're using your only phone line to surf the Internet, or to call your techno-savvy friends on their Internet phones for free. You can also use Internet telephony to add a second phone line for a small business without incurring installation or monthly fees beyond the usage charges.
You might soon be able to place calls through your cable provider by using a technology called Voice over Broadband (VoB—for information about VoB, see the sidebar "Alternative Telephony," page 85). Internet telephony technology also serves as the foundation for business collaboration solutions, such as the Microsoft NetMeeting program. For more information about NetMeeting, see the sidebar "Making the Call" and the Connected Home Online article "Videoconferencing on the Cheap" (http://www.connectedhomemag.com, InstantDoc ID 24754).
Although the technology still has some quirks, Internet telephony can make the entire planet a local—or free—phone call away. Who do you want to call today?
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