Technically Speaking
March 10, 2005

I am continually amazed at how fast technology is advancing. Things that used to be only for use by big business are now common place items for the regular populace. The past couple of years have seen yet another use for your internet connection; you can use it as a telephone with Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

Sounds technical doesn’t it well all it involves is the transmission of telephone calls over a data network like the Internet. In other words, VoIP can send voice, fax and other information over the Internet, rather than through the (PSTN) or regular telephone network. Once the realm of big business, the technology is now refined and affordable enough for home and small business users. VoIP offers potentially significant cost savings over tradition carriers. Several companies offer VoIP service, the most visible is Vonage http://www.Vonage.com.

I use Vonage at home since I gave up my home phone line and went exclusively cell phone a few years ago. The person on the other end of your call does not need to have a computer, the service calls their home phone or cell. For $14.99 a month you can get 500 minutes of calls to anywhere in the US and Canada, and for $24.95 you can move up to the unlimited plan. Vonage also offers great rates for overseas calls with the UK being only 5 cents a minute. In the package from Vonage you receive a small box that you add to your broadband internet connection and you then plug a regular phone into the back of the box. There is a second phone-in port in the back that can be used for additional lines or a fax machine for an additional monthly charge. After a painless and quick set-up you have a fully functioning telephone that even has a dial tone.

Vonage includes voicemail, call forwarding and more. One nice function is the ability to record different answering machine messages for different times of the day and it will play them based on the schedule you program them to. The phone number is assigned to the ‘Vonage box’ not the location, so where the box is so is your number. To test this I took my ‘Vonage box’ home over Christmas and plugged it into my parents’ broadband connection and was able to make and receive my calls at their house.

For a better understanding of how the technology works, and how it can be a great benefit to you visit the company at http://www.vonage.com. The service is great and very flexible; the only problem is the long wait times for ‘real-person’ technical support and somewhat confusing automated support.

If you are looking for a free way to talk to your friends, Skype http://www.skype.com is for you. This free spyware and adware program allows you to ‘call’ and talk to friends all over the world, as long as they have a computer and an internet connection. Skype even works with dial-up. All you and your friends need are speakers and a microphone, I recommend a headset for the best quality.

MSN and other messaging programs offer a voice chat option but they pale in comparison to the quality and versatility of Skype. The interface is easy to understand and the clarity is amazing. Skype also allows for text chat while talking, will include cell phone text messaging support, and other cool features.

Skype also has a VoIP called SkypeOut that can call traditional phones worldwide, and while not as fancy as Vonage, it is a great choice to try out the technology. Rates to withing the US and to Europe are 1.7 Euro Cents (0.017) a minute or about 2.23 cents at the current exchange rate. The rates to other areas are slightly higher. Again the quality is great, and well worth a try. Skype works with Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and Pocket PC operating systems.

If you want to check out currency exchange rates check out X-Rates http://www.x-rates.com/calculator.html that is how I figured out what 1,7 eurocents (0.017) are in US cents. The site may make you think twice about a trip to Europe right now with the Euro so high.

The cool link for this edition is another somewhat hidden Google goodie; Google Zeitgeist http://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist.html. Zeitgiest, as defined by Dictionary.com, http://www.dictionary.com, is “The spirit of the time; the taste and outlook characteristic of a period or generation” which sounds like an appropriate name for the site. From the Google Zeitgiest site:

“Google Zeitgeist: Search patterns, trends, and surprises according to Google. For both breaking news and obscure information alike, people around the world search Google. This flurry of searches often exposes interesting trends, patterns, and surprises. The Google Zeitgeist page is regularly updated to reflect tidbits of information related to the search behavior of Google users.”

With listings of most popular searches, declining searches, news, names and more the site is a great slice of what the world wants to know. There are also yearly archives going all the way back to 2001. Well worth a look and a bookmark, like Google Video http://video.google.com it is another semi-hidden Google link.

In other news: Apple has realigned their iPod line of portable music playerswith the introduction of new capacity iPod Photo and new iPod Mini. iPod photois now available in 30GB and 60GB sizes, the standard iPod is now only in 20GB,and the iPod Mini is available in 4GB and 6GB size, the iPod Shuffle isavailable in 512MB and 1GB. Prices for the iPod line are from $99 for the 512MBMini to $449 for the 60GB Photo.

The question of the week for this edition is: Do you find these articles interesting and have you used any of the programs, or visited any of the links mentioned in them? and Do you have any interesting links or programs you would like to share with the campus?

As always send your tech questions or comments to mat@muw.edu and they will be answered in a future column or with a personal reply.

Mark Taylor, a senior in communication, was previously an information systems
trainer for the US Air Force and a technical support technician for an internet
service provider. A game and consumer electronics reporter during the Dot Com
boom, he now owns Fanfare Media Services in Columbus.