Curiouser and Curiouser!

Curiouser and Curiouser! on voip http://matt.blogs.it/ RSS feed for topic voip Copyright 2006 Matt Mower Squib/0.1 self@mattmower.com self@mattmower.com en-gb Skype not 1.0 yet Wed, 17 Sep 2003 13:32:15 +0100 <div style="margin-left: 40px;"><a href="http://www.docuverse.com/blog/donpark/2003/09/15.html#a890">Skyping</a>. </div> Just got <a href="http://www.skype.com">Skype</a>. Try Skyping me using the Skype button under my portrait. There has been some problem finding people so Skype might be mostly hype. It's VoIP technology might be up to snuff, but it sure is difficult finding anyone to talk to. If situation doesn't change, it's being uninstalled after a few days. Yipes! <div style="margin-left: 40px;"> [<a href="http://www.docuverse.com/blog/donpark/">Don Park's Daily Habit</a>] </div> The idea of being able to say "hello" to Don was enough to make me install Skype.  Sadly I had no more luck than the other people who tried.  I could never find Don let alone be told he wasn't online...  Looks like they meant it when they said beta.  Uninstalled. Paolo and I have been using iChatAV.  This too is proper beta software (I find it locks the Mac solid when you attempt a second chat session without rebooting).  When it works though the quality though is awesome. On the PC I have found TeleSyms <a href="http://www.telesym.com/">Symphone</a> client to provide excellent voice over IP (they can also do integration with PSTN) but not it's not free.  If Skype 1.0 works properly and provides good quality then it will make a great alternative to iChat AV for Windows conversations. http://matt.blogs.it/entries/00001628.html A journey with Phil Tue, 23 Sep 2003 20:33:41 +0100 So, I don't have the patience to do a complete re-write but here is a recap of some of the highlights of my <a href="http://dijest.com/aka/2003/09/22.html#a2623">conversation with Phil</a>. Obviously, since we were using it, we talked about Skype (i'm pronouncing it 'sky'-'p'). I guess I'm both impressed and frustrated in equal measure. Most of the time (we were talking for hours, god knows what state Phil was in the next day) the quality was good, but it did crap out on us quite a bit. It definitely needs a cell-phone style signal meter. We even mused that, since Skype knows your address it could tap into the <a href="http://www.internettrafficreport.com/main.htm">Internet Weather Report</a> to tell you what sort of call to expect! We talked about the possible applications for a good, free, VOIP client and there are many. One in particular appeals to me and that is seeing Skype support bundled with the software I buy. What I want is that when I need to contact a vendor I can press a Skype me button. This lets them know that a CSA or Techie should get in touch with me. It's convenient for me because it means that I will be at the computer when they call. The win for the vendor is that they only need to call when they see me online and the cost is significantly cheaper than how they do this today. (As an example, doing webcallback via Netcall means the vendor has to pay for 2 PSTN calls. One from the Netcall server to the CSA and one from the Netcall server to the customer. Then they have to pay Netcall to manage it all as well. Gets expensive). Phil and I are both lefties so we rapped about the war, Bush and the Dean campaign. It's incredibly for a guy that seemed such an outside 12 months ago that if you search for Howard on Google, <a href="http://www.deanforamerica.com/">Dean for America</a> is no. #2. What is particularly impressive is the way the Dean campaign have leveraged their digital savvy into on the ground support. Would that any UK politician had the same nouse. I can't imagine being so impressed with any MP I have come across that i'd actually go talk about them. I would love to feel differently though! I gave Phil a quick head's up on the work we are doing with <a href="http://w4.evectors.it/">K-Collector/W4</a>, he hadn't seen it since <a href="http://blogtalk.net/">BlogTalk</a> (it seems so long ago now...) and we've put a lot of effort in since then.  We also <a href="http://dijest.com/aka/2003/09/22.html#a2623">talked about what's needed to get corporates into blogging</a>. Oh he put me onto <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0451459156/ref=sr_aps_books_1_2/026-1765779-1917222">Ruled Brittania</a> (by Harry Turtledove) which is an alternate reality novel set in an England conquered by Spain.  I'm a complete sucker for this stuff so that went straight onto my <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/registry/2VBDDIPM7ZWQP/ref=wl_s_3/026-8728199-5122817">wishlist</a>.  In return I suggested <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0099263815/ref=sr_aps_books_1_1/026-1765779-1917222">Fatherland</a> (by Robert Harris) a detective thriller set in a victorious post WW II Germany and <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/014017172X/ref=sr_aps_books_1_2/026-1765779-1917222">The Man in the High Castle</a> (by Philip K. Dick and personal favourite of mine) set in an America split down the middle by Germany and Japan. There was lots more but I'm running out of steam... http://matt.blogs.it/entries/00001649.html Who said the dinosaurs were extinct? Thu, 20 Nov 2003 08:53:53 +0000 <div style="margin-left: 40px;"><a href="http://werbach.com/blog/2003/11/19.html#a1324">Verizon admits voice is just an application</a>. Lawrence Babbio, vice-chairman of Verizon, <a href="http://www.convergedigest.com/Bandwidth/newnetworksarticle.asp?ID=9434">announced </a>that the telco would start offering voice over IP to its DSL customers next year: </div> <div style="margin-left: 80px;"> "VoIP for the mass market is coming," said Babbio, "and just like with LNP (local number portability) there is nothing anybody can do to stop it." Babbio said Verizon would be very aggressive in meeting or beating the pricing of any consumer VoIP service. The company is currently planning a two phase strategy. Phase One, beginning in Q2 2004, will be a non-QoS consumer VoIP offering that will be positioned as a second line service for DSL users. Verizon will either outsource the service or build the application itself. They will offer several plans for local/LD/international calling, as well as free on-net calling. It will also include numerous Web-based features, such as a voice portal, voice-dialing, web-based voicemail, and address book integration. Phase Two, beginning in Q4 2004, will be a managed network, QoS-based VoIP service designed to meet Verizon's traditional wireline quality standards. </div> <div style="margin-left: 40px;"> This follows similar announcements by other Bells, though I haven't seen this much detail before. What's interesting is that Verizon is evolving toward a DSL and wireless company, rather than a wireline phone company. VOIP will be a way to sell DSL, just as Verizon's WiFi hotspots at payphones are a way to sell DSL. And with number portability, an increasing percentage of Verizon customers will use a mobile phone for their primary line. This is absolutely the right transition for a company like Verizon to make, though it will be difficult to pull off. Many of us have long intoned the mantra that "voice is just another application on converged data networks." We're finally seeing it happen big time. [<a href="http://werbach.com/blog/">Werblog</a>] </div> I've emphasized part of the quoted passage because I think it spells out what is wrong with so many large companies.  Here we have something like VOIP which is potentially great for consumers and has been a commercial possibility for at least a couple of years and these guys are finally admitting they can't stop it.  Which says to me that they don't give a rats about the customer.  They might as well say: <div style="margin-left: 40px;">"The customer will get what's in our interests to give and like it.  Oh and we've all merged together to avoid competition.  And don't think of starting a new venture in this area, we'll sqush you like a bug." </div> Where was the vision to say "This is a great thing for customers, how do we make the most of it?"  Like the RIAA dinosaurs these guys can't see past their narrow short term business interests to the longer play.  In this they do not serve real shareholder interests because they don't build long term value, instead squandering opportunity on shoring up dying business models. http://matt.blogs.it/entries/00001741.html Multiplatform VOIP from FreeWorldDialup Fri, 23 Apr 2004 20:12:02 +0100 <a href="http://chocnvodka.blogware.com/blog">Suw</a> put me on to <a href="http://www.freeworlddialup.com/">FreeWorld Dialup</a> which may be an alternative to <a href="http://www.skype.com/">Skype</a>. I'm quite happy with Skype: voice quality is improving and the directory isn't too bad. However, for me, it has one serious flaw: a lack of a Mac client (ah Groove...). Looks like the FWD guys have that covered and Linux as well! http://matt.blogs.it/entries/00002117.html Aint no such thing as free Thu, 29 Apr 2004 20:58:13 +0100 Yesterday I had a chance to try <a href="http://www.freeworlddialup.com/">FreeWorldDialup</a> for the first time. <a href="http://www.meskill.net/weblogs/">Judith</a> and I wanted to chat and since she is on Mac and I am on Windows it seemed like a perfect opportunity. Downloading the client (SJPhone) was easy and, up to that point, everything was fine. From then on however, things got bumpy. How do I call you? I couldn't see any way. I kept trying to add Judith to the address book, but I eventually figured out it wasn't searching a directory, I was just creating a dummy entry with her name. The interface had numbers but I had no idea what my number was or what Judiths was. When I first opened the client it made me create a FWD account, but didn't say anything about a number. The client didn't seem to know it and the SIP tab the instructions told me I should look for didn't appear anywhere. Judith was fairing a little worse - her client didn't even prompt to make her create an account. I went back to the FWD site and found all kinds of references to numbers I should have. There seemed to be a way of creating accounts there too which seemed somehow different to what I had done before. I went through that and *bingo* got my number. Now, how do I put it in the client? While I searched in vain for how to insert the number in the client, Judith also signed up. Eventually I discovered that creating an account at startup had given me a number -- it just didn't bother to actually tell me about it! Okay - the tension is mounting. We both have numbers. I dial Judith and... nothing. I can't hear anything at all. Then some choppy noise. "Is that you Judith?" She, of course, can hear me fine as she reports via instant messenger. So, confusing, Confusing, CONFUSING and it didn't work. Roll on Skype4Mac! http://matt.blogs.it/entries/00002146.html Virtual Audio Cables & Skype Wed, 05 May 2004 07:40:01 +0100 Following links from <a href="http://www.henshall.com/blog/archives/000886.html">Stuart</a> about running multiple Skype instances I came across the <a href="http://forum.skype.com/bb/index.php">Skype Forums</a> where people are talking abut how to run multiple instances of Skype, but also streaming Skype conversations into other VOIP and Net2Phone services using a nifty gadget called a  <a href="http://spider.nrcde.ru/music/software/eng/vac.html">Virtual Audio Cable</a>. <blockquote>Virtual Audio Cable is a Windows multimedia driver allowing you to transfer audio (wave) streams from one application to another. It creates a pair of Wave In/Out devices for each cable. Any application can send audio stream to Out device, and any other application can receive this stream from In device. All transfers are made digitally, providing NO sound quality loss. [...] If more than one applications are sending audio to VAC, it will mix all streams together. If more than one applications are receiving audio from VAC, it will share the same audio data between all targets. [...] VAC is useful to record application's audio output in real time (for example - Generator, Reality or other software synth), or transfer a sound stream to another application processing it. You can, for example, use two or more software audio generators/synthesizers/sequencors to produce audio streams sending them to VAC Out, and record the mixed stream from VAC In using any recording software - Windows Sound Recorder, Sound Forge, WaveLab, Cool Edit, Gold Wave, Cakewalk, Cubase etc. </blockquote> This opens up all sorts of interesting possibilities like running a stream from a Skype conference to an internet radio broadcast.  Very cool. http://matt.blogs.it/entries/00002192.html