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Internet Phone
Type of Program: Internet Phone
Supported Platforms: Windows 95/NT 4.0. Needs: sound card, mike,
speakers; Internet connection.
Company Name: VocalTec Communications Ltd.
Version: Release 5
Price: Shareware. Free to use for two weeks then $49.95
Installed Size: 3.96 MB
When your product name literally defines the
category, internet phone, VocalTec's "Internet Phone"
has a lot to live up to. Many best selling products have done
this, Kleenex brand is one. So when you go to the download page
you expect the definitive example and in many ways you get just
that. In the VoxPhone review, I mentioned my friend from England
and I had been trying out several of these programs and that the
sound was pretty good. Internet Phone's sound is the best so far.
Plus it seems to work more effectively the longer you use it, or
maybe we just stumbled into the correct combination of button
pushing. Did I mention that neither of us has the slightest
technical background? Well, in a way, that is what you ask of a
product like this. You don't need a BA in computer science to use
it. Now I don't have enough time or space to go into all the
details. There are several functions that most of these internet
phones share beside pretty good sound: voice mail; text chat;
shared white board and file transfers. Internet Phone from
VocalTec adds some others that are seem spectacular even though
we have not explored them all: calls to real telephones; two-way
video; community browser; caller id; muting; call blocking; cross
platform usage; voice activation; full duplex and an extremely
complete list of third party software and hardware add-ons for
even more power. So, you are asking yourself, now is it time to
give up your old reliable telephones? Of course not, Grasshopper,
and that day is years off at best. But if you or your business
need the powerful networking tools offered here and, preferably
have 56.6 lines and modems or better and full-duplex 32 bit sound
cards, then you are well on your way to some very inexpensive
conversations and conferencing anywhere in the world that has
internet access. How about us folks with more modest gear though?
Its still a great deal, BUT, be prepared for some hair pulling
while getting started, some system freezes and for most of us,
1/2 duplex is closer to the reality than full duplex. That's not
all. We have yet to find each other without using ICQ, my
favorite text chat, as a look up server. So, if you are not on
ICQ yet I would recommend that you get set up with them before
you try out any of these internet phone programs or you may be
seriously annoyed trying to get connected till you purchase a
license that gets you into the company's look up server address
book. Here is where to go for ICQ: http://www.mirabilis.com This
program supports a wide range of internet phones and is a must
for easy text chat communication. When you are set up with ICQ,
most of the internet phones are listed under Voice/Video Games
when you right click on a person's name. You hit VocalTec Phone
and you are on your way to some fabulous conversations with uncle
Louis in Paris, uncle Luis in Madrid, grama O'kwaana in Nigeria
or some funny lady in the southwest of England you met playing
bridge only 3 weeks ago.
Performance: 
User Friendly:
Cost: 
Ease of Installation:
Support: By email and they are several days backed up
according to mail robot. Let's call this  until they
are caught up.
Reviewed by Robin Hall
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