January 1998

BY STACEY REINECCIUS

PC-based phones have recently broadened their reach and have become capable of a wide range of activities including cost saving applications such as the Internet ACD and remote Internet call forwarding. This advance has happened through a combination of Internet- and LAN- based software with improved and specific-purpose hardware. By leveraging the PC strengths in installed base, multimedia, and networking along with the familiarity and ease of use of the telephone for voice communication, various vendors are making the PC a core communications system. As a result, it is no longer appropriate to think of PC-based phones in terms of a “PC as phone.” Instead, we must think in terms of the “PC-based phone.”

ISSUES AT THE DESKTOP
As with any PC-oriented system, there are hardware, software, legacy equipment, network structure, and ease of use issues to contend with in your planning. Some general guidelines can help in making the best selection for your company:

Ease Of Installation
If you’re not careful, it can take you days to install, configure, and test even the most straightforward applications. This delay can easily erase your profit or raise your costs (and blood pressure) to the point where a good idea seems like a bad one. Look for true plug and play installation for all hardware, and make sure you can get a trial version of your software. Most PCs bought today are almost completely configured when you buy them. This usually means you give up some needed device in order to make your latest one, the PC-based phone, work. Look for minimum system resources (zero IRQ operation) for any hardware, and a professional installer for the software. You should be able to get a good PC-based phone set up and operating in less than half an hour.

Infrastructure
Every installation starts with the wire, power, computers, phones, and related material that you already have in place. To keep your costs down, make the most of what you have: use your existing servers, LAN, phones, and software. Aim to use existing LANs but get more out of them. Your new infrastructure should easily work with existing phones, and should have a minimal impact on the applications you are already running.

Flexibility
Needs change over time. Make sure that the hardware and software you select can be reconfigured or reused. One of the best ways to ensure this is to check for compliance with industry standards and PC system standards. Can you use the same device in multiple ways, and what happens when you want to grow the system? Change it? Replace it? Can it work with multiple software applications? Is there third-party support for the software and hardware you are selecting? It is rare that a single vendor can supply everything you need. If there are multiple companies supporting the same product, then you have a greater chance of actually finding the solution you need.

Compatibility
Internet-based phones are starting to settle out into a few dominant packages around which third-party developers are building their products. The most popular of these are Microsoft’s NetMeeting and VocalTec’s Internet Phone. These applications provide core voice over IP capabilities and a variety of video, file transfer, and collaboration tools. Because of their programming interfaces and builtin functions, various companies have valueadded products that can give you terrific choice and flexibility. Make sure you look at open and available products to enhance the core functions you require. Your hardware products should be compatible and interoperate with the main software applications you want to use. And, your software should support open standards like H.323 for Internet calling.

Ease Of Use
Try before you buy. The features you want may be present, but if they’re too complicated or too confusing to use then your operators or employees won’t use the system and it won’t save you money. Make sure you can control the degree of complexity. Ideally, network calling should be as simple as making a normal phone call, with the ability to scale up to a fully interactive collaboration session.

Quality
Quality is key, but don’t be surprised when using Internet or LANbased applications if the quality appears to vary. One variable is the type of application and network you have. Exercise the greatest degree of control over the type of network you are using in order to increase quality. A private network is better than a public one, but the open Internet can still be very useful. For example, if you are implementing a Web-based call center, recognize that it is more important for you to sound good to your customers than for them to sound good to you. Make sure that your agents sound the best they possibly can.

Cost
Be prepared for costs of $2,000 to $5,000 per port for the typical multiline gateway configuration. Costs for desktop PC-based phone hardware can be much lower, in the range of $200 to $1,000 per desktop. Choose the cost that is appropriate for you — a good rule of thumb is that your cost needs to be close to, or just slightly more than, the cost of a regular phone set for your application.

Growth Path
Don’t lock yourself into a closed system. PC-based phone applications and technology are growing so fast that buying into a proprietary system is tantamount to burning thousand dollar bills. Make sure you can upgrade your system (hardware and software) through the software. Upgrades should be easily available and low cost. Look for third-party applications that work with your hardware choices. This protects your investment and will pay consistent dividends as the quality, use, and feature sets of your tools increase.

Base For Applications
If you are in the market for customized applications, then you need to make sure that the systems and components you buy are easy to customize. Today, it can cost upwards of $250,000 to obtain the necessary licenses alone for Internet telephony. One of the key reasons for Microsoft’s success has been that they provide a tremendous number of customizing tools and make it (relatively) easy and inexpensive for different levels of customization to be accomplished using their software. Make sure any components you use provide an open, free API, preferably using the Microsoft tools; are compliant with standards such as H.323 for Internet calling, WAV for computer audio, plug and play for installation, etc.; and actually have some sort of developer support in place. If you are creating a customized application, see if you can use the popular applications themselves and the available tools as part of your solution.

APPLICATIONS USING NET-WORKED PC-BASED PHONES
Several applications for PCbased phones can be implemented today using off-the-shelf technology. For details including example parts, software, and components on these applications you can also visit www.quicknet. net/support/applications.htm.

Intranet Communications
Intranet calling can be extremely useful if you have a private IP network or if you want to use your network for voice and collaborative purposes. Examples include an ISP using a PC-based phone in each of its POPs to eliminate the need for a little-used voice circuit. Remote users can call to other offices on the LAN. PBX systems can be connected through a network to reduce voice costs without having to spend large amounts of cash.

Remote Call Forwarding
Use the Internet to forward calls from a remote service location into your normal phone system or support queue. For example, an ISP can take advantage of a remote POP to provide its customers a local number to call for technical support. At the POP, the call is answered and automatically forwarded to their main technical support center. The customer wins by saving on toll costs, and the ISP wins by reducing their costs and raising customer satisfaction. Distributed Call Centers Use the Internet and an ACD package like Response Inc.’s WebExchange (www.responseinc.com) to allow calls to be made to you from your Web site. Applications like Microsoft NetMeeting and VocalTec’s Internet Phone make it easy for customers to call you over various networks. You can easily distribute these calls to your agent’s PC. The company saves money because there’s no per minute 800 charge, the agent can work from any Internetbased connection, including their home, and the customer gets immediate assistance without having to disconnect from the Internet. Virtual PBX Using the Internet and an IP phone application with an H.323 gateway, you can create a virtual PBX that allows users to dial from their normal telephone and reach users at other phones, on the Internet, or in other offices.

Line Doubling
Frequently, users have only a single telephone line that they use for both Internet and normal phone calls. With line doubling, voice calls are re-routed to a “hop-on” system which redirects calls from the user’s phone to their IP address and rings the phone connected to their PC. The pleasant result: no busy signals for callers, and the user gets to stay online and still make and receive calls.

Personal IP Phone Calling
By enhancing their local IP phone setup, the user’s calling experience can be dramatically improved by including the ability to dial from a regular telephone and integrate directly into the various hop-off gateway services, like IDT Corp.’s Net2Phone (www.net2phone.com) or the VocalTec-based ITSP network. It also allows novice users to take advantage of the features and cost savings that IP calling provides. This applies not only to PC-to-PC calling but also to PCtophone calling.

The technology and products for implementing cost effective and useful Internet and PC-based phone applications exists today. The use of offtheshelf software and hardware components can allow for a rapid implementation and a great degree of flexibility in the implementation. By taking appropriate care and using tested and well known packages, your business and your customers can save money, provide new services, and reap rewards from IP telephony and the PC-based phone.

Stacey Reineccius is the president and CEO of Quicknet Technologies, Inc., manufacturers of the Internet PhoneJACK. Designed to provide optimal voice quality at the lowest possible cost, the Internet PhoneJACK provides personal and SOHO access to Internet telephony gateway functions for sound card prices. The company supports a variety of the most popular Internet telephony programs and provides free developer APIs for use of G.723.1. Complete company and product information is available on the company’s Web site at www.quicknet.net

Voice quality is the subjective result of a variety of different processes and systems. We all know when it “sounds good,” but when it doesn’t sound good it is often difficult to track down why. Use this checklist when selecting your hardware and software for use in PC-based phones or desktop network-based phones.

FULL DUPLEX
Simply put, can you talk and hear at the same time? This is often a limitation in PC sound cards and requires both hardware and software support. If you have full duplex, you will also need echo cancellation to eliminate echo in your calls.

WINDOWS MULTIMEDIA COMPATIBILITY
When you install a sound device card into your PC, make sure that it doesn’t “break” other sound devices in the system. If you need to use different types of Internet- or LAN- based phone packages, you will find they generally use the standard Windows multimedia system for accessing audio capabilities. If your hardware is non-standard, it won’t work with these applications.

EASY TO INTEGRATE
Can you use more than one application package? If not, you have just bought a proprietary solution. Make sure you can work with Microsoft NetMeeting, VocalTec Internet Phone, and others. ABILITY TO USE THE PHONE We have all grown up trained on how to use a telephone. If you are deploying a solution that involves voice communication and your users aren’t computer savvy, then the ability to use a con-ventional telephone makes the users feel comfortable. So, can you connect a standard analog phone? Do you get a Keys to Quality Voice at the Desktop dial tone when you lift the receiver? Can you dial a call using touch-tone dialing? Does the phone ring when calls arrive for you? Can you use it with your existing phone gear or system?

COMPRESSION ON BOARD
Many voice over network or voice over IP applications have been designed to do all of the voice compression in a linear, softwareonly process (Figure 1). Unfortunately, this also means that they break down if you try to use them on processors that do not have a floating point processor or sufficient speed to handle the compression on the CPU. With applications that use on-board compression (Figure 2), the CPU is off-loaded and you can run other applications than the IP phone at the same time. This is great if you have equipment you don’t want to upgrade just yet. You can also see a reduction in the delay or “latency” that is still common in many applications. Check with your software supplier to see if they support hardware-based compression.

ECHO CANCELLATION
There are many different forms of echo cancellation, so make sure you check for the correct type. Keys to effective echo cancellation depend on your specific configuration. If you’re connecting to a telephone line from a phone company, then you need to make sure you have “line echo cancellation,” which typically handles short echoes of 10 ms or less. If you are using a microphone and speaker or a local headset or telephone handset, then you need “acoustic echo cancellation,” which handles longer delays up to 30-60 ms. If you are calling across the Internet or a LAN, make sure the person at the other end also has echo cancellation.

APPLICATION BUFFER SIZE
Most of the apparent delay in typical desktop applications actually comes from the software application — it provides buffers to overcome the “jitter” typical in networkbased calls. Applications like NetMeeting 2.1 (not 2.0) have made significant quality improvements by reducing their buffer sizes. When small buffer applications are used in conjunction with hardware compressions and echo cancellation, you really win. Remember that quality is subjective. Each of these points improves quality, but doesn’t guarantee a perfect call every time. The more of these factors you have in place, the better your calls will sound.