November 1997

Smith Micro Software
51 Columbia
Aliso Viejo, CA 92656
Ph: 800-964-SMSI
Fx: 714-362-2300
Web Site: www.smithmicro.com

Price: $149.95

Minimum System Requirements

• 486 multimedia PC.
• 4MB of RAM.
• Speakers.
• Sound card.
• Microphone.
• 14.4-kbps modem.

AudioVision, from Smith Micro Software, is a videoconferencing software product designed to allow you to communicate via Internet, Intranet, or Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) connections. Smith Micro actually ships two versions of AudioVision. One uses Smith Micro’s own proprietary compression algorithms to squeeze out the fastest possible frame rates during a video conference. In order to take advantage of this product’s functionality (Smith Micro claims frame rates of 10–15 fps), the person with whom you wish to video conference must be using the same proprietary software. The second version of AudioVision 2.0 supports the ITU H.324 POTS-based industry standard, which allows AudioVision to interoperate with any other H.324 compatible video conferencing software product. Smith Micro will also make available a free downloadable Software Developers Kit (SDK) to facilitate the creation of plug-ins (such as computer games) for use with AudioVision 2.0.

INSTALLATION
Installation involved running two separate setup programs. One setup program was for the proprietary version of AudioVision — the other for the H.324 version. Both installations went very smoothly. A separate program group is created for each version. We felt this was unnecessary, as both program groups could have been combined into one. When we ran either one of these two programs for the first time, we were prompted to enter a serial number. One of the serial numbers was slightly worn off on the diskette label (worn printer ribbon), so it took us a couple of guesses before we got it right. Overall, the product installation was fairly easy and thus earned a 4.95 rating.

FEATURES
Whiteboard sharing allows users to load images or documents to share and mark up with built-in drawing tools. Users can trade files and documents during video conversations. Other features include a video phone book, a push-totalk feature, a hold button, and the ability to toggle between viewing yourself or the remote user. Other features include the ability to record video files and email the file to someone.

OPERATIONAL TESTING
We weren’t able to test the proprietary version of AudioVision, since we couldn’t get it to work with the cameras we had available to us. We tested the H.324 version and were able to connect to other H.324 clients. Setting up the hardware was straightforward. The system automatically detected our modem and we were able to choose various settings.

The Video Phone Book acts as a repository for frequently called numbers. You can even attach images to each of the record entries. The Video Answering Machine lets you record video calls for future playback. You can also record video e-mail and then e-mail it. AudioVision will automatically encapsulate the video in an executable file so the person to whom you send the e-mail will not need a special viewer. We tested this capability and it worked very well. One nice feature about this product is that Smith Micro includes two copies of the software, so that users can begin conferencing immediately. Another feature we liked was the ability to play tic-tac-toe or backgammon while video conferencing.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
We couldn’t get our USBcompliant Kodak DVC 300 to work properly with the proprietary version of AudioVision 2.0. The image was upside down and displayed the user with two heads. In this case, two heads was not better than one! We did, however, get the H.324 version of AudioVision to work with our Kodak camera. Still, the colors were a bit off. The H.324 version is less featurerich than its proprietary counterpart. For instance, the phone book offers less functionality, and the H.324 version doesn’t have the ability to record video — only snapshots. The H.324 version also lacks the two games (tic-tac-toe and backgammon). Finally, two important features not in the H.324 version are whiteboarding and the ability to send files. We’d like to see some of these features implemented in the H.324 version. We’d also like to see support for more cameras in the proprietary version of AudioVision, including USB cameras like the Kodak DVC 300. (Technology Editor’s Note: USB cameras are fairly new, so it is quite understandable and expected that such compatibility issues would arise.)

CONCLUSION
AudioVision 2.0 has some nice features, including video e-mail and the fact that it supports the H.324 standard. Its whiteboard and video answering machine features were also very useful. It will be interesting to see how this product and other videoconferencing products on the market can compete with Microsoft’s NetMeeting, which is free. However, AudioVision does have some features which NetMeeting lacks, including integrated video e-mail and video recording, among others.