December 1998

Price: $149.

If you have one or more e-mail accounts, chances are you like to check for new e-mail messages at least once in a while, perhaps even with some frequency. But what do you do if you lack access to a PC? Or if you just don't feel like logging on? Well, there are alternatives to using a PC. One alternative is an e-mail phone. One such device, the Casio IT-380, alerts you to the presence of any new e-mail messages. In addition, it displays e-mail header information. Thus, you know in advance whether it is worth your while to access your account via your PC.

The IT-380, in addition to integrating a digital answering machine and speakerphone, uses a three-line, 18-character liquid crystal display (LCD). The LCD, which permits scrolling of up to 60 characters, displays, for each e-mail message, such basic information as subject, sender, and data and time received.

The IT-380 should be well received by residential and SOHO users, who would no doubt value this e-mail phone's simplicity and convenience. The phone even provides remote access capabilities. When users check their e-mail remotely, the IT-380 informs them of the number of new e-mail messages. (E-mail header information is not available to the remote user.) Of course, in the case of voice mail, remote users may access the actual messages, not just information about the number of messages.

Would the IT-380 be compatible with your e-mail accounts? That may depend on which services you use. However, the IT-380 does support the e-mail industry's POP-3 standard, which means the IT-380 works with all compliant Internet Service Providers (ISPs). In addition, this e-mail phone works with the online services CompuServ and Prodigy.

INSTALLATION
Users begin by plugging in the AC power and an analog telephone line. Then, they may enter their account information and define their preferences. Most of this information may be entered by pressing the appropriate sequence of buttons on the unit's face, which presents, in addition to a standard telephone keypad, a variety of selection buttons and function keys.

For example, users press the number 8 to enter an "8," but they press the number 8 three times to enter the letter "U," because that letter comes third on the key button that corresponds to 8-T-U-V. Occasionally, users need to enter data by another means. When they do, users may consult the unit's documentation, which clearly explains all the procedures.

Typically, users enter essential ISP information - login name, password, access number, DNS number, and POP mail server name. (An interesting item here is that the user must program a network login name and password separate from the e-mail login name and password, because the e-mail login name may differ from the provider service login name.)

In addition, users input time and date information, ring type, volume, number of rings to answer on, and speed-dial preferences. Also, users may record a greeting message, or they may elect to use one of the unit's prerecorded greetings.

Compared to other Internet appliances we've tested, such as personal IP telephony gateways and automatic call forwarding devices, configuring the IT-380 was a breeze. We hope Internet appliances, as they become more popular, follow the IT-380's example. For these appliances, the ease or difficulty of installation could determine their success or failure.

DOCUMENTATION
The instruction manual is very good. It is organized intelligently; it presents many clear, uncluttered (and above all informative) diagrams, and it describes the unit in simple, direct language. Also, it gives due prominence to technical support contact information.

FEATURES AND OPERATIONAL TESTING
User Interface
The IT-380's user interface includes an LCD screen, the buttons on the face of the unit, notification lights, and remote-access voice prompts. There is also a volume switch on the unit's right side.

LCD Screen: Rather than squeezing everything into one view, the LCD dynamically changes its appearance from function to function. For example, the screen's normal view indicates the time and date, along with a matrix showing the number of new and old messages - for the answering machine and for up to two e-mail accounts.

When the screen displays an e-mail header, it also indicates which account corresponds to that header, as well as the message's time and date stamp, the message's number (for example, 3 of 7), and the subject line itself, which holds up to 120 alphanumeric characters.

Buttons: There are 35 buttons on the IT-380, 14 of which control the e-mail functions. Among these is a four-button directional-scrolling pad, similar to those found on newer television and VCR remote control units and video game pads. To the left of this pad are program and memo buttons; above are selection buttons; to the right are controls used to initiate header searching.

Notification Lights: The unit's face also presents voice and e-mail notification lights, both of which blink to indicate new messages.

Remote Access: Remote access is accomplished by following the IT-380's voice prompts, and then depressing the appropriate buttons on a telephone keypad. Most of the IT-380's features are accessible through the telephone interface, including the ability to skip between, save, erase, or record messages and greetings. Users can also switch the unit on through the telephone interface. For more powerful telephone message management, the IT-380 comes bundled with a trial membership to Mailcall.Net, a complete toll-free service for listening, replying to, and forwarding your e-mail messages.

Checking For E-Mail
Another great feature of the IT-380 is that it can check for messages at user-defined intervals. Users program which days and what times the unit should check for messages. There is a limit of 12 checks daily, but users can always override that limit by checking for messages manually using the "search for e-mail now" button. Users can set different search times for each of the two accounts, and the unit will try to connect five times before giving up.

Other Features
Other features include a speakerphone option, call screening, a lifetime memory (messages not deleted will stay in the system indefinitely), different greetings for each e-mail account, a 20-number speed dial, and (since messages are saved digitally) an option for dynamically playing messages at a 50 percent faster or 40 percent slower speed - great for quickly scanning headers or for replaying voice mail slowly to catch a telephone number.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
We found that configuring and using the IT-380 was easy, both on-site and through the telephone interface. However, we do have a few suggestions:

• Increase capacity: We suppose some SOHO users would feel constrained by the unit's 40-message limit, particularly "power users" of the type who would actually use the unit's header-reading device. Thus, we think the display should accommodate more headers.
• Add a larger display screen: If the screen were as wide as the unit itself, users would be able to dispense with a lot of scrolling. On the current model, there is an extra half of a square inch to the screen's left side, and at least one full square inch to the right, where the e-mail notification lamp is located.
• Eliminate the e-mail notification lamp: Personally, we could do without this lamp, particularly since a glance at the default screen provides the same information, in considerably more detail.
• Move the volume switch: We would like the volume switch to be more accessible, even it that were to mean moving it to the top of the unit.
• Add text-to-speech capability: If the telephone interface were to include text-to-speech capability, the unit would "tell" users how many e-mail messages there were, and it could even read the header information over the phone.

CONCLUSION
This is the first product we've tested in recent memory that worked flawlessly the first time we tried to use it, but we caution users who would put this system onto phones behind a PBX. A Casio Phonemate technician noted that the IT-380 is designed to work on a direct analog line, and that a PBX and/or corporate LAN could, in a sense, block the IT-380's path, which could lead to hassle, confusion, and even failure.

That caveat aside, we applaud the IT-380 for its usability. The menus it presents are easy to navigate. That is, they avoid including more choices than a typical user can handle (a common problem with IVR systems). Also, the choices presented always seem to be arranged intelligently.

Although using the IT-380 is easy, configuring the unit somewhat tedious. For example, to enter ISP data, users are obliged to hunt and peck over the unit's many buttons. Fortunately, the IT-380 gives users immediate, visual feedback.

Overall, the IT-380 is a very clever product. Moreover, it may even presage a new category of communications appliances. By the turn of the century, we hope to see devices that integrate a full mail client, file exchanger, and Web browser - an all-purpose, Internet-based appliance. We find the IT-380 to be an encouraging starting point, and it's especially significant coming from a company like Casio instead of from a small startup. Developers take note: If you can make such a device, let us know! In the meantime, Casio Phonemate deserves applause for its CTI efforts, and we're granting the IT-380 our Editors' Choice Award while we await even more powerful solutions.