September 2001

 In this month's edition of Editors' Notebook:

• VoIP-Enabling The Masses -- InnoMedia Scores Again
• CyberTel Relieves The Infrastructure Blues

BY GREG GALITZINE

DreamCall's Internet telephony services are available to all PC owners in Japan simply by downloading the DreamPassport for PC v2.11 software that is available online. The DreamPassport software enables PC-users in Japan to make calls from their PCs to a landline or cellular phone anywhere in the world at very low rates. The VoIP software will also offer a suite of enhanced voice services, including free PC-to-PC calls and instant messaging (IM) in both a dial-up and broadband environment.

Of course, as everybody knows, instant messaging is one of the hottest applications under the sun these days. Whether it's the sheer number of new users signing up every day or the high-profile battles between industry giants Microsoft and America Online (AOL), IM is certainly enjoying its moment of glory. The next step of course is to add voice to IM, to expand its basic functionality so it may become more of an all around communications solution. Maybe include some PC-to-phone calling capabilities? It might be fun to possibly add the ability to conference together some number of people while you're instant messaging, too.

Well, guess what? InnoMedia has released BuddyTalk, an Internet-based voice and text software communication application designed to enable multi-party conferencing (up to 10 people), PC-to-PC calling, PC-to-Phone calling, and of course, IM. The company will target this new application to a number of user groups, including: Teens and young adults with common interests (e.g., discussing a particular Teen Dream Date Web site and surfing it simultaneously); tech-savvy families and friends for reunions, special occasions, group meetings etc.; students and teachers for use in a distance learning environment with specific examples including study groups, tutoring, and the like; and SOHO users.

Essentially, there are four components to the application:

• BuddyTalk Dialer, which is the VoIP client;
   
• My Buddies, which is a personal contact list featuring real-time buddy presence information;
   
• My Buddy Room, which is the control panel for multi-party conferences;
   
• And Chat With, which is the IM component.

BuddyTalk Dialer allows users to place and receive free PC-to-PC calls to/from any other BuddyTalk user anywhere in the world. Likewise the dialer enables global PC-to-Phone calls for low rates. This portion of the solution also features elements such as address book creation and speed dial.

My Buddies allows users to see real-time status information regarding all of the contacts in the buddy list. Through the use of presence technology users can see who is online, who is available to receive a call, etc. It's also easy to send an IM from this interface by simply double clicking a user's name, and then entering the text of the message.

My Buddy Room, the conferencing center of the application, allows users to start and end conference sessions, invite or expel participants, mute or unmute any of the participants, as well as several other unique features. Up to 10 BuddyTalk users can participate in a conference at any given time. Conferences are one hour long, and the cost for that hour is just $3.00 deducted from the host's account. At the end of the hour, the host is presented with an option to continue for another hour at just $3.00 more.

With the release of BuddyTalk, InnoMedia once again is proving its commitment to the proliferation of useful VoIP applications. The demo we had in our office crystallized the practicality of the application. By simply double-clicking on a user's name, we were able to speak from our offices in Connecticut with one of the product managers back in San Jose, CA. We were then able to conference in another InnoMedia employee as a test of the conferencing capabilities displayed by My Buddy Room. InnoMedia continues to unveil practical applications designed to place VoIP capability in the hands of millions, and I urge everyone to visit www.innomedia.com for information on how to get your hands on yet another fascinating product.

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CyberTel Relieves The Infrastructure Blues

BY MIKE VON WAHLDE

CyberTel develops an open universal communications platform that enables the provisioning of device, network, topology, and media independent telecommunications services. Their Pure-Play-IP Vision is to produce telecom software offers solutions for the service provider wishing to deploy services on a massive level by linking the traditional PSTN with IP networks.

CyberCom-SC uses SIP to enable service providers to expand their service offerings to include multi-modal unified messaging. With the public network evolving to IP as a transport backbone and the concentration on open systems and architectures, CyberCom-SC allows telcos to utilize an Oracle-based application server, which synchronizes and stores information for relay to myriad user interfaces.

At this point, CyberTel has designed the platform to work across a Web Browser, a SIP phone, and a normal PSTN phone, and will soon be evolving to the next steps in the service chain -- wireless, wireline, and Internet access -- across any device, platform, or mode. By providing for this growth curve, CyberTel has positioned itself well for the present and future.

CyberCOM-SC uses a component-based design to sit 100 percent on the server side and work its magic -- transport any e-mails, fax-headers, and any voice mails to the endpoint in its native delivery language. Furthermore, the multi-point communications are synchronized to ensure efficient management of the inbox -- a real benefit to the exceptionally busy or horribly disorganized.

For more information, visit their Web site at www.cybertelinc.com. 

[ Return To The September 2001 Table Of Contents ]