The Evolving World of Computer Telephony

Posted: 05/1998

The Evolving World of Computer Telephony
Traditional Telecom Vendors Make the IP Voice Connection

By Paula Bernier

New tools now allow individuals to receive and manage their telephone calls while
connected to the Internet.

Among the companies offering these hybrid computer/telephone tools are veteran telecom
vendors Ericsson Inc., Lucent Technologies Inc. and Northern Telecom Inc. (Nortel).

But these new software offerings are more than simply computer telephony clients that
enable PC-based call management. They also can serve as interfaces for Internet protocol
(IP) voice services.

Going to the Masses

Ericsson last year came out with something it calls the Phone Doubler. It originally
was–and continues to be–marketed as software that enables individuals to answer
telephone calls via their PCs while they’re connected to the Internet. It lets them
receive calls, send to voice mail and otherwise manage incoming calls while online–and it
lets them do all this over a standard copper connection.

When paired with an Internet telephony service, however, Phone Doubler can be the
client software that allows PC users to make low-cost long distance telephone calls to
standard telephones over IP connections.

By the time this magazine reaches print, Phone Doubler could well be a mass market
phenomenon. This spring retail giant Computer City began selling the software as a
stand-alone product as well as bundled with Internet telephony services from Internet
Global Services Inc.(iGlobal), a Dallas-based Internet service provider.

"It’s brand new, it works and we’re all excited about it," says Jack Ferry,
vice president of New Ventures at Computer City, noting that 20 million to 30 million
people come through the company’s stores annually.

Since iGlobal already has an Internet backbone in Texas, Dallas and Houston will be the
first markets to receive the services, says Michael Gorton, CEO of iGlobal. Service
launches will follow in other metropolitan areas with Computer City’s "new concept
stores," in which iGlobal will colocate its IP telephony gateways.

At press time, Gorton said the companies were still considering various pricing
scenarios for the total package, but thought that a $9.95-a-month service including 400
minutes of use might be an attractive bundle.

"We have just shot the gun on the Internet voice," says Gorton. "This
Internet telephony thing is significant.

"We’re talking to some major petroleum companies that do business all over the
world, and they’re very excited about it," he adds. "It’s going touch
everybody."

The Virtual Office

Lucent and Nortel, meanwhile, are targeting on-the-move workers with new product
offerings.

Lucent’s Virtual Telephone, to be available in July, acts as a virtual PBX extension
for traveling businesspeople, explains Kathy Meier, general manager of Internet
communications at Lucent.

It lets workers access their e-mail, respond to their voice mail, respond to inbound
calls and initiate real-time phone calls during a single communications session. Without
it, notes Meier, a person working from a hotel room would have to connect and disconnect
to e-mail, then call to check voice mail, and then make calls (most of which would
probably be long distance), each as a separate transaction. Virtual Telephone is more
efficient, since it allows the worker to do all that in a single connection. And it can be
lower cost, since the worker is billed only for one outbound call from the hotel, she
says.

"Today, Internet telephony is revolutionizing how voice and packet networks come
together," says Meier. "Virtual Telephone is the next stage in voice over IP. It
combines the cost savings of Internet telephony with new features that enable remote
workers to have complete control over their voice and data communications–over a single
connection–no matter where they are."

Workers control inbound and outbound calls via the Virtual Telephone client software,
establishing a virtual private network (VPN), remote access server (RAS) or local area
network (LAN) connection, and logging into the VT server.

At press time, Lucent was testing the new software with a limited set of customers that
already use its Internet Telephony Server-E (ITS-E) gateway, which can be accessed via the
Virtual Telephone client.

While Lucent’s solution allows remote workers to use public network connections to
access servers at a corporate location, Nortel’s Cygic Home Office Suite is based on
equipment in the public network.

A New Revenue Stream

Nortel, which acts as a service bureau for the service (which will be generally
available in June), is marketing Cygic Home Office Suite to Internet service providers
(ISPs) seeking to offer enhanced services to gain new revenue streams (see diagram). And
according to the vendor community, as Internet service becomes a commodity, ISPs
increasingly are looking to add enhanced services.

Because it is network-based rather than PC-based, Cygic Home Office Suite requires no
software installation, configuration or upgrading–for the subscriber or the ISP.

Cygic can support up to five phone or fax calls, as well as an Internet connection,
simultaneous on one line. It supports universal messaging. And the system also displays
information on the user’s PC screen about incoming calls, which the user can choose to
answer, send to voice mail or deal with in various other ways.

"You can look like a big operation from your home office" with Cygic, says
Candace Inscoe, of spokeswoman for Nortel’s Public Carrier Networks division.

Source: Nortel (Northern Telecom Inc.)Cygic Home Office
Suite, available through the ISP, offers unified communications features and management.