Basic ToIP suggestions?

Anyone with experience of point-to-point "Talk over Internet Protocol" kit?
Stability/ease of use more important to me than loads of functions: I'm
looking to get one USB phone handset for home, and one to be with me when
I'm overseas... I have ADSL+WindowsXP in both locations. Thanks in advance
for any pointers.

From F F Skitty on 14/Sep/2004 10:29:
> Anyone with experience of point-to-point "Talk over Internet Protocol" kit?
> Stability/ease of use more important to me than loads of functions: I'm
> looking to get one USB phone handset for home, and one to be with me when
> I'm overseas... I have ADSL+WindowsXP in both locations. Thanks in advance
> for any pointers.
>
>
>
I've not come across ToIP but VoIP?

I'm trialing Skype which is an IP based "phone" system. This works very well,
call quality is excellent, it has instant messaging too and is encrypted
end-to-end. You can also pay for time to call "real" phones as well. It works on
Windows, Mac, Linux and Pocket PC.

If you just want the basics though, you could try Microsoft's netmeeting. This
allows voice, video (if you have an attached webcam), whiteboard, instant
messaging, shared apps, file transfer. It still exists in XP though you won't
find it on a menu. Type "conf" into the "Run..." dialogue box. Do this on both
ends. To initiate a call, start NM on both PCs, on one PC type the IP address
into the call id. You may need to tweak some settings on your firewall/s to get
a connection. It uses the standard H.323 so it is fairly firewall friendly.

--
Julian Knight, http://www.knightnet.org.uk/
Sheffield, United Kingdom
Security, Directory, Messaging, Network & PC Consultant
Yahoo! IM=knighjm, Skype Internet Phone: callto://j.knight