broadband voip telephoning ?

at the moment i am using callserve (in belgium) for my my local and
international calls.
I have tried serveral services voip and i think they deliver the best
quality for me. Probable because the switch is in londen.
And i can pay in cheap dollars :-)


i was wondering if somebody is using a cisco gateway or special phone
that they are offering on their website-shops ...
CSC-ATA-186 169 us dollar gateway
phones from 15 to 60 euro Probably better or more conforable then a
headset ???

is a gateway always delivering better quality because it goes from
analoog to digital ???

it looks like you can use this without extra montly cost or am i
mistaken ???




Any help or imput appreciated.

using broadband cable
roger
belgim

In message <(E-Mail Removed)>, rogerke
<(E-Mail Removed)> writes
>i was wondering if somebody is using a cisco gateway or special phone
>that they are offering on their website-shops ...
>CSC-ATA-186 169 us dollar gateway
>phones from 15 to 60 euro Probably better or more conforable then a
>headset ???
>using broadband cable
>roger
>belgim

Having tried to use one of these telephone like contraptions which are
supposed to give you better sound etc. and having given it back to PC
World the next morning I fail to see its advantages. I am not an expert
on this, only a user, and I can only tell you my experiences and let
others tell you where I went wrong.

I am extremely interested in Net Telephony or VOIP etc. and have been
for years. I was trying to make telephone calls via the net before most
were using the net for surfing!! I was even upsetting relatives by
making calls to them on what they called my "funny phone" because of its
terrible quality. They even reminded me that Mr. Alexander Bell had
already invented the phone and why was I going backwards.

However, I bought one of these VOIP phones which are supposed to bypass
the sound card. Yes, they bypass it OK and yes, you can listen to music
while you talk but
1. It stops you controlling my mic volume in one of my communication
programmes, (PalTalk) and I was told I was shouting with terrible
articulation.
2. You have to hold it all the time, (like a phone), and it occupies a
hand that can be typing etc.
3. Most of these so called net phone companies are charging you for
calling, (however cheaper they are than ordinary phones), whereas surely
the whole purpose of the Net is that you are online to the world without
being metered or charged. With Paltalk, MNS Messenger and Skype, (great
for one to one communication), you can talk to your friends as if they
were "in the room" for nothing.

Hope that helps and stick to the old headset.
--
Derrick Fawsitt

On Wed, 7 Jan 2004 20:36:01 +0000, Derrick Fawsitt
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> whereas surely
>the whole purpose of the Net is that you are online to the world without
>being metered or charged.

the point of many VoIP services is to make long distance /
international calls to real landlines cheaper, hence the dedicated
phone devices on the market that don't need a PC as they have their
own high quality encoding devices and don't get interrupted by other
things using the PC's processing power.

In many non-deregulated markets phone call prices are very high, so
bypassing the lcoal monopoly with the internet is valuable but you
need a service at the other end to "break out" into telephone land
again.

Yes you can also make free calls direct to IP addresses or via
location servers providing the other end has the capability.

Phil

In message <(E-Mail Removed)>, Phil Thompson
<(E-Mail Removed)> writes
>On Wed, 7 Jan 2004 20:36:01 +0000, Derrick Fawsitt
><(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>> whereas surely
>>the whole purpose of the Net is that you are online to the world without
>>being metered or charged.
>
>the point of many VoIP services is to make long distance /
>international calls to real landlines cheaper, hence the dedicated
>phone devices on the market that don't need a PC as they have their
>own high quality encoding devices and don't get interrupted by other
>things using the PC's processing power.
>
>In many non-deregulated markets phone call prices are very high, so
>bypassing the lcoal monopoly with the internet is valuable but you
>need a service at the other end to "break out" into telephone land
>again.
>
>Yes you can also make free calls direct to IP addresses or via
>location servers providing the other end has the capability.
>
>Phil

Hi Phil.

You speak (write) with a voice of authority and knowledge of the
technology whereas I said I was only a layman who had used the various
systems for a long time.
From reading your comments I am surprised to find that I was not too
wrong considering I was expecting to be torn apart by someone like
yourself with greater knowledge of the technical side.
However, although I agree with your first paragraph I must say that
those dedicated phone devices like VOIP phone which I bought do not
declare that they are really better to in a PC to Phone mode. I used
them for Paltalk, disastrous as they disabled the slider on the websites
mic control so I was unable to turn my voice down. They also distorted
my voice. They might have worked better with Skype which is a P2P system
but when I realised they were useless with Paltalk I had no use for
them. I did not experience the so called high quality, actually the
reverse was the case but perhaps it was the way I configured them, but
then they were not supposed to need configuring.

Finally, to sum up, in a PC to PC mode they did not perform "for me" so
I returned them and am now enjoying good voice communication with my
good old headset.

Regards,
--
Derrick Fawsitt

On Thu, 8 Jan 2004 01:16:26 +0000, Derrick Fawsitt
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>However, although I agree with your first paragraph I must say that
>those dedicated phone devices like VOIP phone which I bought do not
>declare that they are really better to in a PC to Phone mode.

what you bought does not sound like an IP phone - this would be a
telephone you plugged into an ethernet connection that made calls
directly without needing a PC to be on even. Is tihs correct ?

I'm guessing you bought something that is effectively just a different
audio input device for the PC and you found it wanting.

Phil

In message <(E-Mail Removed)>, Phil Thompson
<(E-Mail Removed)> writes
>On Thu, 8 Jan 2004 01:16:26 +0000, Derrick Fawsitt
><(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>However, although I agree with your first paragraph I must say that
>>those dedicated phone devices like VOIP phone which I bought do not
>>declare that they are really better to in a PC to Phone mode.
>
>what you bought does not sound like an IP phone - this would be a
>telephone you plugged into an ethernet connection that made calls
>directly without needing a PC to be on even. Is tihs correct ?
Not sure Phil, I got it from PC World and it was called a VOIP phone. It
came with a disk which registered me with Callserve.
>
>I'm guessing you bought something that is effectively just a different
>audio input device for the PC and you found it wanting.
Could be, but you may glean something from the above info, if not I will
try to get more gen on it. One thing that disturbed me was it would not
work properly with Paltalk but I should have had the patience to wait to
see would it work with MSN Messenger or Skype. Probably the reason I did
not do so is Paltalk means a lot to me for its ability to put me in
touch with some of its Hi-tech forums and it does that without
splendidly and when it could not do that, never mind improve my
transmissions, it was for the chop.
>
>Phil
Kind regards,

--
Derrick Fawsitt

On Thu, 8 Jan 2004 09:20:36 +0000, Derrick Fawsitt
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> I got it from PC World and it was called a VOIP phone. It
>came with a disk which registered me with Callserve.

couldn't find anything on PC world, was it like the one shown at
http://shop.voipvoice.com/buy/ which is basically an alternative sound
system. A review of Callserve said "sound was not as good using USB"
so you are not alone :-)

to me a VoIP phone looks like this
http://www.solwise.co.uk/voip_phones.htm
or
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/...0801739bb.html

Phil

In message <(E-Mail Removed)>, Phil Thompson
<(E-Mail Removed)> writes
>On Thu, 8 Jan 2004 09:20:36 +0000, Derrick Fawsitt
><(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>> I got it from PC World and it was called a VOIP phone. It
>>came with a disk which registered me with Callserve.
>
>couldn't find anything on PC world, was it like the one shown at
>http://shop.voipvoice.com/buy/ which is basically an alternative sound
>system. A review of Callserve said "sound was not as good using USB"
>so you are not alone :-)
>
>to me a VoIP phone looks like this
>http://www.solwise.co.uk/voip_phones.htm
>or
>http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/...ts_data_sheet0
>9186a00801739bb.html
>
>Phil

None of them as shown by your links but the phone on the extreme right
of this link..

http://ui.skype.com/store.html

For $77 approx

I am hopeful this one of the kind you don't accept as satisfactory.

Kind regards,

--
Derrick Fawsitt

On Thu, 8 Jan 2004 11:49:17 +0000, Derrick Fawsitt
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>None of them as shown by your links but the phone on the extreme right
>of this link..
>http://ui.skype.com/store.html

that's the same as http://www.voipvoice.com/products/CyberPhoneK.asp

>For $77 approx
>I am hopeful this one of the kind you don't accept as satisfactory.

its a PC peripheral not a standalone VoIP phone. It has a USB
connector and relies on Windows, I guess it relies on software
installed on the PC too. In effect it is a combined numberic keypad,
headset/mic and sound card. Its performance could be greatly affected
by the USB bus load or the PC processor load.

Its not so much what is satisfactory, as its a different thing. The
hardware VoIP phones I am looking at plug into ethernet connections
and only need access to the internet, not a PC.

Its a bit like the difference between an electric saw and a saw
attachment for an electric drill, I'm after the former whereas you
tried and didn't like the latter. Maybe we should call devices like
the above "VoIP attachments for PCs" rather than "VoIP phones"

Phil

In message <(E-Mail Removed)>, Phil Thompson
<(E-Mail Removed)> writes
>On Thu, 8 Jan 2004 11:49:17 +0000, Derrick Fawsitt
><(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>None of them as shown by your links but the phone on the extreme right
>>of this link..
>>http://ui.skype.com/store.html
>
>that's the same as http://www.voipvoice.com/products/CyberPhoneK.asp
>
>>For $77 approx
>>I am hopeful this one of the kind you don't accept as satisfactory.
>
>its a PC peripheral not a standalone VoIP phone. It has a USB
>connector and relies on Windows, I guess it relies on software
>installed on the PC too. In effect it is a combined numberic keypad,
>headset/mic and sound card. Its performance could be greatly affected
>by the USB bus load or the PC processor load.
>
>Its not so much what is satisfactory, as its a different thing. The
>hardware VoIP phones I am looking at plug into ethernet connections
>and only need access to the internet, not a PC.
>
>Its a bit like the difference between an electric saw and a saw
>attachment for an electric drill, I'm after the former whereas you
>tried and didn't like the latter. Maybe we should call devices like
>the above "VoIP attachments for PCs" rather than "VoIP phones"
>
>Phil

Phil.

How does one thank someone for information like the above. I have
learned so much more about a system of communication that means a lot to
me.
My reason for being so interested in VOIP is that I am hoping to monitor
a building overseas from here in the UK by triggering up a telephone in
the overseas location which in turn triggers up a web cam to monitor the
place. The catch is...I don't want to use a telephone call to do it I
want to do it via the Net entirely which means I could keep the position
open without charge as I am on ADSL. I know it can be done by making a
telephone call via my PC and having another PC at the other end, or
another way is to have a box at the remote end fixed to the remote
telephone. That would mean the cost of a call at my end and having to
employ an ISP and an unmonitored PC running at the other end as there is
no one in the remote office unless I am there.
Perhaps I should put this problem/task out on the newsgroups as a new
thread for someone to produce a way of doing this. However Phil, you can
have a crack at it if you have any more time to waste on me!!

I really do appreciate your time and trouble on this one and hope you
don't mind me setting out my challenge above.

Kind regards,
--
Derrick