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Net Phones: Dialing Without Dollars

Talk may be cheap with free and low-cost Internet phones, but can you count on getting through? Learn the highlights and hazards from our test of ten Net phone services.

Steve Bass

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Net Phone Tips

You may not be able to make Internet calls from work if your company's IS department uses a firewall. Check to see if a specific port on your PC can be opened for outgoing calls. Note: Any personal firewall you might use, such as Zone Labs' free ZoneAlarm, can accommodate Internet calls.

You can quickly switch between a headset and your PC speakers without crawling under your desk. Buy a $5 pair of 6-foot male/female extension cables at an electronics store. Plug the extensions into your sound card's speaker and microphone jacks. Do the same for the speaker's connectors and bring them near the front of your computer.

If you're using a 56-kbps connection and the voice quality is poor, hang up and try again. (Let's hope your friend doesn't mind the interruption.) Still awful? Switch to another of your ISP's dial-in numbers.

If you're having trouble with sound quality, experiment with the product's microphone and speaker settings while you're connected. For instance, Deltathree worked best with the mike set to low and the speaker to high.

Contributing Editor Steve Bass is president of the Pasadena IBM Users Group.

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