Videophone Offers Clear, Free Calls Online

You may not remember the 1964 World's Fair in New York, but that's when the first videophones were demonstrated in the United States. While they still haven't shown up in most homes, the Web is making the technology more accessible for businesses.

An IP videophone now available from InnoMedia offers an alternative to both the high-end, pricey videoconferencing systems that only large corporations can afford, and the Webcams and IP calls that tend toward scratchy pictures and imperfect reliability.

The IP videophone, aimed at the business market, has a suggested retail price of $1500 and offers free voice and video communications via the Internet.

Like a Big-Screen Phone

The all-in-one device includes a snap-on Webcam, a 4-inch TFT color LCD screen, and a slim handset. The camera has a fairly high frame rate (15 frames per second) and a built-in speakerphone. It has video-out connectivity for a television, VCR, or projector, and video input for hooking up another video camera, VCR, DVD player, or digital camera.

The company says its videophone works best in a QoS local area network environment with a fixed IP address or through a cable modem connection. Minimum bandwidth of 64 kilobits per second is required, with a recommended setting of 128 kbps.

Warning: the videophone won't operate behind a firewall in a LAN environment or behind a Network Address Translation.

"The key advantages of the product are its mobility, plus you don't need a PC with it," says Bob Selzler, vice president of marketing for InnoMedia. "You can take it from office to office, hook up a big screen TV or a projector, or hook it up to your VCR and record or play back something you want to share with your colleagues."

Once the videophone is configured and hooked up to a high-speed connection, you operate it just like a regular phone. You simply punch in the IP address (not a regular phone number) for another videophone you want to call. There's even a privacy feature, if you're bashful or just don't want to be seen for some reason.

"It's a telephone. Everybody knows how to use a telephone," Selzler says. "You can easily move to a meeting room and be using it in minutes, which we do all the time."

Handy for International, Niche Uses

Selzler and his colleagues frequently use their own product to communicate with business partners and associates in several different countries.

"First, it's a free call and you can see the other parties," he says. "One of the values of having video, especially when you are going international and English may not be the person's first language, you can see if they really understand what you meant or if they are just nodding their head."

Future markets might include distance learning, telemedicine, and long-distance consulting.