The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Editorial Gary Taig editor@melbpc.org.au |
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The 2005 elections will be held on Wednesday 2 November, the day after the Melbourne Cup is run, and I can only add my voice to others who will be encouraging members to get involved and vote. All the major decisions around Melb PC are made by an elected committee. Yes, there isn't a vast choice, I would agree, but that can be changed too. Attend committee meetings as a visitor throughout the year; understand and learn what happens, make yourself familiar and then get in early and nominate for 2007.
Is VoIP For You?
Did you like the sound of the TA612V reviewed last month? Well, there is one important aspect of the VoIP system that I thought to mention but as PC Update went to print, didn't get back to add the words. It's always hectic on the last day.
In my view, and I must emphasise this is a personal thing, currently VoIP is really only good for making low cost, outgoing calls, where the handset sits adjacent to an existing, conventional telephone. I wrote about my VoIP usage in the June Editorial and some readers may not have seen that June issue. The value of VoIP as a low cost phone service is gained from the fact that you are already paying for the Telstra line, for your ADSL to function, or perhaps you have cable broadband but that doesn't alter things much; it's based on the same fact that you already have a conventional phone operating as well as your high speed broadband Internet service which is able to carry one or more additional services. Whether your original Telstra phone line was used for the ADSL or you have a second phone line is somewhat irrelevant; if you have a Telstra line with your long standing home or office phone number, don't expect to be giving it up in the short term. VoIP will not be your main telephone system for some time to come.
The existing Telstra line into this office awaits incoming calls to a number we've had for 30 years. It will never again be used for outgoing calls unless the Internet is down, making VoIP impossible, and the mobile phone has a flat battery. But it will always be available for incoming calls. We do not have to circulate a new VoIP phone number throughout the world to avoid friends or family being unable to make contact, and until the day arrives when Telstra provides its regular phone services through IP broadband and the two systems can be combined, that's the way it will stay.
A Possible Alternative
There is a possible alternative to the situation described above and some people will fall into this category. You have recently moved, your communications are predominately via mobile phone and you need a land line. This is one situation where you can have an incoming VoIP phone to operate just like a regular telephone. However, to support it you first need either cable or wireless broadband, or a regular phone line to carry an ADSL feed. A regular phone line would discount the problem so that leaves the other two.
Once you have a suitable broadband feed you can choose an appropriate VoIP service and run all your telephone traffic through it. Remember though, when the Internet is down you will have to resort to your mobile phone, because whether you use a software solution or an Ethernet adaptor, VoIP is entirely reliant upon that broadband feed.
When you consider the infancy of wireless broadband, everything points to a fixed line, cable or fibre, being the most secure.
In the meantime of course, most people can still enjoy the benefits of very low cost outgoing calls and keep their existing phone.
Rapid Improvements
Communications are still improving rapidly and it's only a matter of time before the Internet we use today is many times faster and substantially more reliable than it is now. Clearly, big things are in the planning pipelines and when you see senior Telstra people making presentations these days they all seem to have more than just a little grin at the corner of the mouth.
It might all happen sooner than expected. Who could really know? Currently in Tasmania tests are being planned for a fibre optic broadband service to a small number of subscribers and it will be a service of the future. Apart from a broadband that is being referred to as "ultra high-speed Internet access", that will carry multiple simultaneous voice calls, obviously VoIP, it will also carry high-definition television, interactive television, home security, and power and gas metering. One wonders whether this or something like it, is behind those extra wide grins, What else could Telstra possibly have to grin about these days?
STOP PRESS
Just as PC Update is going off to prepress a letter to the Editor has arrived and it describes a member's experiences with VoIP. Read about what Dr Nathan Pinskier has been doing.
Reprinted from the November 2005 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
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