IP: IP Phones

[Dave Farber <farber@central.cis.upenn.edu>]

+         IBM REVEALS BIG PLANS FOR INTERNET TELEPHONY,
>                 WANTS TO SET INDUSTRY STANDARD
>
>IBM Corp, the first major to catch the Internet telephony bug
>says it wants to rally a standards group so that users at each
>end do not need to be using the same software. The company says
>it plans to enter the Internet multimedia communications business
>by offering telephony software that will make telephone calls
>over the Internet and over private networks possible. The new IBM
>Internet Division says the software is an evolution of
>technologies already developed in IBM research labs to provide
>Simultaneous Voice & Data capabilities, and offer speech quality
>of "a good cellular phone." The technology enables a computer
>user to combine conversation and data transmission at the same
>time using the Groupe Speciale Mobile digital cellular standard,
>and should be ready by mid-year. It will compete with the
>existing products from VocalTec Ltd, Camelot Corp and Quarterdeck
>Corp. IBM does not plan to offer the product to consumers in
>retail packaging, but will preload the software on its
> multimedia personal computers, include it in the OS/2 Warp
>operating system and other IBM hardware and software products,
>and make it available over the Internet. It will also be
>compatible with Windows95, NT and Mac OS. The software was
>developed at the company's research faclities in Haifa, Israel,
>with the contribution of other IBM research locations. It will
>have a graphical user interface to make it easy for novices and,
>in future, the company will integrate other IBM technologies such
>as security, encryption, conference calling, videoconferencing
>and connection from the Internet to any telephone worldwide.
>Disingenuously, the company insisted that the product did not
>pose a threat to phone companies, and told Reuter that it was
>working on it with several phone companies but added widespread
>use of Internet telephones would necessitate a revolution in
>tariff structures and an eventual flat usage fee.
>