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Technology Stocks : FRANKLIN TELECOM (FCM) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Seth L. who wrote (1097)	6/27/1999 9:19:00 PM
From: lostmymoney	Respond to of 2891

Some good reading for the amatueur in VOIP. When I first came across VoIP, it was on my desktop PC. I had downloaded a freeware ' internet telephone' software package and attempted to talk over the internet. Voice quality was poor and the delays in transmission made the call seem more like the old days of CB radio rather than a modern day technological revolution. Things have come a long way, and today's VoIP is hard to distinguish from toll quality (or normal every-day telephone) voice. What does VoIP Offer Me? I, as a consumer, would look at an alternative to my normal telephone system for the following reasons: lower cost better service added features If you look at VoIP as it is today, none of the above reasons would make me overly keen to throw out my phone line and replace it with an internet connection for voice and data. The cost of today's long distance is very reasonable, the service reliability and voice quality are excellent, and I have all the features I want (call forwarding, caller id, etc.). What most people are talking about when they use the term VoIP is IP based telephony. The technical ability to send quality voice over an IP network is already here. Advances in compression techniques and other packet switching areas have made quality IP based voice a reality, but this is only part of the story. The Rest Of The Story .... The initial benefit to the individual consumer of VoIP is limited (other than the ability to make a few 'free' calls to friends that have internet voice software compatible with yours). The big benefit will fall first in the lap of business users. Wouldn't it be great to have a single IP data stream coming into your business that could be managed by your IT staff in the same way they manage your computer network right now? You would not need to pay a telephony expert to deal only with a bunch of analog or telephone equipment. You would save by only having one network coming into your business, and you would no longer have two separate networks to handle data and voice separately. Since voice over IP would be similar (from a network developer's point of view) to any network data, special applications to route and deal with phone calls should become more common, given there are more computer programmers out there than telephony equipment programmers. Also, having a single physical server handling voice and data is more attractive from a cost point of view. QoS ?? QoS, or Quality of Service, is obviously a large issue. I would not put up with anything less than the current QoS that I get from my traditional telephone. Good voice quality, few (if any) dropouts and high availability (dial tone is always there) must accompany any IP based telephony solution. The internet connection you are using to read this is an example of a network not designed to provide adequate QoS for voice. The simple fact that the timely transmission and delivery of packets from one server to another cannot be guaranteed is evidence enough. For example, a packet of voice data has no more priority on the 'internet' than a packet of data representing a few pixels of a dirty picture! Private IP networks have a much better chance (currently) of delivering adequate QoS. The Reality ! No one will dispute the fact that telephony and computer networks are converging. Issues like QoS, how to connect to existing telephony networks and how to package a telephony solution with a server solution are currently being dealt with by some of the biggest computer and telephony companies in the world. Equipment is already available that provides VoIP, and it's mainstream acceptance is surely around the corner. This is one technology to keep your eyes on! The following are a list of links that will help you in your quest for IP based Telephony knowledge. Computer Telephony Your Telecommunications Guide's list of Computer Telephony resources. Contains links to VoIP and other info related to computer telephony. Microlegend's Detailed Internet Telephony Tutorial A very nice, detailed tutorial on internet telephony. Pulver.com A great resource for IP telephony news, articles and information. Building reliable and cost efficient voice over IP An in depth article complete with VoIP applications. In PDF format. Telogy Networks Free VoIP / FoIP (and Data!) Seminars Free seminars that you can attend. Check this link for locations and other details. Internet Telephony Another great VoIP resource brought to you by Voice On the iNternet (VON). VocalTec Communications VocalTel provides a complete range of VoIP products including Telco interface and management products. Voice Over IP: Tech Tips If you are serious about VoIP, here are some great tips for making it all work. Internet Phone 101 A great starting point, courtesy of Virtual Voice. HelloDirect Telecommunications Tutorials and Articles Many resources related to VoIP and general Telephony. Mike

To: Seth L. who wrote (1097)	6/28/1999 5:49:00 AM
From: Noneyet	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 2891

Seth, If I were you I would try not to make too much of one word ( assume ). You see some of what you have written in your original post, reply # 1065 are forward looking statements either by the company, or you. We all know the standard disclaimer that is included in press releases for forward looking statements. My use of the word “assume” should have no more of an evil connotation than any statement contained in your reply that was either forward looking, or not readily available to the public. I would suggest to you then, if we “both” are to stick to absolute facts, we should “both” provide documentation of the facts we present. This should not include any hearsay, or any information that is not available to the public. Again, I would “assume” that some of the information you presented in your original post # 1065, came from either your conclusions or from the company. However, there are some items of information that you claim are facts in your post, that are indeed not information that is available to the public as yet. So if the words assume or opinion are included in any of my responses and you can refute them, by all means, do so. Regarding, your request that I include all my responses in one post, that was not feasible because of the length of the post and the proper time to research an intelligent response. All that said, I have deferred completing my response to your original post of item #s 8 – 26 for the moment.