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Technology Stocks : VocalTec (VOCL) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: BARRY ALLEN who wrote (1116)	2/26/1998 6:05:00 PM
From: sepku	Respond to of 2349

Forwarding SF Chronicle article: ------------------------------------ sfgate.com. 5 cents-a-Minute Internet Calls Coming Soon Jonathan Marshall, Chronicle Staff Writer Thursday, February 26, 1998 Even if you don't have a computer, the Internet may save you money on long-distance phone calls. On Monday, New Jersey-based IDT Corp. will begin offering nickel-a-minute rates for calls anywhere in the United States, using the Internet to carry conversations to customers. The rate applies 24 hours a day, all week. Most industry analysts believe that a large fraction of telephone calls will migrate to the Internet during the next decade. AT&T already offers Internet-based telephone service in Japan. MCI uses Internet telephony to help call centers manage electronic commerce. And one of Europe's largest carriers, Deutsche Telekom, is a major investor in one of the pioneers of Internet telephone technology, VocalTec, based in Israel. IDT began offering long-distance phone service over the Internet to Bay Area customers in November, for 8 cents a minute. Through improvements of its technology and expanded call volume, IDT was able to lower its prices domestically and to several foreign cities. Its new rates make it the cheapest service around. Internet-based telephony, although in its infancy, already is becoming extremely price competitive. Earlier this month, Denver-based Qwest Communications International Inc. announced long-distance service to residents of San Francisco and San Jose for 7.5 cents a minute. It also uses Internet technology to carry conversations. This is how IDT's service works. A user calls a local number to reach a ''gateway,'' essentially a computer that converts voices to digital signals. The gateway then sends those signals over IDT's Internet backbone to another gateway, which converts them back into voice and completes the call over the local telephone system. Before talking, callers have to enter a 12-digit account number and then the 10- digit number they wish to call. That's a lot of hassle, but customers who run up large bills will find it worthwhile. Raymond Fisher of Tiburon uses IDT to call his son in Australia and friends in England and New Zealand. IDT's new rates are as low as 9 cents a minute to London and 10 cents to Sydney. ''We're cutting our phone bills in half,'' Fisher said. Fisher said ''99 percent of the time, voice quality is excellent,'' noting that occasionally a bad echo or noise on the line will force him to redial. ''When you compare the price, you put up with that,'' he said. Free calls made over the Internet by owners of multimedia computers have given Internet telephony a mixed reputation. Because the Internet often is congested with data traffic, such calls often sound like bad cellular phone connections. IDT, though, offers relatively high call quality by routing calls directly onto the Internet backbone through its managed data networks. IDT got its start in 1991 as an international call-back service. Later, it branched into Internet services. Today, its Internet- based telephone service has attracted 20,000 U.S. customers. People wishing more information about the service can call (800) CALL-IDT. Get a printer-friendly version of this article ON THE GATE Wire up, plug in, and log on: Technology on The Gate. c1998 San Francisco Chronicle Page C1 Feedback Bay Area Stocks \| Personal Portfolio \| Herb Greenberg