Look At Me When I'm Talking To You!
by Gary Woods

The video phone has been around since about 1964 when it was debuted at the New York World's Fair. But that attempt and every other in the following four decades never really took off, mostly because of poor video quality. The emergence of broadband and other technologies could finally change all that. Faster, more reliable connections, as well as improved video compression technologies have given this latest generation of phone the ability to deliver near-television-quality video. Cost is still an issue for the hardware, anywhere from $250 to $800 for the phone but monthly rates have come down to about $15 to $30 per month.

The coolest one I saw as the 8X8 Packet8 phone which delivers stunning video and audio quality over a higher-speed broadband connection. You'll need about 256 Kbps of bi-directional bandwidth for the best quality. Designed to replace your existing phone and voice service completely, it comes with all the bells and whistles, and a calling plan of $29.95 per month that includes long distance and international voice and video. The service includes conference calls, call waiting, call forwarding, voice mail, and of course, video service.

The Packet8 attaches to you existing cable or DSL broadband connection via its Ethernet jack. At 256 Kbps the quality is great with crisp video and no pixilation and good motion handling. Voice quality is very good, akin to other high-quality VoIP (Voice Over IP) services.

If you have any suggestions or questions for me please drop me a note at garyandlaury@santabarbaraproperties.com or see my column on the Internet at http://www.santabarbaraproperties.com or call me at (805) 729-0910