Why Plan? My first VoIP experience occurred in the mid-1990s. I was using a dial-up Internet connection at 14.4 Kbps and the VocalTec Internet Phone softphone application. My system was an Intel 386 PC running Windows 95. I had a half-duplex sound card and a cheap desktop microphone. Imagine my surprise when my voice calls were spotty and slow. I couldn't talk at the same time as the other party and soon resorted to saying "Over" after each phrase (a throwback to my CB radio experience). It soon dawned on me that either Voice over IP was not ready for prime time or I was not ready for Internet phone. The reality was someplace in the middle. Without a fast modem and better sound card, I would never get decent voice quality. Without a headset microphone, my calls would be full of echoes. I shelved Internet Phone for a while and began watching (wistfully) the developments in business Voice over IP. I promised myself I would get back in when consumer VoIP worked better. I could have been using VoIP much sooner if I had planned better. If I had installed a faster modem, or if I had subscribed to an ISDN or Frame Relay Internet service, I would have had much better luck. If I had purchased a Pentium computer (just out), a full-duplex sound card, and a headset microphone, I would have had a much better phone experience. Of course, this would have added significantly to my telecommunications expenses, canceling any savings I hoped to have. Having an implementation plan would have exposed both outcomes. I would have known that I was not ready for VoIP, both because of cost and because of quality. As a result of my bad experience, I entered the consumer market much later than many of the early adopters, who have been enjoying VoIP for almost a decade. | 