Family Video Calls For All
Occasions
How one of the new broadband
video conference telephones can enrich your family life. Videophone
service is now VERY affordable.
By: John Shepler
You know how wonderful it is to hear the
voice of a loved one hundreds or thousands of miles away. The
modern public telephone system makes those long distance calls
sound like they are right next door. But, wouldn't it be great
if you could see each other while you talk? Now you can with
new technology video phones that send live full color moving
pictures as well as voice conversations over your broadband Internet
connection.
A World of New Possibilities to Connect
Family Members
Hey, there's a new baby in the family! What's the first thing
you want to do? Why, call up Mom and Dad living two states away
and tell them the good news. You probably have pictures which
you can send in the mail or email if they are in digital format.
But, how great would it be if Mom picked up the phone and the
first thing she saw was you rocking the new little one in your
arms? Got some videos of baby's first hours? Plug your video
camera into the phone and play it back for your parents.
Grandma lives alone and too far away to
visit often. She LOVES to talk to you on the phone, but you have
to limit those calls to keep your phone bill in check. Set Grandma
up with a videophone and broadband Internet service and you can
talk all you like for one small monthly fee. Best of all, you
and Grandma can see each other as soon as she picks up the phone.
You don't need a computer and you don't need to mess around with
trying to set up software and webcams. Any two parties with these
advanced videophones can see as well as hear each other just
as easily as making a phone call.
Dad is out of town on an extended business
trip but he doesn't want to miss out on what's going on at home.
Fortunately, Dad packed a videophone and he's got a broadband
connection where he's staying. Now you can have family conferences
every evening. Since these videophones also have a speakerphone
feature, the conversation is completely hands-free and everyone
can hear through the speakers and watch on the 5 inch color screens.
Jimmy built a rocket and launched it at the football field. He's
got video. Stacy recorded her debut in the school play. Little
Tommy's built a dinosaur out of Legos. It gets bigger as it moves
menacingly toward the phone.
So Many New Opportunities with a Video
Phone
Families and friends can now share holidays, birthdays and any
special event.
Shut-ins and seniors get regular cheer.
Plus, videophones can be used for distance learning to keep up
in class and for telemedicine so that health care professionals
can see as well as hear how their patients are doing.
The deaf and hard of hearing may have trouble
communicating on a regular telephone, but they can SEE sign language
on the video screen.
Check up on the baby sitter or verify that
your second home, office or warehouse is secure. Simply set the
remote videophone to automatically answer and you can see whatever
the camera on the phone is pointed at.
Home based business people and teleworkers
can stay in touch with associates or the home office for easy
video conferences. Watch a presentation at a far away conference
center. Plug a VCR into your videophone and you can even record
your conference to review later.
Can You Really Get High Quality Pictures
on a Phone?
You can now. Early video telephones tried to squeeze both voice
and picture through a standard telephone line. The quality was
dismal. At best, you could enjoy some grainy still pictures.
The technical breakthrough that makes great
video conferencing possible is the broadband videophone. With
a high speed Internet connection from DSL or Cable Modem, there
is plenty of bandwidth to send both high quality telephone calls
and excellent full motion video with near-TV quality.
A 5 inch active matrix TFT-LCD screen is
mounted to the phone. This is a smaller version of the screen
on your laptop computer. It displays motion up to 30 frames per
second so that movement is both clear and smooth. Plus, there
is a jack on the phone where you can plug in a camcorder, digital
camera or VCR to send those pictures also. Use the freeze frame
to stop the action any time you want. Not dressed for the occasion?
OK. There is a privacy mode to block the camera signal until
you want to turn it back on.
You also have the option to connect the
phone to a bigger screen like a TV set so that larger groups
can be included.
Are These Video Calls Affordable?
You bet. You pay one small monthly fee for unlimited local and
nationwide calling to any of the 50 US states plus Canada. The
cost? $29.95 a month for this unlimited service. No more than
you'd probably pay for a second phone line with no video capability.
You can also make calls to anyone with
the same videophone service worldwide at no extra charge. International
voice calls to all other phones are priced at modest rates per
minute, depending on the country called.
For videophone service you'll need to buy
a special videophone or a pair of videophones if you want one
for travel or to give to a friend or relative. Consider this
the perfect gift that they'll really use month after month, year
after year. Video phones cost about what you'd pay for a good
video camcorder or small flat panel TV. There may well be special
introductory rebates running right now, so be sure to check.
Is VideoPhone Service Easy to Set up?
Absolutely. Remember that there is no technical mumbo-jumbo to
learn. Using a videophone is just as easy as using a regular
telephone, but with pictures added.
You'll need to already have a high speed
Internet connection available at home or where you are going
to use your videophone. This should be Cable Modem service, DSL
or a business Internet service such as T1. Dial-up Internet service
won't work. You'll also need to have a home router or gateway
installed to share the Internet connection between your PC and
videophone.
The videophones come set up and ready to
use. Simply plug them into power and a network connection, activate
your account and start making calls. Everything you need to make
video calls is built into the phone. That includes a camera,
microphone and color monitor screen.
In most cases, that's all there is to it.
In special circumstances you'll have to manually configure some
settings but that should only take a few extra minutes.
Tell Me How to Get Videophone Service
NOW!
First, do you have high speed Internet
service? If not, check
for broadband availability here.
Now, visit our Packet8 services page and click
on "video service." Note that Packet8 also offers voice
only VoIP broadband phone service for residential and business
users at very attractive rates.
You may also be interested in our article
on family audio conference calls that let you connect more than
two parties for voice conferences. Read "Family
Conference Calls for the Holidays."
