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.

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.

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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."