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A Stateless IP Phone In The Works From AT&T
Boli writes: "Ran across this broadband phone today. It appears to be based on the Virtual Network Computing work done at AT&T Labs Cambridge. The most interesting feature is that all apps run on a server while the phone is only a display and I/O device. This opens the possibility for a variety of devices to display the same stuff. Imagine transferring a call from the phone to your browser display to paste a graphics file, then transfer again to a cordless. The VNC tools are free (as-in-beer) today." AT&T says they even have a working wireless prototype working in their building. (And VNC is Free as in GPL as well, according to their front page.) How long till conventional phones are obsolete?
I work for an integrator, and the most frustrating thing we do is support our systems once we have deployed them. Customers love to twiddle with our settings, modify the code, and do various other technically dangerous things. We have just begun using VNC as a remote debugging and support tool. What would usually take hours of phone calls, e-mails, and screen shots now gets covered in a few minutes. I can't count the number of site visits VNC has saved me.
Integration between my business phone and my desktop would be great. The phone could use some type of caller ID to determine which VNC connection(s) to create, and I could immediately be viewing the customers system. This would definitely save time and a lot of frustration.
The Cisco stuff is great, where I work we have about 200 of them and they are wonderful. We are thinking about replacing 3*2000 line PABX's with VOIP, except for one small issue.
The call managers are Cisco "Black boxes" that are accessed via a web browser to configure, unfortunatly they are actually running Windows 2000 or Windows NT4, and are suseptable to CODE-RED and Nimba. And cisco will only support Call managers that have particular versions of OS and patches on them. So when something like Nimba comes along, you have to wait for Cisco to certify the patch before you can patch your call manager, meanwhile its blerting virus and DOS's everywhere, or you patch it and pray, or you take it off the network and have no phones.
Requires a bit more thinking at this point
There is one important thing that your expensive digital phone system has over standard Ethernet, reliability.
Most telephone systems are designed to be reliable and fault-tolerant. Most data networks are designed to be fast and cheap. They are optimized for different goals.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
VNC was developed a LONG time ago by Olivetti Research Labs.
It's always been free; what I'm surprised at is that when AT&T took over, they allowed active development of a free tool.
I've been using it in one shape or another on various platforms since '98. It's possibly the only application I can say I've used on a regular basis for that entire time.
Probably about the same time that your new shiny IP phone will work during a power outage.
Remember, You are unique...just like everyone else.
Why is there no basic IP phone?
:-(
dammit! I want a simple phone with 1 or 2 ethernet jacks, maybe with a regular phone jack aswell. This phone would let you dial the IP address of another such phone and then the two phone could talk!
Why does this not exist? why do all IP phones have to be reliant on some kind of expensive complicated single-point-of-failure server???
This would be a great product. Geeks would snap it up, law firms could use it to make encypted calls between offices (i'm thinking vpn here)... It sounds really simple to me too. hmmm... maybe i'll have to build my own...
don't give me crap about latency. business class ADSL gets you 30ms pings to nearby cities, and home DSL is generally under 100... if it's good enough for Quake i'm sure it's good enough for voice.