Internet Phone Wizard
Score: 2 out of 3 
Review Type: Hands On
Reviewer: Chris Kaminski
Date: July 10, 2001
The InternetPhoneWizard (IPW) is a VoIP (Voice over IP) product. It allows you to
make telephone calls over the Internet using the bandwidth available on your broadband
Internet connection using any standard telephone headset. The phone calls can be
made to other computers or to regular phone numbers. The unit I tested connected
to the computer using USB, but PCI versions are also available.
Switching Support
Along with the standard RJ11 phone jack for your telephone, you get a second RJ-11
connector to plug in a standard analog phone line. Pressing a simple key sequence
on your telephone switches between your analog house phone line and your new Internet
‘phone line’. Since the Internet line has a very different dial-tone it is easy
to distinguish witch one you have selected even if you can’t see the handy lights
on the front of the IPW.
Selecting and configuring a long distance (LD) provider
The PhoneWizard allows you to select the LD service provider of your choice from
a list of supported companies. Since VoIP is anything but standardized, most of
the companies work very differently. Each company has its own software, its own
billing procedures, its own connectivity requirements, etc. Additionally if you
are using connection sharing hardware or software, you will probably need to open
holes in your firewall to allow voice communications to operate. Each provider has
different firewall requirements (of course). The simplest solution is to place your
computer in a DMZ when you are going to make a call.
Connected at last
Once I got myself connected to a LD provider and got the IPW working (after fighting
with my firewall), I was amazed at the usability of the VoIP technology over my
cable modem. My local cable modem provider is pretty saturated but my calls went
through fine and sounded clear. There was a sight delay on the line but it was not
much different than certain cellular phone delays.
No Windows 2000 support for USB
A large disappointment was the lack of Windows 2000 support on the USB model. The
IPW USB works with Windows 98/SE/ME only. Windows 2000 is supported on the PCI version.
State of the Industry
The biggest problem that I ran into while testing the IPW is the immaturity of the
consumer level VoIP industry in general. Broadband routers are hard to configure
for voice applications, each LD company uses different software and support is very
hard to come by. The IPW does a great job connecting a standard phone to a Windows
98/ME computer, but the rest of the industry is going to need some work before I
can truly endorse VoIP for everyone.
Why Bother?
The IPW’s strength is in allowing you to select a provider that works best for you.
If you select one that they support directly, your phone keypad will even work for
dialing. If you select one that the IPW does not support, you will need to dial
using the LD services application.
I found LD providers that give 2 hours of free calls to any of 25 countries just
for having an account with them ($15 minimum deposit). Other companies had plans
that took US to US calls down to .02 per minute – FLAT. If you are a serious long
distance talker and have a cable or DSL modem, this device could save you some serious
money.
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