Voice communications over the Internet demonstrated in LV

Thursday, May 7, 1998 | 10:10 a.m.

Internet users would be able to initiate a voice conversation with another user with the click of a button with equipment demonstrated at a computer show concluding today in Las Vegas.

The Networld + Interop show, which drew an estimated 50,000 people to the Las Vegas Convention Center and the Las Vegas Hilton this week, is dedicated to network computing and connecting one machine to another.

The focus of this year's show, sponsored for the first time by Softbank, the company that brings the massive Comdex computer show to Las Vegas every November, is in perfecting voice and video applications on the Internet.

"As convergence continues in the telecommunications and computer industries, there will be more voice and video traffic over the Internet," said Leonard Heymann, vice president of content for Networld + Interop.

Heymann said the hottest topics at this year's show have been security of data, speed of transmission and keeping the cost of doing business down. Communicating from computer to computer on the Internet is likely to remain an inexpensive option for businesses because Internet commerce is not as regulated as phone service, Heymann said. And, many government leaders, including President Clinton, have pledged to keep it that way.

That is driving several businesses to explore voice communications applications at this show and others like it.

One of the pioneers of Internet telephony is Murray Hill, N.J.-based Lucent Technologies, which demonstrated its so-called "voice-over-Internet protocol" products that are expected to save businesses money in the long run although the initial investment is somewhat steep.

Using a system of servers, switches and Lucent's new software, first introduced last fall, the company has developed a number of communications applications. Here are some of the things the system will allow users to do:

* A user with a laptop computer could access e-mail and voice mail remotely with one system.

* Data, voice and video information could be shared among a team of employees with laptops at virtually any location.

* A business could establish an international presence with a Web site and could take local phone calls that could be forwarded over the Internet. That's especially advantageous to a small company that could complete with larger competitors because its appearance on a Web site could look as prominent and impressive as a larger rival.

* Simultaneous voice and data transmission. A Lucent technician explained that a user browsing the Web could view a page and click a button to get additional information. That click could activate a virtual phone conversation with a representative from the Web site's company. In the two-way transmission of data, the company also could display additional Web pages on the user's screen or provide a split screen arrangement to compare data.

Quality has always been a concern in the transmission of voice messages over the Internet, but Lucent's test at the convention provided a connection that was at least as good as the transmission of a cellular phone conversation.

Because voices are compressed into digital packages before being sent over the Internet, then reconstructed, there's also a slight delay in the transmission. To the user, it only seems like a fraction of a second, but it is disconcerting to first-time users.

Cost is also an issue. A Lucent spokeswoman said the technology costs about $2,000 per port. She pointed out, however, that long-distance charges would be eliminated by using the Internet for those calls.