Smart Tech Makes New VoIP Products No-Brainers
Diana Forbes
12/24/07 - 12:16 PM EST
LOS ANGELES -- A penny for your thoughts? Well, not even a penny can buy this neat new device that tells you what the person on the other end of the phone is really thinking.
This speech-analysis application is a prototype, not quite ready for prime time but well worth keeping an eye on. Just from a person's tone of vioce, it determines whether he or she is interested in a conversation or just "being a jerk." Also, Gadget Grrl highlights the Ooma -- it's a VoIP with more oomph for the buck.
First, let's look at the Ooma:
If you've got a "soho" -- small office/home office -- VoIP, or voice-over-Internet protocol -- is worth investigating for the savings you'll get on your phone bills. VoIP, comes in many forms these days, and a new player in this space is Ooma.
What sets this Internet telephony service apart is that there are no monthly fees or contracts associated with the service. Instead, you pay a one-time upfront $399 for the hardware. This is a special launch price; the manufacturer's suggested retail price is $599. This service enables you to make free, unlimited local and long-distance calls anywhere in the U.S.
Ooma offers two different models: landline and stand-alone.
Here's where it gets interesting. The landline model is different from other VoIP devices, because with Ooma you can keep your existing phone number, and your local phone company maintains control of your phone number.
In fact, when you sign up for Ooma, Ooma will contact your local phone company and remove some of the premium services that you are currently paying for: call waiting, voice mail and three-way calling. These features are all free with Ooma.
So, for example, when you make a call, Ooma checks to see if it's a local call, and if it is, the call will be routed through your phone line. If it's a long-distance call, it will be routed to an Ooma peer-to-peer network that searches for a hub within the receiver's calling area.
The long distance call then gets routed over the Internet to the hub, and the receiver's local landline would terminate the call. Another feature of note here is the ability to call 911, because calls are routed through a local phone company.
Ooma provided me with a stand-alone model, with a local phone number different from my current one, and it set up without a hitch. Clarity and connection times were comparable to other VoIPs. To add other phones, you'll need to purchase a Scout device for $40.
Keep in mind that Ooma is a new company, and some of you may remember the quick rise and fall of Sunrocket, but the Ooma business model stands a much better chance of survival, given that your number stays local.
A very interesting prototype is being developed, called the Jerk-O-Meter. This real-time speech-feature analysis application runs on a VoIP or cell-phone and can detect
from your tone of voice whether you are interested in a conversation or just "being a jerk." This application has tremendous potential for sales, marketing and call centers, and political pollsters will want these on every fundraising phone in their office.
The Jerk-O-Meter is the work of Anmol Madan, a Ph.D. candidate at the MIT Media Laboratory, and Dr. Alex (Sandy) Pentland, a pioneer in wearable and socially aware computing.
To date, the current version of the Jerk-O-Meter is a research prototype, and it runs in Linux on the Zaurus VoIP phone but could easily be converted into a downloadable application for a cell phone.
Jerk-O-Meter is an academic research project and is not commercially available at this time. It is designed to analyze only the user's conversation, for now, and not the person at the other end of the line. Further developments on this could be interesting to watch.
Site to See:
Cell-Phone Recycling
Enter your zip code and this site will locate where you can donate or recycle your cell phones. It lists both local and national programs in which you can participate, including domestic abuse centers, cancer centers and animal protection services. Now you can upgrade your cell phone and discard your old one for a good cause.
