I’m looking for a voice-over-IP solution for home. I have two residences that both have high-speed data connections. Both would like to talk to each other over the Internet, and avoid the cost of international calls.
I’d like to know if there are any possible solutions out there that do not involve a headset/mike setup. Because one of the households is populated with somewhat techno-phobic folks, my first instinct (headsets, microphones, NetMeeting) isn’t the best. I’d like to give them something they can use that has the look and feel of a real phone.
I notice that Net2Phone has such an instrument – but it’s tied to their system, and would incur a small per-minute charge for use. Not ideal at all.
Cisco has IP phones… do they require a central switch of some kind?
More to the point, is there any solution in which I could field a regular-looking phone instrument that would use IP connectivity? It could work through a PC, or directly (both locations would have a hub and available RJ45 jacks, or a net-connected PC, for use).
I don’t know what the manufacturers charge for it, but here’s an IP based videophone that has VOIP capabilitities. For what it’s worth, it can connect to Net Meeting as well.
Viseon Videophone
A pair of Cisco IP phones (I’m assuming you mean the 79xx series) can be configured so that they always talk to each other. Basically, set up each one’s outgoing gateway address to the other phone’s IP address, and it’ll talk to the other every time it makes a call. However, you cannot easily add a 3rd phone to this kind of setup. Not without a central point of some kind. As far as I know, the same holds true for every IP phone out there, with a notable exception of Pingtel Xpressa (http://www.pingtel.com/index.jsp). However, Pingtel is buggy as hell, and they’re fairly expensive, too.
By the way, price-wise, an analog-to-phone adaptor might be a better solution for ya. The folks take their existing phone, plug it into a little black box (size of a modem), then the LBB(SotM) is plugged into an Ethernet hub/switch, or what have you. Cisco sells these as a separate line of products (check out the ATA series), and there’s also a whole bunch of stuff by Mediatrix (http://www.mediatrix.com/). Of hardware solutions, the Mediatrix boxes are the best from my experience - but I’m not sure about the pricing.
As for the central point for call dispatching (let’s call it an IP PBX for clarity’s sake)… I kinda make these for living. 
And with my company product, you can put together one of your own fairly easily. But there’s no trial version, sorry.
I’ve usr the Internet phone jack from Quicknet successfully. It has a jack for a regular phone on it.
http://www.quicknet.net/products/ipj.htm
Dada321:
Your link looks like the phone calls get charged a per-minute rate - is that not right?
Thanks, NetLord… I assume that two Mediatrix 1102 models, one at each end, is the right answer?
The charge is to use their Voice over IP gateways so you can call anybody ( IP Phone -> regular phone ). If all you want to do is IP<->IP then you don’t need their service and you just use you exisitng broadband Internet connection.
Additional info.
One way of looking at this, is the the Internet Phone Jack card let’s you replace the microphone/speakers/mouse/keyboard with a regular telephone and it’s familiar user interface for making Voice over IP calls.
With an IPJ the phone will ring when there is an incoming call. On the dialing side, the software let’s you setup speed-dial lists that map dialed digits to an IP address. So you pickup the phone, get dial-tone press “9” for grandma. The software converts that “9” to Grandma’s IP address and sends the call over the Internet. When it arrives at the destimation computer it rings the phone connected to the IPJ, the person answers and now you can talk.