Internet speak freely with CoolTalk

I recently heard about Internet Phone and know there are people communicating between Hong Kong and the US successfully. Could you advise what kind of software we need to have at both ends of the line and if it is worth trying it out? SOPHIA LEE Hong Kong Internet telephony has been around for a while now. In fact, one of the pieces of software available commercially that allows you to talk to someone else on the Internet is called Internet Phone. Other programs, such as Speak Freely, also allow you to do the same thing.

What we will see happening in the coming months is that programs that allow for Internet telephony will be included with package Net kits, or with browsers. For example, a program called CoolTalk that works with the new Netscape Navigator 3.0 software that lets you make Internet phone calls directly from the browser, is now available.

'CoolTalk is an Internet telephone tool included with Netscape Navigator 3.0 that provides high-quality audio conferencing, a full-featured whiteboard, and text-based communications using the chat tool,' Netscape publicity material informs us.

'With CoolTalk you can now talk and work collaboratively with friends and colleagues anywhere in the world via the Internet. And since CoolTalk works seamlessly with Navigator 3.0, you can send and receive calls directly from any Web page.' CoolTalk includes a number of features that older Internet phone programs came with, only CoolTalk's are supposed to be enhanced. The 'audio conferencing' feature, for example, is said to be full duplex capable, allowing you to talk to someone with both parties speaking simultaneously.

In the early days of Internet phone technology a conversation would have to be held as though it were being conducted on a CB radio, with the word 'over' being used by one party to indicate he or she has finished speaking. Other features in CoolTalk include a speed dialer, caller ID functionality, call screening, and mute buttons.

Another problem with Internet phone technology has always been audio quality, which is affected by a number of factors. Line quality is one of them, with modem speed (if you are a dial-up Internet user) being another.