THE PHONE COMPANIES want the FCC to ban it, so why not give Internet telephony a whirl? Don't expect to be able to hear the sound of a pin dropping -- this technology is still in its infancy.
Charley Kline and Eric Scouten's free Maven is an audioconferencing tool that can be coupled with CU-SeeMe, a popular freeware videoconferencing tool, or used all by itself. It allows Macintosh users to communicate with Macintosh, Windows, or UNIX users who also use Maven. It requires an Internet connection, at least 4 MB of RAM, System 7, and a 14.4-kbps or faster modem (a 28.8-kbps modem is highly recommended).
The $59 NetPhone, from Electric Magic (http://www.emagic.com/), was designed especially for use with 14.4-kbps modems. It supports the UNIX vat audio standard and hooks into Netscape Navigator via URLs beginning with netphone://. It requires at least a 20-MHz 68030-based machine, System 7, Sound Manager 3.x, MacTCP, an Internet connection, and a microphone.
The $49.95 Internet Phone, from Vocaltec (http://www.vocaltec.com/mac/web/mac.htm), wins the prize for the coolest user interface, complete with animations showing you the old-fashioned equivalent of your digital phone call. Windows and Mac users can communicate, and links to "chat rooms" are provided, so you can test the software right away. It requires 12 MB of RAM, System 7.5.1 or later (System 7.5.3 recommended), Apple's PlainTalk microphone, Mac TCP 2.0.6 or Open Transport 1.1, PPP 2.5 or direct Internet connection, 14.4-kbps or faster modem, QuickTime 2.0, and Sound Manager 3.1.
