BIOS: Technology Means Business

Let’s start from the beginning. Simply put, VoIP (or Voice over Internet Protocol) is telephony using your broadband Internet connection, or Internet telephony. Traditional telephone service takes your voice and turns it into electronic signals which are sent over telephone company wires. Those signals are then converted into sound by the telephone on the other end.

VoIP, on the other hand, treats voice like any other piece of information being sent over the Internet - by turning it into packets of data. These packets are encoded into data files, sent over the Internet, and decoded back into sound by a computer or another device (such as a VoIP telephone adapter). And since you’re charged only when the Internet data is converted and connected to the standard telephone system on the other end, it is significantly cheaper than paying for both sides like a traditional voice calls.

Skype is the world’s fastest-growing service for Internet communication. In case you’ve never used it, it is a piece of free software that allows people around the world to talk and Instant Message (IM) for free. In particular, Skype gives you the ability to make clear and cost-free calls to other Skype users using your broadband Internet connection.

Pitched at business travellers far from home, split families around the world, and those looking to cut their long distance costs, U.S. Robotics’ Skype products are a part of the company’s effort to deliver sophisticated yet simple connectivity solutions to home, home office and small office, and small business customers.

U.S. Robotics’ USB Internet Speakerphone (USR9610) lets you make Skype calls hands-free. With decent echo cancellation technology, hardware volume and microphone mute buttons (small blue/red LED indicates the status of the microphone), and full-duplex operation, the USR9610 (£28.99) works just like a traditional speakerphone, only without the costs of a long distance call. At the rear of the unit are two connectors for attaching the supplied USB cable and an optional pair of headphones for private conversations.

Perfectly round and small in height (143x185x45mm, 0.3kg) with a speaker grill on the top, the USR9610’s speaker isn’t the greatest quality or loudest on the market, but it does allow for clear, easy to understand calls. In addition, the silver-and-black unit’s small size and resilient design allows you to drop it into your laptop bag without fear of damage. Having said that, we’d have liked U.S. Robotics to bundle a protective carrying pouch for extra protection.

Installation is a snap. All you need to do is install the bundled copy of Skype (no need if you’re already using it) and then configure Skype to use the speakerphone for Audio In/Out (there are no dedicated drivers).

You will also need to set Windows’ microphone volume and make sure that ‘USB Audio Device’ is selected in Windows’ ‘Control Panel’. You can then start using the USR9610 just like a traditional VoIP phone - but without picking it up of course! You don’t even need to worry about an external power supply because the device is powered by your computer’s USB port.

Compared to other devices on the market today, the USR9610 is a small and easy-to-carry unit. But there is a downside to this convenience. Incoming speech tends to rattle the speaker and recorded audio can be choppy. Occasionally, the microphone mutes itself, too.

Other issues we noticed were that the speakerphone automatically turns on Automatic Gain Control and Microphone pass-through to the speaker, which created echo and over-compensation. These, of course, can be turned off but you’ll have to get your hands dirty. You may also notice that recorded audio (i.e. your voice) is a little too deep, with little tone to it.

The USR9610 is very portable and reasonably priced, making it a neat gadget to have sitting on your desk (especially for families), but its audio quality is a little hit-and-miss. [6.5]

[Best VoIP Pricing UK]
[Best VoIP Pricing US]