Idea Center

Digital Home Entertainment systems are more affordable today than they were about three(3) years back. Home Theatre Systems, Surround Sound installations and better home entertainment experience solutions have been around the block for a while.

Direct-to-Home (DTH) Television has made strong inroads in several markets including India. The strongest driver for this was a lack of high bandwidth last mile trickling down from "Multiple Service Operators" (MSOs.) LCD Televisions are becoming more popular, High resolution HD capable televisions have entered the market. The Set top boxes (STBs) today have already started providing Video recording with Live TV pause features (which started with the TiVo) and is available even in India as Tata Sky Plus.

The next wait is for "Interactive Television." Many have termed this as Internet Television, IPTV, but the end-user will want to experience the next level of technology in entertainment. The ability to control, choose and interact directly with television programmes.

As a user, a Basic set of features I would expect would be:

• On-Demand Viewership: On Demand Programme Viewership with On Demand Payment in a cost sensitive environment where the user can select programmes while using the Television from a list of available programmes.
  
• Advertisement Control: I should have the ability to pay more and therefore reduce the number of advertisements (normal, medium, low, none) for different pricing slabs while taking programmes on-demand.
• Password Access: I want to be able to set passwords or access control cards for different users at home, with one automatic setting for "Family Viewership" that helps us automatically decide the Censorship Ratings (U, PG, [13], [18], [21]*)
• Gaming Console: I want the same box to allow me to play conventional PC or PS2 or PS3 games so that I don't have to invest in one more box as a gaming console.
• Internet Videos: I should be able to watch videos from the Internet optionally and also listen to "Internet Radio".
• Music Mode: While listening to music using the Interactive Television Set-Top-Box I would like the Television display to be switch off or to go to a low power mode.
• Television compatibility: I should be able to connect the box to a Television or a Computer Display with the appropriate cabling and have no hassles in usage.
• Interactive Polling: Interactive polls on some Television Programmes should be usable with the Set top Box without requiring a separate SMS service or to logon to the Internet from a PC. The Set top Box by itself should allow this.
• Programme Recording & Playback: Simultaneous playback of recorded programmes and recording of programmes in the background must be possible. It must be possible to record multiple programmes in the background if family members are interested in more than one programme.
• Multichannel View: There must be a simple way to check out a mosaic of what is happening on a multiple set of channels, lets say sports channels or movie channels or soap channels or news channels or a custom group of channels. This way I don't have to channel browse too often. This could be for a short duration to avoid charging for all the channels viewed.
  
• Backward compatibility: I should still be able to select a Cable TV feed that contains multiple channels without interactivity. The box should be compatible with service providers who do not provide Interactive Television.
• Subtitles: If I do not understand the language of a programme, I must be able to subscribe to sub-titles. I must be able to switch off subtitles when I don't need them. This can be an additonal service with extra payments.
• Optional HDTV: I must be able to choose the quality of Television viewed. If I choose high HDTV quality, I would pay higher, or I would be content watching the programmes in SDTV (Standard Definition Television) without having to pay extra.
• Media Organization: I should be able to organize recorded programmes by name or genre or time or the content as I wish to.
• Dynamic Quality: The Brightness, Sharpness and Contrast of the image displayed by the set-top-box should be dynamically adjusted for different feeds to provide a preset best effect. I should also have the option of changing some of the display and audio quality parameters.
• Audio Equalizer: There must be an audio equalizer available that I can tune when I am watching music videos or some special programmes. It should not entirely be presets for different type of programmes.
• Battery Backup: If the Power goes down, the Set top Box should safely go to a low power mode or sleep on battery and no recorded programmes should be interrupted or damaged due to power failure.
• Connector Location: All connectors should be behind the Set top Box with only controls and Remote Controller access and an LCD Display in front. This is to keep the setup aesthetically good.
• Placement: The Set Top Box must come in colors that are compatible with the new generation television. They should be appropritaely shaped to be used together with LCD televisions and not require a flat top to place them.
• Programme Rating: I should be able to rate a program that I can use to find out if I want to subscribe to it the next time it is available. I should be able to decide whether my rating of the programme should be available to my Service Provider.
• Remote Control: The Remote control should not have complex controls and have as few buttons as possible.
• OSD: The On-Screen-Display must look like the User Interface on my computer, not green or blue text with a transparent background,
  

The above are well thought-of functions that an Interactive Television should have at the very minimum.

Posted by morpheus at 08:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

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Desktop Video Telephony and Internet Broadband services (128kbps DSL lines and faster ones) are available aplenty. Would this be sufficient reason to bring your Videophone home? Here's what I believe is essential for the Videophone to make it to a desk at my home.

Basic Function

• The phone should work with my DSL modem seamlessly and come pre-configured for my Internet service provider. At most I should have to enter to my username and password to access the Internet.
• The phone should work with a specialized phone directory on the web where everyone I can conference with can be connected. I should be able to add my personal addressbook contacts who have Voice or Video connections to that website (no typing on the phone) and directly use a listing. The phone must not lock me down to that directory or addressbook service. There must be clearly available alternatives.
  
• The phone should help me reach emergency services if required with the least number of key presses possible. Almost no phone has a feature to reach emergency services and that is a big bother.
• The phone should work in whatever lighting condition exists in my home. I should not have to setup special lighting or backgrounds for the phone. That would become a hidden expense I will be unprepared for.
• If I already have a switch or a hub and a small network sharing setup at home, I should be able to use the Videophone on that setup without any special configuration.
• The voice quality must be crystal clear and much better than a normal POTS phone. Further, I should be able to tune the quality better by increasing the Digital Fidelity (16KHz - 48KHz.)
  

Pay only for what I use or need

• The phone should allow me to use only the features I want. I may not want to conference with multiple people, I just want to call one person at a time. I may want to upgrade my service plan in the future.
  
• I should be able to buy applications like Video Players, Music Players and Picture Slide shows. Conferencing and other features should also be available as optional add-ons. The phone can have an add-on alarm clock that I can download through my service provider. I don't want to pay for such applications when I am just looking for pure phone functionality.
• The phone advertises features such as VLAN. I have only one PC and no LAN at home. I am not prepared to pay for features I don't understand and don't need at all.
• I want a battery and Wireless feature as optional accessories I can buy for usage later. First I want to experience the videophone with a direct DSL connection.

Ease of Use and Access

• I want everyone at home to be able to use the phone with ease, when I lift up the phone I should get a list of contacts I can dial, not a number pad to dial some complex Internet numbers. I should have a speed dial option that shows photographs of the contact.
• I would like to have the least number of keys possible and a touchpad or  a touchscreen to quickly operate the phone.
• I would like to talk to some of my friends and relatives who have PC and Yahoo Video Chat or MSN Live Video Chat or Skype. I should not be tied to the service provider directory that I expect as a minimum in my phone. These additional features can be something I must be able to subscribe to. I may not want to call all my relatives every month. 

Value Added Services

• I want to view some YouTube videos on my phone as it can play video and voice quite well and has a personal screen.
• I want to watch some photos on Flickr or Picasa or some specialised photo service. I would like to set one of the albums to be my default screensaver to make it look like a photo frame.
• The phone should have aesthetic looks that fits the ambience of my house. I don't want a black bulky box.
• I want a screen like in DishTV or TataIndicom which advertises new features that I can easily subscribe to if I need them. I don't want to receive letters and I don't prefer receiving marketing email on my personal mail address.
• I want to access social networking sites like Orkut or Facebook from my phone. I don't want to any special web-browsing, just some social networking, so that I can add some video messages or pictures. I want to stay in touch with my friends without having to switch on a PC, connect to the internet and then start interacting.
• As a PC user, I download files from the Internet. As Internet bandwidth is charged less during the night I would like to download, but I don't want to keep my PC on all night. Can I use my videophone to download files? This will be a very useful feature!
• I want to connect my Camera to my Videophone and transmit some photos from the camera in a Video call. This would be very good when I am talking to my relatives and family members.
• I would also like to play some video clips from my Digital Camera over a video call. This will be really nice in keeping in touch.

Cost Saving Add-on Features

• I have a bluetooth headset that I use with my mobile phone. Can I use this with my videophone, this way I don't need to be always in front unless I am on a video call.
• If my Videophone is already connected to the Internet I want to directly connect my PC to the Videophone and start using it. I don't want to key in my DSL password both on my phone and my PC. This must be an optional feature, but not a necessary one.
• I should be able to turn on or turn off video to save bandwidth during a call. I may not need to have video transmitted through the entire call. At that time I'd like the person I called to see recent picture slideshow of the call I made with minimum or no bandwidth spend from my side.
• I don't want my friend whom I have called to see a black screen when I want to stop transmission of live video (or add video privacy.) This time too, a slideshow of a recent call with my friend should be shown on his/her screen with minimum or no use of bandwidth.
• When my videophone is idle, I would like it to show the time and an optional photo show without spending lot of electricity.
• When I am looking at call history, I should also be seeing the bandwidth utilized with the total bandwidth used for the month for the videophone. This way I will know how much I am really using the phone and whether I am exceeding any bandwidth limit because I will have to pay extra to my ISP.
• I should not have to buy an additional Ethernet Hub or equipment to connect both my PC and my Videophone to the Internet. I want to avoid extra expenses.
• I want to store some Music Videos and Music on my Videophone and play them without needing any special accessory.

Security

• I want some security features where I can lock the phone when I am going for long holidays. This must not require some long password or number that I have to remember. As it is, I already have so many numbers and passwords to keep in mind.
• I would like some conversations to be "scrambled" or "highly secure" and do not want any possibility that it can be intercepted or recorded in any way. I am willing to sacrifice extra cost or bandwidth for this feature.
• As the Videophone would remain on a desk at some location, I would like the option of using it like a security camera while it is not in call.
  

Mobility

• I want to be able to keep my videophone anywhere in the house, not near my DSL connection. If I can do this with a simple add on on the videophone which connects some wireless antenna to my DSL line and lets me keep the Videophone (powered on normal electric power) elsewere in the house, it would be very convenient.
• Sometimes I may want to connect my Videophone to a Television. But I want this as an optional accessory I can buy. I don't want the videophone to give "Television connector" and make me pay for it.

There's lots more that Videophone designers can think of and add to the device to improve the user experience. A videophone should have more features than a mobile phone available in the market at the same price. Otherwise the price vs features matrix for the phone falls flat with no motivation for anyone to invest in it.

Posted by morpheus at 06:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (15) | TrackBacks (0)

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With an understanding of Video Telephony 2.0, and a preview at what the new generation of Video Telephones look like, we come to the basic question, "How can Video Telephones add value?"

Video Telephony 1.0 failed because it just tried to add "Live Images" to a standard Telephone Call. Clearly, that alone is not a strong motivation for me or anyone else to move to Video Telephony. We would all love more features that only such new Technology can offer.

At Office,

Basic Features

• Bandwidth Configuration: I had to travel to a city to keep an appointment with a partner, but I have a special meeting at my company on the same day. If I could use a Video Telephone to keep the meeting with my partner it would help.
  
• But with lower bandwidth, multiple service providers, lack of assurance on Quality of Service (QoS), can my Video Telephone do that? I have no idea what service providers are powering my partners desk or what Video Telephone he is using. I fear that the technology is too new and immature to be reliable. My partner's internet connectivity is poor, he has a wireless connection that keeps dropping from time to time, but I want the call to run seamlessly.
  
• Alternate Inputs: I would like to connect my PC, Camera or DVD Player's output to the Video Telephone and send some multimedia message to the person I am talking to on the Video Telephone. I am actually making a sales pitch and the presentation and a live demo of my product are available. The presentation is on my PC. The live demo is on a DVD. Can I connect them to the Video Telephone during the conversation to convey my message better?
• Broadcast: We have a very small office with no conference room. We have quite a few (say 15-20) conference attendees and we don't want them crammed out. I would like to address all the attendees at their desktops to give them an important message. I have not been able to visit them personally at their desks (though I want to). Can I have an Interactive call with all my colleagues who have Desktop Video Telephones? With Conferencing Phones, I understand that they could have used one phone and come to one room. With a Desktop Video Telephone, I would like them to stay on their desk and participate in the discussion. I am just borrowing this idea from a webinar, and would like this to be interactive.
• Web Content: I am having an important Video Conversation with a friend. I would like to quickly point her to a website to which I have a link through the Video Telephone? Could I do that with ease? My Video Telephone can connect to the PC, but there is no way I can pass on the website. I also would like to show a new Presentation I have made over the call.
  
• Live Caller ID: I am getting a call on my Video Telephone that gives the name of the caller, can I see who is calling this time? I don't want to have the traditional address book with each number associated with a small photograph, I would like to actually look at the person calling me to decide whether to pick up my phone. Most of the Video Telephones do not seem to provide this feature, I have even checked with my favorite Skype Video service. I'd like to call this "Live Caller ID." This is really useful if a team shares one Video Telephone!
• While I am already talking to my colleague over a Desktop Video Telephone, I receive a call from my Manager's phone. I would like the pop-up that says I am getting another call to show the "Live Caller ID" to help me chose my call priorities.

Value Additions

• Call Recording: I would like to keep a record of my Video call, sometimes not the entire call, but just a portion of it. Is there a way I can keep a record of a part of the Video conversation for my reference. I would like this to be directly stored on my PC if I can connect my PC simultaneously to the Video Telephone. I do not want hassles of having to store it on a USB stick when I already have a network connection.
  
• Video Pause: While having a Video Telephone call, I suddenly received a more important call on my mobile phone. I have decided to pause my Video Phone call. When I pause my Video phone call (stopping audio and video), I would like the person I have been conversing with to see a custom message from me; I don't want the person to think that he/she is being ignored.
• Scribble Pad Collaboration: I am working with a colleague of mine in a new office and we are coming up with some new ideas. I would like to scribble some of my ideas together with my colleague on the Video Telephone, but I would not like to involve a PC. If I could do this my Video Telephone would be a very strong collaboration tool! Can any Video Telephone in the market let me do this?
• Ringtones: I have personalized ring tones on my mobile phone and my Desktop Phone. Can I have special Video Ringtone for my Desktop Video Telephone? I don't have the time to go around creating such "Video Ringtones", can I have them packaged with my Desktop Video Telephone or easily downloadable as a value added service?
  
• Out of Office message: When I am out of office, I would like anyone who calls me to see a recorded Video message from me. I believe that is a polite way instead of the call just showing a message that no one is picking up. Can I keep multiple recorded Video messages for different groups of users, so that these messages are personalised?
• Ringtone Accessibility: I have some nice Audio ringtones on my mobile phone, can I transfer that to my Video Telephone and add a personal recording as a custom Ringtone?
• Video Projection: If I want my Video Telephone call to be projected on a larger Television or Projector, I would like to increase the quality of the picture only for that time. Can I change the quality of the picture within the call just for the period I am projecting it or showing it to a group of people? On Demand change of Picture Quality would help in better bandwidth usage.
• Scheduled Calling: I want to transfer some of my Video Call appointments directly to a calendar on my Video Telephone. When I need to make a Video Telephone call, I would like my Video Telephone to pop-up a reminder and ask me whether the call can be made. Once I spent time scheduling the call, I don't want to get back to keying in numbers for the call, I want this to be automated. Can my Desktop Videophone do this?
• While in the call, if the appointment time or meeting time is nearing an end, I would like a message to be flashed on-screen to both me and the person/people I am talking to. I would like my Videophone to help me in managing my time efficiently.
• I am presently involved in recruiting people and I have scheduled calls. Can I have a calendar integrated with my Desktop Video Telephone to download the call schedule from the Internet or optionally from my PC? I would then want a popup each time I have to call someone as I sometimes forget appointments because I am engaged in other work.
• Pluggable Lenses: I have two more people joining the call physically at my end. But My Desktop Video Telephone is only giving limited visibility. Can I easily plug out the lens and plug-in a new lens. I really don't want to spend my time screwing-in or unscrewing one lens and replacing it. I would like "plug-in" Lenses? Some of the Desktop Video Telephones I have allow me an option of lenses, but like old SLR Cameras I have to switch off the device to change them. In this "Plug and Play" world, I would like to do this real-time.
• Ring Silence: When my Video Telephone starts ringing and I am having a face to face conversation with another person, I would like to "mute" the ring without having to drop the call. Can I just put the Video Telephone to Silent without having to meddle with the "Volume +/-" buttons?

Cost Effective Usage

• Dynamic Bandwidth Display: My Video Telephone has a small display and I am normally happy with the quality. I want to use the least amount of bandwidth during the call. If I can see how much bandwidth is being used, I can involve my system administrator to ensure that this is available. Can I see in realtime, the amount of bandwidth being used? (I don't want to see it all the time, but only when the person I am calling is experiencing poor video or audio quality.)
  
• Dynamic Codec Configuration: During a Video call, I would like to change the type of codec used to dynamically tune the quality of the call. Most of the Video Telephones in the market allow me to fix one codec for audio and one codec for video before the call. Can I have a set of three preferred combinations I can change during the call?
• Bandwidth Alarm: As Video calls are also bandwidth intensive, I would like to have an in-built alarm on my Video Telephone that tells me that I am exceeding bandwidth limits. When I have crossed a certain amount of bandwidth I would like to be informed with an On-Screen message.
• Smart Call Hold: If I want to put a call on hold, I would like to choose the "Video" seen by the person I have called or who has called me along with a personalised tone selection.
  
• Alternately, I would like to mute my phone when it starts playing music while on hold. Some of the music I have heard with traditional telephones when they are put on hold is truly annoying.
• Low Power Idle State: I am about to leave office, I may receive calls after I leave office. I would like my Video Telephone to go to a low power mode, I am most concerned about power consumption (with a global energy and climate crisis.) I would still like my Video Telephone to have a "Live Caller ID" record of whoever tried to call me and optionally messages from those who wanted to record them. I would also like a standard video message to be played as if my Video Telephone were an answering machine.
• Smart Bandwidth Usage: As a Bandwidth conscious user, I would like my Video Telephone to let me choose whether I am making a Video call or a Voice call or choose the codec for a particular call with my bandwidth requirement in mind. Sadly many of the Video Telephones allow me to do this as a blanket setting for all calls only.
• Video Chat Interoperability: I am a Sales Representative and I would like to call up my client who has a PC with a web camera. He has some traditional video chat programs installed on his PC. Can I choose which Video Chat service to call through my Desktop Videophone and quickly make the call? I don't want to call up, find out the software, download it and then have the call through my PC.
• I have some software on my PC that lets me call through a special service. But right now I just don't have a web camera, but I have my videophone. Can I connect my Desktop Videophone to the PC as if it were a webcam just for once? I don't want to miss this opportunity of calling my client?
  

Until most of the above features are properly realised in the Desktop Video Telephony context, Video Telephony would remain a glamorous additive for "Executive offices." They would never provide strong utility value that they can potentially provide. Manufacturers may improvise in the "Value Add" section, but that would depend on the user's choice. Most effectively Manuacturers will have to work on good basic function and cost effective usage features.

For those who would like to use the Video Telephone from home, I would add in a list of "I Want!" features on my next blog post.

Please feel free to comment if you have new ideas that you believe are essential features for Desktop Video Telephony.

Posted by morpheus at 06:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

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We live in an age where hand-phones and therefore mobile telephony is almost ubiquitous. Human communication originated as a face to face personal interaction. When long distance telecommunication first came in, it started by offering "Message" grams in the early years of the Telegraph. Later, Telephony started adding one more element of true human communication, "voice". To this date Telephony and its various forms remain unchanged.

The Second aspect of Human Communication which involves actually seeing and experiencing has also made an entry as "Video Conferencing" (not Video Communication.) Owing to the technology and high entry costs, such technology had restrictions. In 1968 Video Conferencing was a beginning and a "sci-fi" idea shown in movies that was being realized through technology. Incidentally the 8fps limit (frames were drawn horizontally then) was established with this technology.

In the 1970s, the first generation AT&T Picture Phones first came to the market. This is the defining moment of "Video Telephony 1.0" These phones were predicted to sell by the millions in 1980, but they never took off. In the meanwhile Multi-point Video Conferencing Technology became popular and became a "high-end" niche solution that was available to big corporate players.

Their competitors like Western Electric followed. But there were several reasons for the failure of "Video Telephony 1.0" including the lack of technology.

By the late 1990s as personal computing moved closer and closer to mobile telephony, Japan, specifically NTT DoCoMo made a bold move to introduce Video Telephony in mobile phones. With predominant CDMA technology and entrant CDMA2000 and CDMA 2.0 standards, this was made possible. This was the beginning of "Personal Video Conferencing" and therefore of "Video Telephony 2.0." (These aren't catch phrases and merely ones I am coining in this blog conversation.) The Mobile version of Video Telephony didn't make it too fast, thanks to high demand on battery power consumption, processing power usage, heat and fluctuating wireless network bandwidth. Anyone familiar with NTT DoCOMO's FOMA Buzz would know about this.

Mobile Video Telephony has made much headway since then. The Nokia N95 8GB which I carry has a VGA CMOS Senor based Camera dedicated to Video Calls. This is apart from a 5 MegaPixel still-shot camera which it has for stillshots and makes it as good as carrying a Digital Photo Camera. But Mobile Phone manufacturers (rather than just the service providers) have also worked towards realising this solution better.

The stage is finally set for bringing Video Telephony back to the desk.  Today you could have Video Telephony on your Desktop. This has been made possible by the marriage of IP Telephony which was originally designed for voice communication with Video imaging and streaming. This marriage initiated the beginning of "Video Telephony 2.0"

What were the first steps in Video Telephony 2.0?

• A Strong Communication solution for the Deaf and Dumb through Sign Language cannot exist without Video Telephony. As the user base is smaller, this would still define itself as a niche requirement.
• Business communication across multiple offices of the same companies or partners can be enabled by Video Telephony.
  
• Body Language is said to be a strong Trust Driver. We are judgemental of people on first sight.
  
• Eye contact is considered by many experts to be a powerful form of expression.
• Watch any of the recent movies and you will notice cameras using more eye contact to capture emotions of actors better. If you're into art films you would have seen this.
• Seeing is Believing in this fast paced world.
• The only way all of the above could be achieved was through Personal Meeting unless there was a compelling alternative.
  
• By the early 1970s a trend of migration to Cities and in the case of South East Asian and Asian nations, migration to the west began separating a once strongly knit family structure in society. This created a strong need for Overseas communication and Urban-Rural communication.
  
• This necessitated video communication of the new "Nuclear" family with their close relatives.
• Telephonic communication slowly reduced costs to accommodate this strong need.
• The out-of-sight is out-of-mind mentality drove people to want to get in touch in person making frequent visits to their home-towns and their home-countries.
• Video Telephony was finally expected to quell this need by providing seamless Audio/Video communication.
• By the Year 2000, the Internet became accessible in almost all the countries and places. The PC to access the Internet reached levels of affordability and instantly became a tool of communication for exchanging e-mails, photographs and greeting cards.
• Video Telephony began with "Instant Messaging" clients that started providing this service if the PC was equipped with Sound Record/Playback for voice-chats and "Web Cameras" for video-chats.
• Internet Bandwidth began normalizing over different locations of the world. What started as 56.6kbps ceiling for modems began expanding beyond that limit to create the new Broad-band 128kbps or higher  transport streams.
• Several families started linking again using this technology and "Road Warriors" in business outfits also started experimenting with Voice and Video chat using the PC as a platform.
• If any one were to remember the advent of CNN, one would immediately associate it with the first war in the Gulf. Live Video was available from a war-zone for the first time.
  
• This was made possible through "Video Telephony 2.0" using Satellite communication.
• The first use of such equipment was interestingly coupled with military-grade "Night Vision" technology.
  
• Today many News Channels use Video Telephony equipment that use Satellite transmission for instant communication of news, probably the one reason why news takes lesser and lesser time to reach us. Field equipment is light enough to fit in a suitcase along with a satellite transceiver. Anyone watching National Geographic's coverage of Superstorms would notice how such equipment is used to transmit live video.

After several steps of revival, the "Video Telephony 2.0" now wants to make it to our Office and Home Desktops and take the role of an independent accessory.  To avoid information cramming I've decided to focus on this role in another post. But here's a preview of what you could expect on your desks soon, except you might start wondering, "How will Video Telephony improve my productivity?"

You could watch for the new $300 gadgets that are tied with IP Telephony services and offer Video Telephony. Here's a recent (19-Sep-2008) launch by Asus, the AIGURU-SV1. You could click on the picture below for specifications.

 For those who are impressed, that's a 7" Wireless Videophone from ASUS at $300. NTT DoCoMo also has desk models today which combine IP Telephony and 3G Technology (that once spurred their FOMA buzz) with touchscreens. Click on the link for specs here too.

Posted by morpheus at 04:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

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Having worked on VoIP Telephony equipment, I wonder where is all this equpment? IP Telephony today is complementary to existing telecom and ISP infrastructure. ISP and Telecom providers have been desperately waiting for strong content that can drive their traffic and revenues. Today most of the POTS (Plain Old Telephone Systems) continue to exist.

Yes, I do get to use Skype or just about any other IP Telephony service I fancy. However I'd be better of with a desk phone at home with IP Telephony. The Soft IP Phones on my PC let me store contacts and access them easily with a "cool" (duh?) interface to chat. However, I cannot keep my PCs on to attend phone calls.

So here's the missing story for the Home User

• Existing IP Telephony Equipment that is potentially usable (with access to online directories) is pricey for me as the domestic consumer (or at least this is what I feel.)
• I go to eZone or the nearest electronics showroom and I don't find any IP Telephone, I start wondering Where are the IP Telephones I could buy?
• I need to search or order on the Internet, but I am still wondering is it easy to get support for home usage of an IP telephone? Who can I call or e-mail?
  
• My Phone service provider always decided what color of phone I had. At least with all this "New Technology", can I decide what color my phone will be? I can buy cars of different colors, different color PC casings, why not different colors for my IP Telephone?
• Existing IP Telephony products need at least a DSL "Modem" to be present on the consumer side for Home deployment (Ouch!)
• Even if they are deployed, real time streaming bandwidth (upstream vs downstream) is usually not metered by the IP Telephony devices because most were never made to "meter" calls and inform the user of time spent and bandwidth usage. This is a very strong driver for home usage when bandwidth costs are significant*.
  
• Accessing large contact books requires larger displays, and dialing over the internet ends up requiring that you "type in" all the information about the contacts.
• Trouble here is with the traditional telephone design, I don't want to see a "keyboard" to make it look like a laptop, I want a phone.
• The answer should be "voice recognition" or a small digital scribble pad that can potentially allow users to "easily" (as easy as speaking or writing) add contact names and numbers.
• Old POTS phones required us to buy complex equipment for "recording calls." IP Telephony can make inroads by introducing devices that either have built-in call recording features or simple add-ons that can be installed physically or in software.
• I would love to have an answering machine at home, but do the present IP Telephones address this? Spending $60 - $150, I would never get this feature, so why buy a new IP Telephone?
• It would be nice if we had a phone that we can talk to so long as we are in the room (for home environments) while we are walking around and doing something else. Sadly IP Telephones follow the age old idea of having to sit near the phone to have a conversation.
• As a home user, I have a mobile phone that plays the ringtone of my choice, it lets my callers hear a ringtone of my choice. I want to do this with my IP Telephone, Possible?
  
• As an average joe home user I don't want to install complex IP-PBX equipment to have automated call transfers. So is there any way the IP phones provide that?
• Could there be a simple device that allows transfer of calls from my IP Telephone to my POTS land line when I am not at home? (Am I asking too much?)
• I am not a PC savvy user, but my IP Telephone tells me I have to be able to "PING" another phone to use call it. What is that?
• If I have no other option but to type text on my IP Telephone, can I have "Automatic Text Prompting" which I get for typing SMSes on my mobile phone. It seems so easy and simple and yet I can't do it.
• Wouldn't it be simple to use an online service and SMS at least local Mobile phone numbers from my IP Telephone. I am already connected to the internet and I want to send out an important message to one of my contacts.
• My friend on the phone is giving me a phone number I have to call next for an emergency, do I again have to use pen and paper to jot it down? Is there a way he can type out the phone number on his side and I can use it straight off?
  
• Better still, can my friend on the line actually send me a contact from his IP Telephone to mine? I can easily do this with my mobile phone and I expect this in any "new generation" phone.
  

• I'd love to have an automated address book with all those at my office on my IP Telephone. I don't want to sit down and enter phone numbers into an address book by talking or scribbling.
• Putting a keypad and expecting me to enter "Names", "Alphanumeric Data" is outrageous.
• Who has the time to sit down and populate the phone with all relevant office contact numbers?
• Wait, Can I do it with a web interface, download a simple "vCard"? This sounds like a simple idea, I have a PC at office! I still do type such information on my PC.
  
• Can my IP Telephone playback a pre-recorded message if I am not at my desk or am busy with something else? My mobile phone can do this, why can't the IP Telephone on my desk do this?
• I'm sitting in a meeting room having a teleconference with other members of my company across the world. At the end of the conference I realise,
  
• I forgot to minute some important points of the conversation. Can I download the conversation from my IP Phone to my PC on MP3 or a similar format and listen to it again?
• I am doing medical transcription, BPO transcription, monitoring the calls of my customer care executives, but oops, I need specialized equipment to intercept and record calls and that costs me $$$.
• Can I press a "RECORD" button during the call to record an important message my manager or colleague is telling me. I don't see such buttons on the IP Telephones I have seen.
  
• On an average, I'd like to know some details like, how much time was I spending on the IP Phone? Can I connect online to my IP Phone and find out? Does it have a simple display that tells me?
  
• Wait do I have to configure my PC with some special software to access my IP Phone?
• I have a small office and no special equipment to broadcast messages. I have people sitting in different rooms in my office and can't walk around to catch them quickly. I desperately want to make an announcement.
• Can I give everyone a "broadcast" call from my IP phone? Whoever picks up within 30 seconds listens to my announcement!
• I want to send out a popup message to everyone in my office by text. Can I just type out something on the online interface and broadcast it to everyone or a select "group" of users? My Instant Messengers like Yahoo and MSN Chat let me do this.
  
• I had a missed call on my IP Phone, but the LCD on it is so dim that I didn't bother to look. Can the IP Phone light up or indicate that there was a missed call, after all this is my office phone, not the mobile phone.
• Can I set my IP Phone to silent or "Work" mode when I am doing serious work, I do not want to be disturbed while I am working on an important problem.
• I am surprised that a new generation equipment doesn't help me have a Silent or Meeting mode where it just flashes LEDs or a screen and not ring painfully during a call.
• I am working at a research center and my colleagues are irritated that all the Telephones sound alike, can I have a variant ring tone or a different ring duration to know that it is my phone that's ringing. I am sitting close to my colleagues in cubicles.
• I want to check time in different timezones, I am calling a business partner in singapore and I don't want to switch to my PC to find out what time it is. Can I have at least two time displays or more on my IP Telephone?
  
• I don't want to guess and disturb my business partner or client by calling him at the wrong time of the day or night.
• Can I lock my IP telephone with a Voice Code or with an Online password? This is to prevent other staff in my office picking it up while I know I will be away.
  
• Old PSTN services let me enter Number Codes for locking specific services, but I hate to use a small keypad to type text.
• If I have no other option but to type text on my IP Telephone, can I have "Automatic Text Prompting" which I get for typing SMSes on my mobile phone. It seems so easy and simple and yet I can't do it.
• I was away from office for a long leave and have about 40 missed calls. Now I have to prioritize and call them. The screen on the IP Telephone is too small for me to use, and it is too dim for me to read everything.
  
• Can I use a simple Online web interface to change priority and call my contacts one after the other?
• Can I download software upgrades to my IP Telephone over the Internet, just download the firmware from a website and press upgrade on my browser? I find the lengthy procedure on my phone too complicated.
  

After having worked on the basic Hardware Platforms of IP Telephones and having used a few models, I have seen ones with larger screens, small screens, no screens. But the worst part is I don't find the features I would like most. If I really need some of the features I have listed above, I may end up shelling out $300 as a home user or never have it at office because my office doesn't believe there's an affordable solution.

Posted by morpheus at 05:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

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Almost every company or organization in this time of the year has started cost cutting measures.

 This means

• Saving Electric Power
• By Powering down Air conditioners
• Switching off Lights in unused areas
• Not using Projectors but Televisions in Meeting Rooms
• Reducing Utility Cost
• By Reducing Paper Usage for Documentation
• Limiting Coffee Cups and Plates at the Cafeteria
• Ensuring strict 9 hour operating times and closing utilities thereafter
• Limiting bandwidth usage to avoid ISP overbilling

The problem with this "sudden" approach is simple.

They forgot to

• Build or Lease a Building that let in enough sunlight but didn't "heat" up the office.
• Have an alternate ventilation system other than a single air conditioning system.
  
• Have a system to measure actual costs of Paper used for printing.
• Install measures to calculate actual bandwidth utilization
• Optimize fuel costs by finding the most optimum routes for employee pick-up
• Empower people to work from home whenever they could to save heavily on utilities.

So, here's a new business model for building an online web 2.0 tool that can

1. Study the burn rate of an office or organisation or company vis a vis their area of operation.
2. Provide them with a realtime analysis  that can show them areas which can be worked on for cost reduction.
3. Use a 3D Model of the company and geographical co-ordinates to advise them on best spending for buying window blinds, optimal Air Conditioning usage and revising seating arrangement to reduce Climate control costs.
   
4. Calculate travel routes and work out travel plans online.
   
5. Provide pass-through proxy configuration utilities that calculate bandwidth usage and throttle to use ISP services better.
6. Require people to buy credits for printing on paper, losing credits each time they use a specific quantum of paper. CUPS already comes with an online tool.
7. Use time spent by employees at office to offer them incentives to work from home. An employee clocking 36 hours a week, gets two work-from-home days (or any policy acceptable by the company.)
   

Posted by morpheus at 07:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

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