Monday, January 26, 2009

USB Voip Phone


For the past few years I've been using headphones and microphone for my Voip calls and voice chats. I preferred it over a dedicated phone coz;
1. I was too lazy to buy a phone
2. the same headset was used to listen to music as well.
Lately my family has started using Voip and I felt they were not too comfortable having to speak into a mic while wearing a heavy headset. I found this little product during my search for a cheap, no frills device and decided to buy it. This device is very simple and inexpensive and being a typical "Made in China" product it doesnt even have a brand name ! [link]



How it works;

1. Setup is pretty simple, you just plug it into the USB port and wait for the OS to detect it and install necessary drivers. It works fine on both Vista and XP.
2. Go to the Audio settings option in your messenger client (like Yahoo or Skype)
3. Select "USB Audio Device" for microphone and speakers and apply changes.


Now you're all set to make and receive calls !


After a month of use I've found that voice quality is really good and comparable to a regular telephone. The only problem now is that I've lost the driver CD that came along with and cannot use the hot keys if I'm using it on a new computer. Since it doesn't have a brand name I'm not able to search for drivers.

Another thing is that you need a computer to make calls. Since my whole apartment is covered by Wifi I'm thinking of buying a Wifi Voip phone in the near future. You can click the links below to see similar devices.

USB phones [link]
Wifi phones [link]




5 comments:

Anonymous said...

very useful indeed.. do you know if it will work with 'just voip'.. if so, where does one buy it and for how much?

Anonymous said...

dude. that still needed to be connected. you should try Belkin Skype Desktop phone. its hassle free and doesnt need a PC

http://blog.rayboy.org/belkin-desktop-phone-for-skype-review/

Mathai said...

purple: its basically a mic and earphone in the shape of a regular telephone and works only thru USB on VOIP. I dont know if this is available here. You can buy it online from Amazon and ship it here.

Rayboy: thanks for the link, yes I did see this model and now prices have become more reasonable. I might buy one for my parents.

Anonymous said...

Ok, this may sound like a stupid question, so plz excuse my ignorance, but do you mean you don't have to pay AT ALL for making a call?

If so, where do i get one????

Mathai said...

Darya: not a stupid question at all! infact a lot of people have the same doubts. Heres the thing..
If the call is between 2 users on computers running skype, the call is free. If you call someone on their mobile or landline from Skype its a chargeable call. You have buy Skype credit for 10 or 25$ to make calls to telephone numbers. The charges are not that high and varies for each country that you call. I hope that answered your question.
Finally, as I said to purple, VOIP phones are not sold in Kuwait so you have to buy them online or ask a friend to send you one.

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