The introduction of NetPhone has made it possible for Macintosh users to talk to one other over the Internet without having to pay traditional phone charges. Users with a regular 14.4 modem or TCP/IP connection can use NetPhone to make long-distance or international "phone calls."

NetPhone presents an intuitive environment for novice users to easily familiarize themselves with its various features. The manual is clearly written and includes easy to follow instructions with plenty of instructive screenshots. NetPhone requires at least a Macintosh with a 680x0 processor. It works best on a Power Macintosh. Voice transmissions over a slower Macintosh can be unintelligible. The technique employed in NetPhone is basically to encode sound bits into compressed packets and then transmit them over the Internet. There is sometimes a slight delay of the digitized voice but usually the sound transfers almost instantly.

The newest version of NetPhone1.2.3 introduces several "pubs" which allow users to dial into a virtual pub to chat with other users. "NetPubs" are an especially useful meeting place for users who have a dynamic (or changing) I.P. address (usually as a result of connecting by modem). The sound quality can be crystal clear or totally unintelligible, depending on the connection speed and on the type of machine used.

One nice feature of Netphone is that audio conferencing becomes possible over the Internet. One can connect to multiple users during the same session. For people who do not have a stable IP address, the solution is to dial into a NetPub where users can gather to chat. One problem is that it is often hard to tell who is talking to whom, unless speakers identify themselves first (see Figure A in the sidebar).

(Figure B)
Overall the performance of NetPhone is satisfactory. It will get better when certain voice transmission problems are resolved. As it is, it is sometimes a frustrating experience to manage to get your voice heard clearly on the other end. In order to establish a good connection, some preparation is necessary. So as to be able to hear incoming messages clearly, it may be necessary to adjust the volume in the "Sound" control panel of your Mac. There are also some adjustments that need to be made within NetPhone. For example, it is important to adjust the squelch level in the audio window to the appropriate height, as demonstrated to the left in Figure B. If the volume of your voice is below the triangle, you won't be heard by the other party. New users often don't know that the levels are adjustable and may get frustrated if their voices don't get through to the other end. A new feature in Netphone1.2.3, "auto squelch," is one solution to that problem. Auto squelch attempts to exclude backg! round noise from the transmission. Even so, it still works better in a quieter environment. At any rate, the default settings are usually satisfactory.

The demo version of Netphone is set to quit after 3 minutes on a connection initiated by the user. There is no such limit when receiving "a call" (nor on the registered software). Voices were unintelligible on my IIsi and slightly better on the Quadra 650. I personally wouldn't recommend trying NetPhone on anything but a PowerMacintosh computer. (Note: The AV Mac's microphone/modem configuration is incompatible with NetPhone.)

NetPhone has obvious potential for foreign language learning. It offers the opportunity for real-time conversation on a global scale. I envision activities such as international collaboration on student projects, interviews, and so on. I would love to see NetPubs specifically designed for second language learners springing up in the near future.