In this episode host Susan McKinnell and University of Minnesota guest experts discuss how all the ways we communicate are becoming one infrastructure due to advances in technology.
Guests
Louis Hammond
Louis Hammond
Louis Hammond is assistant director of Networking and Telecommunications Services for the University of Minnesota. He manages the group that installs, services, and maintains the University's telephone and data infrastructure and he was head of a project that recently replaced the University's entire telephone infrastructure. He is currently managing the installation of the University's next generation network, the Gopher GigaNet.
Melissa Martyr-Wagner
Melissa Martyr-Wagner
Melissa Martyr-Wagner has been with Networking and Telecommunications Services at the University of Minnesota as a manager of customer service since April of 2004. She is a self-proclaimed life-long learner whose academic background is in student development theory. Within the higher education community she has worked not only in technology and administration but also in career counseling, advising, and student-alumni programming. Though her primary responsibilities today are in the area of technology, her background in student development theory is frequently called upon. Recently she was part of a team that developed a new University of Minnesota course: CLA 1001: Introduction to Student Life. Melissa is always busy exploring the technologies students and staff members want and need as part of their university experience. Previous to her current position, Melissa was the instructional technology coordinator for the College of Liberal Arts and part of the new technologies team at Educational Testing Service (ETS) in Princeton, New Jersey.
For Your Files
Louis Hammond defined communication convergence:
"Twenty years ago we had voice applications running on [their] own infrastructure, data applications running on their own infrastructure, and video on a separate infrastructure. It's a convergence into a single architecture or network infrastructure. Now everything is becoming an application on the Internet. You can combine applications, video, and voice at the same time and telephones could have other applications applied to them as they work on the Internet. So you could get a phone that runs on your computer as opposed to a physical phone. A lot of people are replacing their landlines with this kind of service. Usually they have high speed Internet or they are very fluent with working with the Internet. This is nice because you can work at your house or you can take it with you. It's on your computer. You can be mobile with it."
Louis said there are many companies offering phone service through your computer and the Internet, but how do you know which service is right for you?
"There's a Web site out there that does a comparison for locals: phonedog.com. Phonedog does comparisons of local providers."
This sounds like a great idea, but there are a few problems:
"Most of this relies upon the power in your house or on your local computer so if your local computer has a problem and dies, it won't work. If you lose power at your house that, say, all your cable modems are attached to, the phone won't work as well. Other problems have to do with 911 handling. It becomes a very large issue for some families. They have to be careful. Currently if you take your phone and convert it to one of these vendors, you'll have to set up E911, [and] they make it your responsibility."
Melissa Martyr-Wagner discussed instant messaging (IM):
"Instant messaging—you sometimes hear it referred to as 'chat'—is sending a message to another person and it's [in] real time, so as you're typing, you're sending it to another person who is sitting there typing [in] real time [messages] back to you. It's like being on the telephone. If you're doing it with audio, it's almost exactly like being on the telephone, but you can type and see each other as well now."
And Melissa told us that convergence is happening in this arena as well:
"Adding audio and video [consists of] embedding it right into the instant messaging application, so you're not launching any new program. It's all embedded together in one place."
Melissa said the software for this type of communication is available on the Internet for free:
"They do have features you can pay for but they tend to be features that are more attractive maybe to the younger market. But the features you need to [have] regular day-to-day conversations, [they're] all free."
Melissa also told us what else we need to run these types of programs:
"You need to have a good connection, so if you have DSL or high speed connectivity, that's really the best thing. You need to have a microphone. You're also going to want to have some sort of Web camera."
Links
Louis recommended a Web site that enables you to compare Internet telephone services available in your area: phonedog.com.
Instant Messenger (IM)
A program that allows you to communicate one-on-one in real time with another Internet user who is currently online.
Voice Over IP (VoIP)
A rapidly emerging technology that allows transmission of phone calls (two-way audio) over the Internet.