Pick up the phone - it's net-talk's future calling

The US Robotics Speakerphone can sit on a desk, or be used with an adapter (right) through a household phone.

The huge response to the Herald review of the Linksys Skype phone has prompted a closer look at internet telephoning.

Skype's internet calling service, which is free when calling from computer to computer, is user-friendly enough now to appeal to the masses.

It is a fantastic way of keeping in touch with far-flung friends and colleagues without having to make toll calls.

Because of the large number of people participating in a two-way or conference call over broadband connections, sound quality is usually good.

The Linksys phone is one of the most outstanding gadgets of this year, but US Robotics has come to the Skype party with some clever telephone gadgets of its own.

The US Robotics Speakerphone for Skype gives the luxury of hands-free Skype calling without having to wear a silly headphone.

Business people who spend a lot of time on the phone to colleagues and use Skype's surprisingly good conference call service will appreciate the value of this.

For those who hate talking on the telephone, being able to browse the web and type while talking on Skype is appealing. It's also nice to have the speaker emitting the caller's voice positioned on your desk, rather than directly by your ear all of the time.

The US Robotics Speakerphone installed easily once it had been loaded on my CD driver and plugged into my laptop via the USB cable which also powers it. Then it was just a matter of opening Skype and making a call.

If you are running more than one sound card on your computer system, you will have to temporarily disable all devices other than the factory-standard sound equipment for the speakerphone to work.

Hopefully, an update will improve compatibility.

Once connected, the speakerphone delivers decent volume while doing its best to clean up the audio quality of the Skype call by using echo-cancelling technology.

It's as good as the speakerphone function on a decent quality mobile phone, with more power for volume. I tried dozens of local and international Skype calls and communication using the speakerphone went smoothly.

If the connection is bad, the speakerphone will reflect this but so will any Skype phone. Reclining in a chair while chatting on Skype speakerphone feels good.

There's only one feature I feel this little device is lacking - wireless capability so you can shift your speakerphone further away from your computer and stay on the call. Then it would be almost perfect.

US Robotics' other Skype device is less exciting but is one that enables a user to talk on Skype and use a conventional home phone.

The small silver box connects to a computer via an USB cable, with a home phone line and analogue phone feed into its other ports.

Once the box is detected by a computer, an incoming Skype call will trigger the ring on your phone as the calling icon pops up on your computer screen.

Picking up a home phone to answer an internet call feels weird; welcome to the future.

Calling quality will be heavily influenced by the quality of the phone plugged in. But nothing else is needed to make internet calls.

The downside with using a conventional phone to make internet calls is that it will not provide the useful functionality of new digital phones that are built for Skype - such as the online status of your contacts and an icon to show whether you have Skype voicemail.

But if the phone is near the computer, all that information will be available via the screen.

Skype's useful call divert technology means an incoming Skype call will ring on a home phone then divert to a mobile phone number if the user desires.

US ROBOTICS SPEAKERPHONE

Pros: Good audio quality, easy set-up
Cons: No wireless capability
Price: $116
Herald Rating: 7/10

TELEPHONE ADAPTER

Pros: Integrates with home phone easily
Cons: No digital interface
Price: $143
Herald Rating: 7/10