«

Greetings All!

I'm very new to all this VOIP stuff so please excuse the "dumb" questions


All I'm interested in at the moment is using VOIP to call UK landline
numbers.
I'm running Windows 98SE, I have an on-board AC97 sound card and a
Plantronics headset.

I've tried Skype and it appears to work quite well.
Incoming sound quality is very good and I'm told that the outgoing sound
quality is also very good.
The only thing I don't like about Skype so far is that calls are flagged
as "unavailable" on the recipients caller display.

I've also tried VOIPFone and I much prefer their software and I also have
a caller-id number which overcomes the "unavailable" issue. Incoming sound
quality is very good BUT everyone I've called so far can barely hear my
voice. If I try the software voice test utility, it records what I say but
I can barely hear that either. As I'm new to all this and as the VOIPFone
software settings appear to be quite complex, I would appreciate some help
with this.

--
Martin

Martin Foster wrote:
> Greetings All!
>
> I'm very new to all this VOIP stuff so please excuse the "dumb" questions
>
>
> All I'm interested in at the moment is using VOIP to call UK landline
> numbers.
> I'm running Windows 98SE, I have an on-board AC97 sound card and a
> Plantronics headset.
>
> I've tried Skype and it appears to work quite well.
> Incoming sound quality is very good and I'm told that the outgoing sound
> quality is also very good.
> The only thing I don't like about Skype so far is that calls are flagged
> as "unavailable" on the recipients caller display.
>
> I've also tried VOIPFone and I much prefer their software and I also have
> a caller-id number which overcomes the "unavailable" issue. Incoming sound
> quality is very good BUT everyone I've called so far can barely hear my
> voice. If I try the software voice test utility, it records what I say but
> I can barely hear that either. As I'm new to all this and as the VOIPFone
> software settings appear to be quite complex, I would appreciate some help
> with this.
>
> --
> Martin

Do you have a mic boost option for your soundcard this should solve
your problem

Mat

On 30 May 2005 05:41:35 -0700, Mathew Curtis <>
wrote:

> Martin Foster wrote:
>> Greetings All!
>>
>> I'm very new to all this VOIP stuff so please excuse the "dumb"
>> questions
>>
>>
>> All I'm interested in at the moment is using VOIP to call UK landline
>> numbers.
>> I'm running Windows 98SE, I have an on-board AC97 sound card and a
>> Plantronics headset.
>>
>> I've tried Skype and it appears to work quite well.
>> Incoming sound quality is very good and I'm told that the outgoing sound
>> quality is also very good.
>> The only thing I don't like about Skype so far is that calls are flagged
>> as "unavailable" on the recipients caller display.
>>
>> I've also tried VOIPFone and I much prefer their software and I also
>> have
>> a caller-id number which overcomes the "unavailable" issue. Incoming
>> sound
>> quality is very good BUT everyone I've called so far can barely hear my
>> voice. If I try the software voice test utility, it records what I say
>> but
>> I can barely hear that either. As I'm new to all this and as the
>> VOIPFone
>> software settings appear to be quite complex, I would appreciate some
>> help
>> with this.
>>
>> --
>> Martin
>
> Do you have a mic boost option for your soundcard this should solve
> your problem

No I don't but thanks anyway.

--
Martin

Martin Foster <mf-> wrote:

> I've also tried VOIPFone and I much prefer their software and I also have
> a caller-id number which overcomes the "unavailable" issue. Incoming sound
> quality is very good BUT everyone I've called so far can barely hear my
> voice. If I try the software voice test utility, it records what I say but
> I can barely hear that either. As I'm new to all this and as the VOIPFone
> software settings appear to be quite complex, I would appreciate some help
> with this.

If you want to try VoIP out properly you really need to invest in an ATA
(analogue telephone adapter) which lets you use an ordinary phone with
your VoIP line. It has the added bonus that, so long as your cable
modem and router are left on, you don't need to leave your computer on
all the time. And they are compatible with DECT phones, so you don't
even need to be in the same room as your computer.

The Sipura range seem to be well liked (although you may want a little
help to configure one). Pricewise: £50 - £90 depending on the model
chosen.

--
The From address is a spam-trap, so all replies to the newsgroup please.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Be Alert, Your Country Needs More Lerts! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dave Gill wrote:
> Martin Foster <mf-> wrote:
>
> > I've also tried VOIPFone and I much prefer their software and I also have
> > a caller-id number which overcomes the "unavailable" issue. Incoming sound
> > quality is very good BUT everyone I've called so far can barely hear my
> > voice. If I try the software voice test utility, it records what I say but
> > I can barely hear that either. As I'm new to all this and as the VOIPFone
> > software settings appear to be quite complex, I would appreciate some help
> > with this.
>
> If you want to try VoIP out properly you really need to invest in an ATA
> (analogue telephone adapter) which lets you use an ordinary phone with
> your VoIP line. It has the added bonus that, so long as your cable
> modem and router are left on, you don't need to leave your computer on
> all the time. And they are compatible with DECT phones, so you don't
> even need to be in the same room as your computer.
>
> The Sipura range seem to be well liked (although you may want a little
> help to configure one). Pricewise: £50 - £90 depending on the model
> chosen.
>
> --
> The From address is a spam-trap, so all replies to the newsgroup please.
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Be Alert, Your Country Needs More Lerts! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well said Dave

I have a snom 190 phone and a Sipura 3000 and it makes big big
difference software phones are ok but you have to remember that they
are reliant on your pc and all the hardware that goes inside

Mat

Perhaps your microphone is not so good,
you could try the Xten Lite softphone which has got sliders for both in and
out volume control,
easy to adjust while you are talking.
Regards,
Martin

On Tue, 31 May 2005 01:41:33 +0100, Martin² <> wrote:

> Perhaps your microphone is not so good,

That could be a possibility but it's a brand new headset.

> you could try the Xten Lite softphone which has got sliders for both in
> and out volume control, easy to adjust while you are talking.

That's what I'm using and I have the volume set at maximum for the
microphone.

--
Martin

On the 30.05.05 at 14:55, Martin Foster <mf-> wrote:

> On 30 May 2005 05:41:35 -0700, Mathew Curtis <>
> wrote:

[..]
>> Do you have a mic boost option for your soundcard this should solve
>> your problem

> No I don't but thanks anyway.

Well actually, yes I do but it was buried deep within the sound manager
utility and I hadn't seen it. I've enabled it and things appear to be much
better now

--
Martin

On the 30.05.05 at 15:31, Dave Gill <spam-egg-chips-n-> wrote:

> Martin Foster <mf-> wrote:

>> I've also tried VOIPFone and I much prefer their software and I also have
>> a caller-id number which overcomes the "unavailable" issue. Incoming
>> sound quality is very good BUT everyone I've called so far can barely
>> hear my voice. If I try the software voice test utility, it records what
>> I say but I can barely hear that either. As I'm new to all this and as
>> the VOIPFone software settings appear to be quite complex, I would
>> appreciate some help with this.

> If you want to try VoIP out properly you really need to invest in an ATA
> (analogue telephone adapter) which lets you use an ordinary phone with
> your VoIP line. It has the added bonus that, so long as your cable
> modem and router are left on, you don't need to leave your computer on
> all the time. And they are compatible with DECT phones, so you don't
> even need to be in the same room as your computer.

> The Sipura range seem to be well liked (although you may want a little
> help to configure one). Pricewise: £50 - £90 depending on the model
> chosen.

Many thanks for that extremely useful and interesting information but at
the moment, I'm not in a position to shell out the necessary dosh. In the
future, maybe?

--
Martin

Martin Foster wrote:
> On the 30.05.05 at 15:31, Dave Gill <spam-egg-chips-n-> wrote:
>
> > Martin Foster <mf-> wrote:
>
> >> I've also tried VOIPFone and I much prefer their software and I also have
> >> a caller-id number which overcomes the "unavailable" issue. Incoming
> >> sound quality is very good BUT everyone I've called so far can barely
> >> hear my voice. If I try the software voice test utility, it records what
> >> I say but I can barely hear that either. As I'm new to all this and as
> >> the VOIPFone software settings appear to be quite complex, I would
> >> appreciate some help with this.
>
> > If you want to try VoIP out properly you really need to invest in an ATA
> > (analogue telephone adapter) which lets you use an ordinary phone with
> > your VoIP line. It has the added bonus that, so long as your cable
> > modem and router are left on, you don't need to leave your computer on
> > all the time. And they are compatible with DECT phones, so you don't
> > even need to be in the same room as your computer.
>
> > The Sipura range seem to be well liked (although you may want a little
> > help to configure one). Pricewise: £50 - £90 depending on the model
> > chosen.
>
> Many thanks for that extremely useful and interesting information but at
> the moment, I'm not in a position to shell out the necessary dosh. In the
> future, maybe?
>
> --
> Martin

I have no idea about the AC97 sound card is but you might want to try
actually looking at your mike setting in windows and ensuring that they
are actually turned right up I am not 100% sure but if I remember
correctly this is a bug in 98SE

Mat