Network Computing is part of the Informa Tech Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

SymPhone Organizes and Takes Calls

SymPhone consists of three main software components: the SymPhone Client; the SymPhone Call Server; and the SymPhone Connector for the 3Com NBX 100. The Client is a VoIP softphone that runs on PDAs using Microsoft Pocket PC 2002. The interface includes an easy-to-use dial pad, a directory and intercom features. The Call Server enables SymPhone to make peer-to-peer calls within an enterprise and provides real-time call-lookup capabilities. The Connector works with 3Com's NBX 100 to extend SymPhone's capabilities to the public switched telephone network so you can make and receive calls to any telephone in the world. TeleSym is currently working on supporting other VoIP PBX products.

You can evaluate SymPhone free for 30 days using TeleSym's Connector, which is installed at the company's facility in Seattle. This will give you an idea of how the system works over the Internet connecting to a 3Com NBX 100 at a remote location. With the download, you can make local calls to Seattle-area exchanges for free. For long-distance calls, you'll need to use a credit card. For evaluation purposes, TeleSym provided us with free long-distance access. After making a number of calls, we can say the system worked remarkably well.

In the future, TeleSym plans to bundle the 3Com NBX 100, Connector and Call Server to run on a single server. We persuaded TeleSym to send a 3Com NBX 100 to our Syracuse Labs for testing. After getting a little help from TeleSym on the NBX 100 setup, we checked it out using a variety of lab wireless equipment, ranging from a high-end Cisco Aironet 350 Access Point to a D-Link SOHO router. It ran as expected.

Good
• Easy to use dial pad, quality meter and ready indicators
  • 1