Getting VOIP? These four glitches in corporate setup could have you reaching for a landline

Got VOIP? I do, and I've come to believe that a fool and his land line are soon parted. I'm using Computerworld's voice over IP system, but until some sticky issues get resolved I'm hanging onto my land line. Skype is fun. So far, corporate VOIP is not.

Some people think that I'm an expert in all of this IT stuff. I'm not, really. Sure, I am enthusiastic about technology, but at the end of the day I'm a journalist, not a techie. I struggle with new products and get exasperated just as everyone else does. And so it is that my first adventure with corporate VOIP has been a bit of a struggle.

Computerworld would like nothing better than to cancel my home office phone and route me through its Siemens HiPath PBX in corporate by way of a voice over IP link. I am one of a few early adopters of VOIP in a pilot here, so in-house expertise is at a minimum. To use VOIP I need to keep my VPN connection up all day long (a challenge in itself) and load a rather clunky application called OptiClient. After some false starts the client is finally stable enough to use from my home office (although as I write this from Computerworld's offices I notice that it has frozen up). But I'm still having problems. Whether these are true glitches or "features" of VOIP isn't yet clear. I'm hoping readers can help.

I thought the corporate VOIP phone would work just like a regular hand set. Not quite. The OptiClient interface has all of the same calling features, but in operation it's not nearly as seamless to use as a digital hand set.

Issue 1: The sub-OptiClient

It's been a long time since I've used a Windows application that doesn't follow basic Windowing GUI principles. OptiClient, rather than bringing up a traditional application Window, presents a graphical strip that contains some rudimentary icons on it and a drop-down keypad. Other than the minimize/maximize/close icons to the right of the menu bar, the program looks more like a DOS application than a Windows client. It's a far cry from the streamlined, easy to use Skype interface (which, for some reason, won't coexist with OptiClient).

The program is also resource hungry.

Issue 2: The VOIP head set hears more than voices

As part of the pilot, Building Services issued me a Plantronics Audio DSP-400 corded headset. As a cordless headset user, however, I'm continually getting tangled up in the eight foot umbilical cord that tethers me to the computer's USB port. Sound quality has been good overall, but I've run into several issues that have me perplexed. One is that once the USB headset is plugged in all sounds - and I do mean all - are routed to the headset. It's rather annoying to hear Windows burps and bleeps and instant messaging dings during a phone call. I've had to turn off IM sounds, which means that when instant messages pop under Windows I may not notice an urgent message from the Computerworld copy desk. No seamless integration here.

I'd like to port VOIP to the head set and other applications to my desktop speaker. Is that doable? Other than going into the sound settings in the Windows control panel and manually switching back and forth between the head set and speakers - something that no one using the phone all day long could possibly do - I have no idea how this could be done.

Issue 3: Call initiation delays. Hello? Can you hear me now?

The bigger problem, however, is that when I call people outside of Computerworld using the VOIP client there is a noticeable delay between the time they pick up and say "hello" and the time I pick up any audio feedback. I don't hear the other phone ringing. I don't hear their greeting. My cue is to say "hello," when the headphone goes from sounding like it's completely dead to sounding like there might be someone breathing on the other end of the line. I have tweaked settings but that hasn't helped. Could it be that my cable modem or router haven't optimized quality of service settings to give voice packets priority? I don't think so. This happens when I'm at CW's headquarters as well as when I'm remote. Interestingly, it doesn't happen when I'm calling numbers inside Computerworld.

Issue 4: It rings in your ears, but not at your desk

Then there's the ringer issue. Once the headset is plugged in, the phone only rings into the earphones. I don't work in a call center and I don't want cauliflower ear at the end of the day, so my preference is to put the head set down when I'm not on the phone. But then I can't hear the phone ring. This is made worse by the fact that, unlike my digital handset at Computerworld, there's no red light on the OptiClient to tell me I have messages waiting. I have to call in to get them. Who says VOIP is easier?

So I set out to find a head set base that would ring externally. When I called Plantronics the sales person reacted as though this was something she'd never been asked before. She wasn't aware of any head set that would ring both in the ear phones and audibly outside of the unit. To my surprise, she suggested that I go into the control panel and manually change the sound settings to reroute them to the desktop when not on the phone - and change them back before answering the next call. Unworkable.

Then I spoke with Headsets.com. Again, the sales person was baffled by my request, but passed me on to tech support, which recommended the Plantronics CS50-USB. That cordless headset, when placed in the cradle, can be configured to emit an audible beep for incoming calls. The switch is on the left side of the base, I was assured, although it's not visible in any of the product images. Later, when I went back to order the unit and spoke to tech again to double check, they changed their tune. The CS50-USB beeps but it doesn't do so very audibly, this tech said. In a noisy office, he said, you'd have a hard time hearing it. And no, he didn't know of any other product that would do this. Buy a VOIP hand set or a head set. Choose. Bummer.

Now totally confused, I put in a second call to Plantronics and asked the same question of their tech support department. The tech was unaware that they even had a head set that would ring externally until I mentioned the CS50-USB. She had to put me on hold and read the manual before she returned to the phone and admitted that, yes, they did have a headset that could do this.

Is it so hard to believe that someone would want a VOIP headset setup to ring both in the head set and on the desktop?

Unfortunately, the Plantronics tech couldn't tell me whether or not the phone would ring audibly in a busy office. She then offered to test it herself and get back to me - an offer I gratefully accepted. An e-mail was waiting for me this morning. Her response: "I tested the unit and the sound is about as loud as a medium phone ring on my office phone. I was able to hear it distantly several feet away. I work in a Call Center, so there is moderate activity all around. Not quiet, but not so loud as a shipping department."

The term "hear it distantly several feet away" worried me, but I need to rely on my VOIP phone if I'm to replace my land line, and a cordless headset is essential. So I gave in and ordered a CS50-USB. I'll just have to keep any background music to a dull roar.

In the mean time I'm hoping the VOIP veterans can weigh in with how to solve some of these issues. Did I do the right thing? Or am I making a $279 mistake? I suppose I'll find out Friday when the unit arrives.