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Web Phones

The purpose of this very brief description of Web Phones is to introduce a few of the features that Web phones currently provide. This is for purely informational purposes only and does not require the download of software or testing of any of the Web phone clients.

Many Internet phone clients exist. Due to time constraints only PGPfone will be covered here. For a comparison of commercial Internet phone solutions see the August '97 issue of ZD Internet Magazine, "Toss Your Dimes-Internet Video Phones Have Arrived", L.L Sweet, col. 2, issue 8, pages 57-70.

PGPfone - Pretty Good Privacy Phone: PGPfone is a cross platform freeware application distributed by MIT. A commercial version is available from Pretty Good Privacy, Inc., (aka, Phil Zimmerman). PGPfone provides a secure encrypted modem-modem/network telephone.

The interface for PGPfone is very simple and intuitive. Select Preferences from the Edit menu to configure the connection, modem and encryption. Then enter the domain name or phone number of the machine to be contacted.

Suggested Optional Activities

Download or use PGPfone and connect to another machine to hold an audio conversation.

Further Study / Resources