E-BITZ WITH SUSAN BRADLEY

E-BITZ focuses on practical applications of various technologies to enhance a practice or business.

VOIP and Instant Messaging: Tools you Need, Now!

"Hello, dear," Wayne said into his pocket PC. Halfway around the world, his wife answered back. Amazing technology isn't it - that a person halfway around the world can talk to a loved one? But wait! That's a phone. What's so special about that technology?

It wasn't a phone! Instead, it was a technology using VOIP or Voice Over Internet Protocol. Wayne was using Skype.com to call his wife from a hotel room in Seattle, using his Pocket PC device and wireless Internet to talk with his wife at home in Australia. The call was also free. Let me repeat that: A call from Seattle, Wash., to his home in Sydney, Australia, was free, since the wireless Internet access was part of the hotel room fee.

VOIP has become such a new hot technology that it seems on a daily basis, a fellow geek e-mails me to see if I have a Skype connection address. Now, of course, I would not be the security-sensitive person I am If I did not warn you up front that the same folk who built Kazaa, the music swapping file network, is the same company that brings you the Skype technology. Furthermore, the technology uses the same "node" technology, so before you begin to try this technology, you should understand that some companies have banned it in their firms.

CERN, whose claim to fame was being the arena in which the Web was born, actually has a public policy that bans the use of Skype at http://security.web.cem.ch/security/skype. The security policy at the Skype Web site states, "From time to time, your computer may become a Supernode. A Supernode is a computer running Skype Software that has been automatically elevated to act as a hub. Supernodes may assist in helping other users to communicate or use the Skype software efficiently. This may include the ability for your computer to help anonymously and securely facilitate communications between other users of the Skype Software who, due to network and firewall constraints, cannot establish direct connections. " As a result of this posting, any firm using Skype should be aware that your system may be used in this manner.

What is behind the technology? Skype is based on peer-to-peer technology to allow computers to work together rather than using client-server networks. Skype routes encrypted calls through the paths it has identified. Since the call it routed through the public Internet, the call or instant message itself is encrypted. Computer-to-computer voice messaging calls are free, but Skype also can bridge over to companies that do not use VOIP technologies. For a low fee, you can call any public telephone. The Skype connection makes a connection to local phones or cell phones for a fee using the SkypeOut feature.

Vonage (www.vonage.com) is another company that has come blasting into the VOIP marketplace. You may be out of the office, but by using the VOIP technology, the phone calls can be directed to home or even your PC. Using a hardware device from Motorola or Cisco, the phone calls are routed through an analog device to the Internet. For more information, visit www.vonage.com/help_ knowledgeBase_article.php?article= 111&refer_id=lucasland. Of course, technology wouldn't be technology without some hitch, and at the present time most VOIP devices like Vonage cannot handle SIP (Session Initiated Protocols) in firewalls and usually must be placed outside or in a DMZ setup (according to Webopedia, DMZ stands for "demilitarized zone," a computer or small subnetwork that sits between a trusted internal network, such as a corporate private LAN, and an untrusted external network, such as the public Internet. Even with this hitch, Vonage has an increasing market share.

If you haven't gotten into VOIP, your Instant Messaging (IM) client also may be going through a transformation as well. Last August, Microsoft bumped up the number of IM participants to 300 from the former number of 150. Our very own David Cieslak, chair of AICPA's TECH 2005 Conference, uses Trillian (www.trillian.cc) as his IM client, based on its ability to connect to varying IM networks. Using Trillian, he is able to connect to AOL, MSN, Yahoo! and other IM networks rather than being limited to just one network. IM clients can even do voice and Web cam calls to add video and audio to the conversation. Sociologists know that quite a bit of our communication is done nonverbally. Tools like this could increase communication within your company and your business.

If you've read this far and are wondering just what an accounting professional can use instant messaging for in the business environment, the reasons are numerous and all make good sense. For one, it saves on long distance phone calls. If I see a person is at his or her desk because I can see this person online, I quickly "ping" to see if he or she got the message, the e-mail or the package I sent them. This makes the day more efficient; a quick conversation to quickly ensure that I understand a project also helps me stay on track.

Note that there are several IM mobile application, including VeriChat (www.verichat.com) that places an IM component on your handheld. In other words, you don't have to be at your desk to instant message your peers.

I also find that IM is a great way to ensure that I'm not stuck on a project. Since I have people on my instant messenger from around the world, I can usually find someone online 24/7. This "around the world geek network" can come in quite handy when needing advice on a technology issue and your Googling skills are failing.

So where's the hitch? VOIP systems and IM systems still suffer from outages and the quality of the phone call. When Wayne (remember him from our first example?) needed to call his wife on a very critical issue, he switched to a traditional phone to ensure that the call would be connected and clear. And currently, you cannot make location-aware calls to emergency numbers; if you call 911, the system will think you are still at your home base and not at your current location.

Bottom line - we now can communicate in ways other than POTS (plain old telephone service). New ways of connectivity also mean new opportunities of communication for you and your clients. We're now used to cell phones to the point of them being a normal everyday item you own ... it won't be much longer before communicating won't be just with a device that has the word "phone" in its name. As a BusinessWeek article recently said, "it's not about connecting places, it's all about connecting people."

[Author Affiliation]

Susan E. Bradley, CPA/CITR MCR GSEC, is a principal with Tamiyasu, Smith, Horn and Braun in Fresno, Calif. Contact her at sbradcpa@pacbell.net.