Click to talk : Web phones spell opportunIPy for libraries

Internet telephony was pioneered in 1995 by VocalTec, which developed software that opened a voice connection between 2 PCs. Since then, hardware and software for the VoIP sector has been developing at breakneck speed. The industry has finally begun to work out major stumbling blocks like standards, quality, and reliability. Internet at last is emerging as a viable means of sending corporate voice and fax mesages over public IP networks. In fact, many corporations are running their own internal phone systems over private IP networks. It is definitely time to start experimenting with these applications for libraries and information centers.