Hearing voices By Bennett Ring August 30 2002 Icon Text has so far done a good job of communicating our thoughts across the Internet, via Web pages, chat rooms, instant messaging and message boards, but lacks the immediacy, tone and personal touch of speech. It also requires the user to type fluently. That's where VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) applications are handy. VOIP applications, known as voice comms, became popular in the PC online gaming world, where they are still used. Playing with (or against) human beings is one thing, but being able to scream orders and/or taunts at them is better. Team-based games benefit especially; before voice comms, the team leader had to bash out instructions on the keyboard. Once voice comms are set up it's as simple as hitting the transmit key and speaking. One of the largest uses for the technology is as a substitute for the telephone, especially among those who make lots of interstate and international calls. Why spend serious money on an international call when you can chat for hours at a cost of a local phone call to your ISP? MORE ON http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/08/29/1030508096466.html Wired magazine shelled out for Declans call to me last year,It's so much cheaper online,the only thing is the 1 second sattelite gap.It's a bit like ham radio,I used it to call my sister in NZ.