MSNBC Review

The INT100GB2 handset in all it's glory. It may be inexpensive, but when you pick it up and use it you'll know it's not cheap.

What a difference a handset makes

Riparius Ventures’ Internet Handset improves the quality of Web phone calls

By Gary Krakow
MSNBC


July 14 — This is one of those products you probably don’t know about, let alone realize that you really need. But, if you’re into making telephone calls via the Web, then this inexpensive device is a must have. It can actually improve the quality of your Internet phone calls. It did for me.


		Riparius Ventures Home Page

If you’re into making calls on the Internet you owe it to yourself to try one of these

FIRST OF ALL, you should know that this is a very, very simple device. It’s basically just a telephone handset — you know, the part you pick up when the phone rings, put to your ear, listen and talk into. There’s no base, dial or touch-tone pad.
The handset is made to plug into the sound card on your computer via a 6-foot long cable. You plug the “transmitter” plug into your computer’s microphone jack, and the “receiver” plug into your computer’s speaker jack. They even provide an external speaker jack so you can plug some external speakers into the handset cord and plug both into your computer. Pretty easy.
Except for a little handset cradle that you can attach to the side of your computer monitor, you now know everything you need to know about Riparius’ Internet Handset. For the record, it’s model number INT100GB2.


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It comes with a little, multi-language, glossy fold-out instruction manual, most of which is taken up with a picture detailing the handset’s features; methods to test the handset to see if it works; and warnings that you shouldn’t do things like use the handset while you’re in the bathtub. I realize they have to include this stuff for legal reasons, but how many of us use a desktop in the shower?
In my case, I unplugged the headset I was using while testing dialpad.com and plugged the Riparius in its place. The first call I made was to a friend, who commented on the high quality of the call. It sounded terrific on my end as well. A few minutes into the call I had to hang-up and take an incoming call on a regular Bell Atlantic telephone.
When that was finished I called back my friend on the Bell Atlantic line — and the first words uttered were, “What happened? What are you calling on? The quality was great before. Now it’s horrible.”
I believe the handset made a huge difference in the quality of the call. Don’t forget we’re talking Internet phone-call quality versus landline quality. Not one person I called complained when I used the Internet Handset. Some of these same people had complained bitterly when I called them on my Labtec C-324 or Sennheiser ‘m@b15’ headsets. (Please note that the most complaints came when I used the $17 Sennheiser.)
I believe a handset is better than a headset because the design of the device minimizes acoustic feedback between the speaker and the microphone. It’s the same reasons why headsets produce better quality telephone calls than speakerphones (or separate microphones and speakers on computers). The handset also eliminates something Riparius calls “turn-around delay.” I call that echo.

I should warn you, though, that unless you’re using a good-quality, full-duplex audio card and fast access to the Internet (I have DSL), you may not get as good results with the handset. Even if that’s the case, though, you’ll still get worse results with headsets. The handset also produced better quality phone calls when I placed them using a modem.
The only thing left to tell you is the price. The INT100GB2 Internet Handset is available on the Riparius website, and sells for $24.95. Two will set you back $39.95. Comparing dollar-to-performance value, the handset versus my $17 headset, this is a bargain!
If you’re into making calls on the Internet you owe it to yourself to try one of these. It’s a deceptively simple device that makes a big difference. Highly recommended.