There has been a push to integrating computers and telephone communication for quite some time now, with internet telephony going back to the days of Windows 3.1 and Internet Phone. There has been a lot of push into integrating technologies, and with the release of Skype, people have been more and more receptive towards Internet telephony, and the Actiontec Internet Phone Wizard is testament to that.

To be sure, “Internet Phone Wizard” is somewhat misleading, and should be read as “Skype Wizard”, since the Actiontec product functions exclusively with Skype and no other IP telephony software. That in mind, though, it does a pretty good job of mixing Skype calls and PSTN (regular telephone line) calls.

The unit comes in a small, easy-to-hide package that connects to your computer via USB and to both a telephone handset and (if wanted) a telephone line via standard RJ-11 telephone cables. The box positions itself as the gateway both to Skype and to normal landlines. Unfortunately, there is no Ethernet connector on the unit – which precludes you from making any Skype phone calls when the controlling computer is off (though regular phone calls work fine).

Installation of the device was a breeze. Connect it via USB, put in the driver CD, and presto – everything is installed. The software application that comes with the unit controls Skype, so if Skype is not turned on when you want to place a call, it will automatically launch it. You can make Skype, SkypeOut and PSTN phone calls without doing anything special (besides dialing ## for Skype or SkypeOut, or using speed-dial key assignments). The device supports Caller ID, though unfortunately only for PSTN calls – it does not support the name function to display the Skype user ID, for instance. I think that is an important feature that should have been included – that way, if my phone rings (and the Actiontec device rings differently for incoming Skype calls), I could just glance at the phone display and find out who is calling me; this way, I am stuck having to look at the Skype window. A feature I liked very much, however, was the device’s ability to work simultaneously with both Skype and PSTN phone calls: if you are talking to a Skype user and a PSTN phone call comes in, you will get a Call Waiting beep, and vice-versa. Finally, the voice quality was fairly good, particularly considering I have never bothered to get a headset for my Skype computer.

I liked the Actiontec Internet Phone Wizard overall. While on the one hand, the unit is somewhat limited in that it only supports Skype, on the other hand, it allows a certain transparency that would be difficult to achieve otherwise. For instance, if you have computer-illiterate parents, grand-parents, boyfriend or girlfriend in a different country, this would be the perfect solution since it would virtually eliminate any confusion about how to use the device. In my non-scientific personal experience I found that people are much more receptive towards tools they know and understand, even if they may be forced to do something unusual with those tools: the level of comfort they perceive from the familiarity of the tool aids them in obtaining maximum enjoyment from it. In the case of the Actiontec device, they would use a familiar telephone set, but would be forced to dial ## and either speed-dial numbers or SkypeOut numbers; but this minor inconvenience would be offset by the fact of them using the handset they are accustomed to. I would have very much wanted to see this device have an Ethernet port, since it would have allowed it to be tucked away in a corner somewhere, but perhaps the next revision will.

Rating •••••84%•••••