There has always been one thing that’s worrisome about the VOIP revolution and that’s the need to be tethered to a broadband network to take advantage of it. We’re sure that many advanced users have VOIP solutions at home (Skype, Vonage, etc.) but none get to take advantage of it as much because they have to be at home or even in front of the PC to use it. Actiontec’s VoSky Call Center alleviates that by providing Skype users with a call forwarding device and the ability to bridge regular telephone and VOIP with its Call Center software.

Installation of the Call Center unit is fairly simple. We loaded the software on a Dell OptiPlex GX260 workstation with Windows XP SP2 installed. We first loaded the software up and then connected the USB device when prompted by the installation CD. Afterwards, we plugged in a land line into the Call Center device. A telephone is then plugged into the Call Center eliminating the use of computer. By using ##, you can switch between dialing Skype numbers and regular telephone ones.

The software that comes with the Call Center can do much more than simply provide one phone to do Skype and regular calls. In fact, it provides the option to act as your answering machine. We set the unit to pick up after four rings and upon that, you can either leave a message or enter a PIN. Once the unit verifies that you can make Skype calls, you can dial Skype numbers or access preset regular telephone numbers via Skype to make those long distance calls via VOIP. If you elect to use the Call Center without the answering machine, the Call Center will only prompt you for the PIN, although there is no way you can use a separate answering machine device with the Call Center.

Call Center also allows you to forward Skype calls to regular telephones. This enables you to essentially route all your Skype communication to something handy like a cellular phone. The unit can also call you whenever a Skype contact comes online. Simply press 1 when Call Center calls you and you will be connected with the online party. We see this particularly useful when you have overseas parties who are many time zones away and you want to catch them while they’re on Skype.

Call quality is clear and we didn’t experience any dropouts or false electronic voices. All of this is really dependent more on the nature of the Internet connection at your disposal than the Call Center, which really is only responsible for bridging regular phone and

In addition to all of this, Call Center supports call waiting and caller ID functions for Skype calls. And of course, you can still make all your regular phone calls while you’re sitting in front of the device. The unit requires no power because most of the processing works in the Call Center software on your PC. This is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it builds a fairly sophisticated voice portal for your VOIP bridging and does those neat things like notifying you about Skype contacts. On the other hand, you do need to keep your PC online at all times. Those who own notebooks exclusively will need to find a second PC to have at home to host this function. If somehow the Call Center could be a standalone box with a web portal to replace the software, that would be the best because users could simply plug it into a router or switch for their networks and get on Skype.

We also envision people will have problems with the unit if they subscribe to telco voicemail services and/or have a physical answering machine. These will have to be replaced with Call Center. It would be nice if the Call Center could route certain phone to Skype bridging and leave the rest of the numbers to ring through to the user’s regular answering service.

A hosted solution is also another idea that might help. Perhaps they can give you a land line number and you can use the USB device as a token to bridge the land line number and your Skype numbers. But it will be hard for Actiontec to integrate themselves with other devices (possibly retail phones or routers, etc.). Regular telcos would be the best partner. Imagine it as an extra service like call waiting but it will be a dark day for telcos when they start offering this since they would cannibalize their own profitable long distance business.

Actiontec’s VoSky Call Center is a smart product. There is a VoSky product that serves PBXes for existing businesses, although we found ourselves really wanting a more sophisticated Call Center that offers multiple voicemail boxes, Skype and regular phone functions for a SOHO environment. It’s beginning to become clear why eBay valued Skype so highly when they acquired it when at the time, it looked like Vonage was ahead in the consumer VOIP play. Products like Call Center make Skype look smart and with our constant need to carry number and be everywhere at one time, VOIP seems the way to go. Skype and other VOIP solutions may still have some issues like operating without electricity or Internet, but the industry won’t address those resiliency issues until there is widespread adoption and this Call Center device will likely spur more converts to Skype by making VOIP nearly ubiquitous.

Rating •••••89%•••••