Comments on: Snap Instant Communicator: The Web intercom

Sweetheart, where's my coffee?

[jacobshm]

This is EXACTLY like Skype. Your friends are online when the computer is on, you push Call and thats it. Why in the world is this useful?

[rafe]

No popup to get in your way. And it's faster to make "calls." I bet there will be people who buy it. But yeah, technologically it's no breakthrough.

[iowapilot]

I beta tested the Snap and found it much more convenient than Skype, which I use when traveling. I would never use Skype to call my wife, but I use the Snap all the time (she has one too). The light lights when she is in, and I push one button and talk.

It does make a good speaker phone for Skype. I get echos on Skype when I don't use hardware echo supress or a head set.

[danielbyrne]

I've been looking for a VOIP PC only intercom system. Schools in Alabama require an intercom system for accreditation. I've been contracted to supply a computer network and an intercom system to a school in AL. I've been looking for a VOIP solution so that I can tie the two systems together.

I at first implemented a VOIP with a box system from digital acoustics. Horrible product. I've been fighting bugs in the software for a year. They've also shipped me new updated hardware that didn't lock up when connected to PoE. However, I'm still having software issues with the intercoms getting lost by the main controller software, garbled communications, and incompatibility with Vista. In short a very bad product.

So I'm interested in this option. Although I'm going to be skeptical of a hardware only version. It just seems redundant to have a hardware device sitting there when the PC has speakers and a mic. its like having an iPhone and a GPS device, or worse and iPhone and a calculator. One has supplanted the other. Traditional intercom systems need to die, but no one has designed a suitable replacement product yet.