TeleSym Inc.’s SymPhone System software for voice calling on wireless networks has been selected for campus-wide use at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. As MaCcentral reported on Sept. 23 the college is planning a “voice over Internet protocol,” or VoIP, program that essentially turns a computer into a telephone.
The program, due by year-end, includes Mac support. SymPhone adds cordless-phone capability to mobile computers. Under the Dartmouth contract, TeleSym will be supporting thousands of users on one of the world’s largest wireless IP telephony installations; it’s expected to eventually serve a community of 13,000 students, faculty and staff.
After a year of testing, Dartmouth began its migration to Internet calling last month, by distributing the telephone software to incoming students. The first SymPhone product being distributed runs on Pocket PC-based personal data assistants (PDAs). TeleSym is completing user (“client”) software for the Palm and Mac operating systems.
SymPhone users dial calls from an on-screen dial pad and existing contact lists, to reach any telephone in the world. SymPhone server software connects callers to enterprise phone systems and PBXes.