I was so excited when I saw the Packet 8 opportunity come up! It’s actually a contest, and the most creative entry is going to win a video phone! I’m not particularly creative, so I don’t think I will win, unfortunately. I thought about doing this piece in ASL, because that would have been creative, but I left my webcam at school!

Anyway, I am really impressed by the video phones available from Packet 8. I know they market to deaf customers, or at least are compatible with the needs of deaf customers, because I’ve heard of the company before. My favorite video phone is their DV326, because it is a fully stand alone product. The biggest problem with having your video phone connected to your computer - like the EnVision SL software available from Sorenson - is that it’s dependent on your computer’s processing power. Unless you have a pretty new computer, you probably can’t have anything else running while the video phone is in use. But with a stand alone like the DV326, you can carry on a phone conversation and browse the web at the same time!

Packet 8 offers another video phone for home use, the Tango, but it’s not as clear to me how it works. The DV326 is very similar to a particular D-Link phone, but it’s a lot cheaper! All the functions, including dialing, are done directly from the phone unit. And if the little monitor is too small for you, you can use it with an external screen too. I would love to have a DV326 so I could chat with friends from home…that would be SO cool!