Photo 1 Oki Electric Annex 6 located in Shibaura, Tokyo

Although the use of VOICEHUB was decided, we heard rumors that the integrator was extremely skeptical about converting voice to IP packets. And they had every right to be concerned. The device was based on an entirely new concept at the time. We would cause inconvenience to customers if we could not establish sufficient quality that could endure practical application. In order to send the device out into the world, we made frequent visits to the integrator. The integrator members also visited OKI on a number of occasions (photo 1).

From the very beginning, the idea of voice packets was not embraced by the traditional telecom industry. But the integrator was very patient and did not reject the idea without giving us the benefit of the doubt to answer their questions.

Isn't there start-up distortion? How is the latency? Are echoes noticeable? Are there voice intermittence? Their questions aimed directly at the weakness of voice packets. Although it took some convincing, such questions were very useful for brushing-up VOICEHUB from the prototype level.

Such exchange went on for about three months to bridge the gap between both parties. Since there was no way of showing the performance history of stable operation, all we could do was to explain the mechanism behind the prototype. Although the members in charge of sales were persistent, the integrator was equally patient with us.