Here, I will introduce the points of interest and concerns indicated by the visitors.

1. Is it really working?

There were such questions as, "Is this presentation a concept?" and "To what extent is the device operating?" The main question from those with detailed interest was, "Is the quality at a practical level?"

I believe that technologies of VoIP were examined at the time of 1997 at IETF, etc. Voice quality was a major issue, and a level inferior to conventional telephones was what interested people the most.

I explained that VOICEHUB was operating at a practical level, providing real communications among numerous offices. People reacted well to this. I was able to answer with confidence since VOICEHUB was operating as a telephone system, linking several hundred bases at the time the presentation was made.

2. Use of a DNS server

This question was unexpected. Many people were interested that DNS was used to acquire IP addresses from phone numbers.

At the time, the concept of solving addresses using DNS was probably new. When searching the Compendium of Abstracts, we were without doubt the only one who made a clear indication of DNS in the few research papers touching on the subject of VoIP. Perhaps, the communications industry lacked the imagination for integrating communication and information.

3. Establishing communication quality among offices

There was high interest in establishing voice quality for communication among offices. The interest was probably aroused due to the fact that the product was already commercialized and in operation. After describing the method, we explained our concept within the presentation as indicated below. I believe we succeeded in convincing the audience.

"IP networks are rapidly growing and so is the traffic. Transmission bandwidth of networks is headed toward broadband. In the midst of such changes, it is impossible to predict the performances of networks with such dynamic changes. When adding chronological elements to the equation, various situations must be presumed such as minimal jittering, major jittering, latency, etc. I firmly believe that the method we are proposing will have a major impact on voice communications over IP networks."

The integration of information and communication was reflected strongly at ISS 1997, and it was said to be the last symposium of the century giving hopes to a new generation. Although VoIP was not the trend of the industry at the time, there were certainly those who saw the possibilities. When looking at the state of IP telephony of last year, I am grateful that I was given the opportunity to make such a presentation at the time, and I am very proud for being a part of the project.