Because FunPhone calls travel in the form of compressed digital packets over the Internet, FunPhone enables you to bypass traditional telecommunications networks (like all those expensive long distance phone companies!). You can keep in touch with friends and family across the country without paying long distance charges. Of course, your Internet Service Provider's standard Internet connection rates will still apply.

Does it work on any computer?
All you need is a PC, with an XVGA monitor (or better) with at least 14" viewable area, a connection to the internet, and a recent version of either Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer, with Javascript enabled. Your internet connection speed should be at least 14.4K, although we do recommend 28.8K for optimum quality of service.

Can I make long distance calls?
Yes, anywhere within the NANPA (North American Numbering Plan Administration) area - that includes all of the United States and its territories, Canada, Bermuda, and many Caribbean nations, including Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turks & Caicos. (Calls to countries not listed are not available at the present time, but we anticipate offering international calls to or from anywhere in the world very soon!)

Do I really just talk to my screen?
Yes, thanks to the principles of acoustiphotoelectromagnetic resonance. In other words, your monitor screen has certain acoustical properties that vary depending on the hue and intensity of the colors it displays. The variations in resonance in response to your voice is what makes FunPhone possible.

Can I use FunPhone at work?
Of course! You could save your company thousands of dollars by making all your long distance calls with FunPhone. And for corporations, we offer a version of FunPhone that can be embedded directly into your web page, with a dedicated line direct to your Customer Service or Technical Support area - think of how much you could save on 800 numbers!

How do I know if FunPhone will work on my computer?
Most monitors currently available are fully FunPhone-compatible. Compatibility can be determined by simply waving a piece of soft fruit, such as a strawberry or banana, in front of the monitor and on either side of the case.

If waving the fruit near a side of the monitor causes no noticeable (temporary) screen distortion, your monitor is FunPhone-compatible. If waving it near the screen also produces zero distortion, your monitor has excellent acoustiphotoelectromagnetic properties and is ideally suited for FunPhone. Or you can just go here and try it!

So exactly what happens when I make a phone call with FunPhone?
Here's a detailed view of how FunPhone works:

The next screen you see will be the WebTalk Microphone and Status Display. A message at the top of the gray box will let you know when your connection has been made.

Speak clearly and authoritatively into the monitor. It is a good idea to announce at the beginning of your call that you are using FunPhone. Because many people are so taken aback by the remarkable clarity and quality of a FunPhone call, they may think you are in the next room, rather than hundreds or even thousands of miles away.

The alternating blue and red circles you see on your screen are the key to the FunPhone technology. By alternating the light between the two extremes of the RGB (Red Green Blue) color spectrum, we create what is known as a "color gradient differential." This maximizes the acoustic properties of your screen, which results in small but measurable sympathetic vibrations by the phosphorous dots on your screen in response to the sound waves of your voice.

These vibrations or resonance cause disruptions in the flow of electrons that return to the electron gun at the back of the screen.

The electron gun detects these disruptions and sends an adjusted electromagnetic response to the operating system video device drivers and Plug 'n Play dynamic link libraries (DLL's). The FunPhone client-side applet is programmed to read these DLL's, extract only the information related to the audio waves from the monitor, and then converts these responses to digital signals by sampling the audio waves (300 hz to 3.3 Khz) with the appropriate lightwave frequency. Sampling theory dates back to the 1920's, when Nyquist proposed his Sampling Theorem, which states that "an analog signal can be completely reconstructed if it is sampled at a uniform rate greater than twice the highest frequency component of the original signal (fsample > 2 fsignal_max)." It is this scientific principle that enables FunPhone to deliver its breakthrough technology to you today.

Once your voice signal has been digitized on your PC, it is compressed (using the G.723.1 compression algorithm) and sent via the internet to FunPhone's Gateway and Command Center over our dedicated, high-speed fiber backbone. Once there, the signal is decompressed back into a normal voice signal, and routed to one of our authorized local or long distance carriers via the Public Switch Telephone Network. From there, it is delivered to the number you are calling, just as if it were a local call from a friend or neighbor.

I only have a 14 inch monitor, and I'm not getting the best quality calls with FunPhone. Should I buy a new monitor?
The principle of Resonating Frequency is an important consideration when evaluating a monitor specifically for FunPhone use. The Resonating Frequency is the pitch that, when sounded, will cause an object to vibrate and produce tone of its own.

It is most easily demonstrated with a piano using the following steps:

Hold down the sustain (right) pedal and sing one note as loud and low as you can into the piano.
Stop singing but keep the pedal down.

What happens? The piano is sounding the same note, even though you never touched a key.

Now release the pedal and do the same thing again, but sing the highest note you can sing.

The piano sounds that note, too.

That's because whatever string matches the note you sang has a "resonating frequency" matching the note you sang. When a vibration occurs near it matching its resonating frequency, it starts vibrating in turn (sympathetic vibrations).

Everything has a resonating frequency. And some things will actually amplify the correct pitch on their own. for example, the middle stall in the men's restroom at FunPhone's headquarters has a resonating frequency of 110 cycles per second ("A" on a piano keyboard). If you are in that stall and softly moan that pitch, it is heard very loudly throughout the entire building (much to the great surprise and dismay of two of our marketing reps).

Generally speaking, the longer or looser something is, the lower its resonating frequency. The shorter or tighter; the higher the frequency. All other things being equal, a 21" monitor has a lower resonating frequency than does a 14" monitor.

In testing we've found that a deep, manly voice (such as that of our tech writer) works best with a 21" monitor, and a whispy, effeminate voice (such as that of our programmer, much to our, but not his, amusement) works best with a 14" monitor.

When shopping for a monitor, insist that any monitor you look at be connected to a running computer. Speak loudly and firmly into the monitor at your normal pitch. If the image on it wavers perceptibly, it's a perfect candidate for FunPhone.

It's best to shop at CompUSA or any other store that typically has 20 or more monitors arranged in a rectangle showing identical images. Stand back 10 to 15 feet, shout toward the monitors as loudly as you can, and have a spotter check to see which monitors vibrate the most.

For testing purposes, a phrase that contains a good mixture of strong and soft consonants works best. In our in-house testing, the best phrase we've found for testing a monitor is "How many figs can a fig plucker pluck if a fig plucker could pluck figs."

(Many FunPhone users have found that their FunPhone calls have been greatly improved by the addition of the FunPhone Sonic Harmonizer Hood (SHH), available from our FunPhone online store.)