Following through on its promise to open up its Geoport interface to telephony (CI No 2,367) – and in line with its new Versit interoperability initiative with IBM Corp, AT&T Corp, and Siemens AG (CI No 2,556) – Apple Computer Inc has also announced the GeoPort Telecom Adaptor Kit. Apple says the system is intended as an all-in-one kit providing computer-telephony integration via the Macintosh’s Geoport interface, and comprises full-duplex speakerphone capabilities (for users with a system microphone); a 14.4Kbps facsimile modem; and a single source for spoken, facsimile, and electronic mail messages. Specifically, the kit includes Geoport Telecom Adaptor hardware; version 2.0 of Apple Telecom software; MegaPhone screen-based telephone software from Cypress Research Corp; and Aladdin Systems’ SITcomm communications software. Also included is a software-based digital answering machine that is said to differentiate between speech, facsimile, and data calls without manual intervention, and which Apple has integrated with PowerTalk, the client part of its Apple Open Collaboration Environment that provides a unified voice, facsimile, and data mailbox. Finally, Apple is also offering a 30-day trial of its PowerDial Dialling Manager, offering call logging and management features. The kit is to be released next month, but pricing is to be left to authorised retailers.
