Hi Bill,
I commute about 230 miles one way weekly to home. I have found that, as much
as I choke on it, that AOL Instant Messenger is the best way for my wife and
I to communicate. It is much simpler than ICQ, and I have found it to be
more immediate than ICQ. As to voice, I have tried and found Microsoft Net
Meeting to be fairly decent. I don't have the greatest sound card, SB16, but
it does seem to be workable, and at free the price is right. I would think
that if you have the hardware, any voice over IP will improve. In my
experience, having traveled like this for ten years, that between IM, E-mail
and telephone, that all work for their purpose. Mostly we communicate by
email, and that is pretty darn cheep. If we need to talk, then the phone is
always there.
Good luck in what ever you decide to do.
Brad Loomis,
Los Angeles and Morro Bay, California

> My wife recently moved 300 miles away from me and will be gone
> for the next
> year.   I'm a little afraid for when my long distance phone bill
> comes back
> for the first time (especially since I have to pay for calls
> originating at
> both ends) and figured voice communication over the internet could be the
> answer to our problems.  We already communicate using ICQ

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