American History 1988
Chapter 203 - 197: Amazement

Chapter 203: Chapter 197: Amazement

"We have completed the most basic functional development of World Link’s landline phones and software protocols,"

Dean announced the good news to everyone, signifying an important future business layout for Byte Company.

"Our young fellows are full of energy; they all hope that World Link will grow into Byte Company as it is today."

The people in the meeting room all laughed, recalling the considerable effort it took to persuade some employees to join World Link.

After all, Byte Company was in a very favorable position at that time, with all employees looking forward to the day it went public.

As usual, before going public, employees could purchase a portion of the employee stock at a very favorable price.

If these technicians joined World Link, wouldn’t that mean they would lose the right to purchase Byte Company’s employee stock?

Everyone knows this could be an opportunity to get rich, so initially, no one wanted to go to that so-called subsidiary.

It wasn’t until the board members finished their meeting and decided to provide additional compensation to those willing to move to World Link that the issue was resolved.

The so-called compensation was simple: they retained the right to purchase Byte Company’s employee stock.

Moreover, should World Link also go public in the future, these employees could continue to purchase shares of the subsidiary.

Double stock incentives, you see, many adventurous young people were eager to go.

They were not only eager to go, they even worked overtime to resolve compatibility issues with IP telephony software and protocols.

Byte Company had reached the IPO stage within just a year, and it was not impossible for World Link to do the same with a bit more effort.

In order to bring out the initiative of the workers, it is necessary to combine it with the corresponding incentive measures.

"We have already completed several engineering prototypes at World Link, and they have just been shipped from Washington,"

Dean snapped his fingers, and a technician immediately came in carrying a cardboard box.

World Link’s headquarters was set up in Washington, right next to the MCI research center.

The prototypes completed there had passed a series of tests and today’s main goal was to demonstrate their functionality to the board members.

"Danny, right?" Dean looked at the young man entering with the cardboard box; he remembered him, as he had once been one of Byte Company’s technicians.

"Yes, Mr. Price," Danny said with a mixture of excitement and nervousness.

"Call me Boss; we are members of the same team."

"Yes, Boss!"

With one sentence, Dean had put Danny at ease.

Yes, during Byte’s start-up phase, he had followed Dean around coding.

The fact that Mr. Price still remembered him was something Danny was grateful for.

"OK, Danny, now show us the results of your hard work this past period,"

Dean moved aside to make room for Danny at the long table.

A computer and several ethernet cables had been prepared in advance.

Placing the cardboard box on the table, Danny carefully took out two black landline phones.

From their appearance alone, there was no difference from regular office phones.

The same dial pad, the same arrangement, and even the size appeared completely identical.

However, unlike traditional phones, there was a several-inch LCD screen on the top of these phones.

"Since IP phones connect to the internet, there is a dedicated network interface at their base."

Danny flipped the phone over to show the crystal socket on the back, similar to the ones on computer motherboards.

The ethernet cables were already laid out; plugging the phone in completed the process of connecting to the network.

However, the eye-catching LCD screen remained off, causing Durell and the rest to slightly furrow their brows.

If the prototypes encountered issues now, they might have to reassess World Link’s potential.

But Danny wasn’t flustered and proceeded to plug in a power cord; soon after, the backlight of the screen lit up.

"Since IP phones have certain data processing capabilities, they require an external power supply."

Traditional phones only needed one telephone line to function, but IP phones required separate ethernet and power cables.

With the screen lit up, the World Link logo appeared, followed by system self-checks.

The process took about ten seconds, which is somewhat lengthy, but since phones rarely lose power, it does not affect the user experience.

However, these features are not sufficient. On the first network connection, IP phones also need server configuration.

As Danny started to adjust settings on the computer, those present couldn’t help but curiously inspect the IP phone.

Although it was not completely set up yet, the LCD screen now displayed a lot of information.

Prominently in the center was the continuously flashing time, working like an electronic clock, providing users with the time-telling function at any moment.

Above the time display, there was a four-digit short code, like the current 8001, which acted as the identity number for the phone.

"We can assign a number to each IP phone in the network and bind it to the user, like this..."

Danny quickly tapped on the keyboard, and the screen of the IP phone flickered, updating the information.

8001, Danny (丹尼).

"Wow," Durell was very fond of these detailed designs, "Can it display to others like a seat plaque?"

"Of course, when you dial a number, it will send out like a business card."

As he spoke, Danny had already connected another desk phone and then used one to dial the other.

Ding-ling ling~ Ding-ling ling~

Accompanied by the pleasant melody, the screen of the other desk phone displayed information like "8001, Danny."

"Amazing!" Durell danced with excitement.

This was the IP telephone he had imagined, far more advanced than traditional landlines.

Look at that, their ringtones were different from the traditional phones’ monotone beeps or buzzes.

This was real music, with its own melody.

"Besides these basic features, the IP phone can also select multi-person conference mode and view the address book."

Danny skillfully pressed a few keys below the LCD screen, and quickly, a list of contacts appeared.

"We just need to select the corresponding contacts, and we can make a group call."

As Danny explained, everyone noticed there were options like "Menu," "Address Book," "Do Not Disturb," and "Directory" at the bottom of the screen.

"Mother F*cker, this thing looks just like a computer."

It was Valentine’s first time seeing such a novel device, and now he finally appreciated the charm of the internet.

"In a sense, it is indeed a simplified data processing terminal."

Dean picked up one of the handsets and started dialing another number.

Durell tacitly answered the phone, "This is John Durell, congratulations on becoming the first... IP telephone... user!"

Well, there was clearly interference and noise at the end of that last sentence.

"Sorry, Boss." Danny adjusted the computer, embarrassed, "The call quality of the IP phone is subject to network fluctuation, which can result in occasional packet loss and delay."

"Can fiber optic cables solve this problem?" Dean was prepared for this; everything had its pros and cons.

"We’ve tested long-distance fiber optics, and the failure rate is below 3%, which is completely acceptable."

Danny was fully confident about this, as the current IP phones and fiber optic cables were the perfect match.

"Good," Dean nodded with satisfaction; MCI had its own fiber optics division.

Dean believed that pairing this batch of IP phones with MCI’s fiber optic cables would give AT&T a surprise.

"Well done, Danny. What else do you have that can excite us? Bring it all out."

"The current IP phones, although best paired with fiber optic lines, can still be used with regular telephone lines.

The packet loss just now was a fluke, so considering their usage environment, we’ve made some integrations for them."

This time, Danny didn’t operate the IP phone handset, but unexpectedly, he opened the Teams software on the computer.

"We collaborated with the parent company’s tech department to make the Teams software and the IP phone protocols compatible and recognizable to each other.

As for the purpose of this, it’s, of course, to incorporate them into a unified communication system."

Dean’s eyes lit up; he had guessed what was coming.

With some operations on the Teams software by Danny, and a light tap on the telephone icon, the IP phone handset on the desk rang once again.

Valentine and Durell exchanged shocked glances—shit! This was way beyond their expectations.

"Teams software and IP phone can connect with each other?" Durell finally caught up.

"Of course," Danny replied with a bit of pride, "They’re connected to the same network, so it’s no different from calling each other."

"Can IP phones also call Teams? I mean, between computers and phones."

Valentine admitted he had underestimated the potential of IP phones, and their application scenarios were far beyond his imagination.

"As long as we assign a fixed identifier to each Teams account, they can call each other.

This feature will be updated in the next version of Teams," Danny provided his authoritative answer.

"Oh, God~" Durell had never before felt the internet was so enchanting.

It was upending his imagination; it seemed omnipotent.

"So now the situation is quite clear," Dean mused, "Network voice calls can roughly be divided into the following categories:

PC to PC, which is between Teams. PC to Phone, from Teams to IP phone. And Phone to Phone, between IP phones."

"Exactly, Boss, that’s the idea." Danny liked having a tech-savvy boss like Dean; it made communication much easier.

"Very good," Dean looked at the other directors. They were still immersed in the blueprint of the network telephone.

"Dean!" Durell looked over with a complex expression, "Dave that guy hit the jackpot, we should have been a bit more aggressive from the start."

Durell regretted it, feeling that Byte Company should have obtained a larger share in World Link.

"Relax, buddy," Dean wasn’t fixated on these matters, "MCI will shoulder the backlash from the traditional phone market for us."

Money never ends, and there are many excellent projects. Without MCI, Byte Company would only be besieged by all the phone companies.

"Alright, let’s talk about its costs." That was the issue Dean was more concerned about.

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