| > | | | | 15 minutes at a time before they automatically |
| VoIP service enables videophone calls to families | | | | disconnect. And there's a line of people behind |
| back home. | | | | you." |
| Internet phone technology is helping military | | | | Including tax, soldiers pay a flat rate of $25.74 a |
| personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan stay in touch | | | | month for the service. A videophone is now |
| with their loved ones. | | | | available for the same monthly rate that |
| Broadband telephone service is proving popular | | | | enhances the service further. At a recent industry |
| with troops because, unlike some standard voice | | | | conference in Louisville that I attended, the |
| communications in those countries, it allows them | | | | audience was treated to a live VoIP videophone |
| to talk and see their loved ones as long as they | | | | conversation with Sgt. Mack. |
| want. | | | | "There are some soldiers spending upwards of |
| Voice over Internet Protocol technology, or VoIP, | | | | $75 a month on calling cards to call home |
| is deployed in a lightweight box the size of a book. | | | | sometimes," said Mack, 39, a Los Angeles native. |
| It can be used with any standard phone. | | | | He said he has distributed about three dozen of |
| "It works through the high-speed Internet. Here in | | | | the devices since he arrived in Iraq on |
| Iraq, we have Internet cafes where we are able | | | | Thanksgiving. |
| to hook our Voice-over-IP boxes into," Army 1st | | | | Mack, a 20-year Army veteran, said his |
| Sgt. Jeffery Mack said from Baghdad during a | | | | knowledge of VoIP technology came naturally. He |
| phone interview using VoIP technology with | | | | has worked with communications since coming |
| Louisville Courier-Journal reporter Wayne | | | | into the Army -- including a six-year stint with the |
| Thompkins. | | | | 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky. |
| "In a matter of seconds, we have dial tone," said | | | | "Actually, the Army uses the same technology |
| Mack, who is a VoIP sales agent in Baghdad in | | | | itself to provide communications for the war |
| addition to his responsibilities with the 22nd Signal | | | | theater," Mack said. "I basically provide the same |
| Brigade. "We have some military lines -- called | | | | type of services to the soldier. |
| morale lines -- however the morale lines allow only | | | | |