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What’s next?
The first stage of the application of any new technology is to replicate the function of what
came before, but once the new platform is in place, creative people invent new and unexpect-
ed ways to use it. IP is a potent enabler that has already showed us plenty of surprising things;
it’s inevitable that more is on the way.
The Telos VX represents an exciting change in direction for studio telephone operations. The
open IP nature of the system, along with its rich user interfaces and a powerful platform, offers
ongoing opportunities for enhancement of its capabilities.
When the connection from a station’s listeners to its studios eventually evolves to become via
IP as it is near certain to do, things could change appreciably. We’ve already touched on the
possibility for higher fidelity. But that’s only the immediate and obvious next step. With an un-
constrained pathway for data along with voice, a talk show’s producer or host could text chat
with a caller prior to his being on the air, for example. There could be an automatic updating of
the time a caller is planned to be on-air. There could be instant voting. A window could be kept
open on listeners’ PCs that would deliver supplementary text or visual information. Peering
yet further into the future, should video streaming catch-on; we might want both see and hear
callers.
Here are some other things we have in mind.
♦ A gateway to Skype, allowing callers to connect via computer with higher quality than
usual phones. It could be possible to exchange chat messages to update callers on how
long they need to wait, etc.
♦ Build in a texting (SMS) gateway to allow this form of communication with mobile
phones.
♦ Make a simpler VX phone for applications that don’t need the fancy LCD displays.
We invite your suggestions and creative ideas.
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