Intel helps get phones and PCs talking

Intel has developed a new specification, Universal Phone Device Interface (UPDI), to provide a standard way for different makers of VoIP (Voice over IP) handsets to work with PC software.

It uses audio technology already present in the operating system and telephony software. But software and hardware vendors that adopt UPDI will not need to implement proprietary interfaces, helping to reduce development time and costs, Intel says.

UDPI is a move towards a more plug-and-play approach: compliant software should immediately recognise any handset when it’s connected to the PC.

Intel has been testing UPDI with Counterpath’s Eyebeam telephony software and its own 600SM phone adapter (a PCI card that allows you to connect a regular telephone to a PC for use with VoIP).

It’s not yet known how widespread support for this new standard will be. Skype, a hugely popular VoIP software provider, prefers to provide its own certification for handsets which communicate with its service via a proprietary API.

Intel is offering a software development kit for use with UPDI.