Fairchild takes part in first morale call video phone testing

July 25, 1997
Originally published by Fairchild Connection (Fairchild AFB, WA)

Families of the 98th Air Refueling Squadron at Fairchild AFB became the first military dependents and active duty personnel to use a device for video morale calls. The calls were made while the aircrews were on a deployment to RAF Mildenhall, England that fell during the July 4 holiday weekend.

The device, a compact unit called the VideoPhone, allows families and deployed airmen to see and talk to one another through a regular telephone and a television set. On the deployment, all six morale calls made through the new device were successful, according to Von Poehlein, electronic engineer at Scott Air Force Base, Ill.

According to Poehlein, the VideoPhone will sell as individual units for approximately $500 each. Ordinary phone lines are used, and a telephone is plugged into the unit. The VideoPhone then hooks up to the television.

"It's similar to how you would use a VCR," Poehlein said.

"It's pretty simple. Making sure you have the TV tuned to the correct channel, you make the phone call to the location. The other person must have the same device up and running for it to work, however," Poehlein said.

The entire procedure from phone call to actual contact will take 30 to 40 seconds, according to Poehlein. "It takes a while for the modems in each contacting video unit to match up and synchronize, but once they do, the procedure should be fine."

Initially, the VideoPhone recieved good reviews from the separated families, which operated the unit for the first time on July 17. All agreed they like seeing faces as well as just hearing their voices over a conventional telephone.

"This was a great experience. We would love to be able to do this again," said Sara Nicholls, wife of Capt. Kennis Nicholls of the 98th ARS. "My kids enjoyed seeing their dad," said Keri Millward, wife of Capt. Michael Millward.

"The VideoPhone is a great idea today," said Colleen Lippert, wife of Capt. Steve Lippert. "It is nice to know that morale is valued during deployments. We appreciate it."

"I would rather speak on the phone only because seeing my husband (on the video screen) only made me miss him that much more. For children I think it's a great idea," said Deinijel Williams, wife of A1C Glenn Williams.

"It sounds like they liked it," Poehlein added.

MSgt. Brad Gildea, chief of the visual information support center at Fairchild, said the first uses of the VideoPhone were very successful.

"I would say this is a vital technology that will have a tremendously positive morale impact, both at home and where the deployed mission is being carried out. A happy deployer is more likely to succeed. It can make the difference in whether the deployed airman does his duty well or not, because it gets lonely out there in the middle of nothing," Gildea said.

Gildea added that he is recommending that the unit become available on a larger scale. "Apparently all deployers were very happy. Our eventual goal is to make it available for every deployable unit in the Air Force," he said.

The Air Force now has ten VideoPhones available for use. According to Gildea, two are at Fairchild with one at the Air Force Communication Agency on base and one slotted to go to the family support center, two at Mildenhall, one at Tinker AFB, Okla. family support center, one at Eskan Village, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, two at Spangdahlem AB, Germany, one at Langley AFB, Va., and one at Scott.

"It has awesome capability," Gildea said, noting that the unit is small, about the size of a toaster. "I am excited to look at this technology."

Tim Moss, electronic engineer at Scott, said that in the immediate future, he would be giving most of his time to the project.

"Part of our mission is to assess that new technology," Moss said. "This has a lot of potential and will boost the retention numbers to help retain aircrew members who might otherwise not stick around due to being separated from their families. We have had much cooperation from the family support centers we have contacted," he added.

The Video Phone is made by 8x8 Inc., a Santa Clara, Calif. company. Poehlein said that a competing product may also come into being in the works, the TeleEye 324 television, which is a similar device to 8x8's unit.

"The only difference is that (the TeleEye) is interchangeable," Poehlein said. "Both of these products can be used together and with any commercial TV or phone. Both are designed so that they can be used in the home."

According to Poehlein, there is still work to be done until the VideoPhone becomes available.
"It's still being evaluated, still being tested," he said. "We're still trying to test at more sites and hoping it will work over Defense Switched Network lines."

"It's not going to work everywhere, because the line circuits and quality is different overseas than here. Because of those line problems, we're going to have to evaluate the phone's productivity and its' ability to in fact work in deployed areas. But for the few people that have tested it with us, the feedback has been positive."