VOIP - The Phone Service for your Internet
James Swainston
VOIP - The Phone Service for your Internet
What is it?
VOIP stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol. This means your voice will get sent across the Internet instead of through the traditional telephone circuit network.
The biggest question you may have is why should I consider VOIP service over traditional phone service?
This is the question I first had when considering VOIP as well. I found the advantages of VOIP far outweigh that of the traditional phone system. Among these advantages are significant cost savings, unlimited talking over both local and long distance, the ability to select any area code you want, and the huge amount of features available.
Cost Savings
The low-cost was my main reason for moving from the tradition phone system to VOIP. You can pay one low monthly fee and get all the features and advantages associated with Internet phone service. There are not near as many taxes and fees associate with VOIP phone service as there are with tradition phone providers. There are no surprises because you know your monthly rate.
Unlimited Minutes
Another huge advantage of VOIP is unlimited talking minutes for both local and long distance for one low fee. You could be in California and speak to someone in New York at anytime of day for as long as you want to without having to worry about per minute charges.
Portability
VOIP is a very portable service. It can be used permanently at home, or you can bring it with you while you travel. All you need is access to a high speed Internet connection. You can select any area code you wish to have your phone service through. This means you could have relatives a significant distance away whom you talk to quite often and you don't have to make them call long distance. This service benefited me very much while I was in college in Colorado and talking with my friends and parents in Michigan.
Features
Most of the extra features on traditional phone service lines can cost quite a bit of money. These features are now included as part of your normal rates with VOIP. These included features can include voicemail, caller id, call waiting, call forwarding, 3-way calling, and many, many more. I regularly receive voice messages and they are sent to my email as a sound attachment! I love the convenience.
Other Information
VOIP has so many advantages, but as with everything, there are potential downsides. The technology used by VOIP requires a high speed Internet connection such as DSL or Cable to function properly. There is plenty of bandwidth in DSL and Cable Internet services for VOIP to function properly, but dialup just doesn't provide the bandwidth necessary.
About the author:
Learn about DSL, Cable, and VOIP technologies at http://www.cable-vs-dsl.com/
The latest information and news on VoIP :
Large RBOCs and ILECs are scaling back on VoIP equipment purchases, helping bring down the worldwide service provider VoIP market 8% sequentially to $816 million in 3Q08, says market research firm Infonetics Research in a new report.
Foreclosures, consumer cutbacks freeze carrier spending on VoIP (Network World)
Home foreclosures and a generally bad economy are driving down demand for wired phone lines, which will freeze much carrier spending on VoIP infrastructure until 2011, according to a new Infonetics report.
DeFi will serve up VoIP over WiFi on iPhone (Ars Technica)
VoIP over WiFi with a flat-rate monthly charge for both calls and the network?what's the catch? Provider DeFi says they can deliver it all: now to Nokia S60 phones, and soon to iPhones. Read More...
10 VoIP applications for your mobile phone (e-Consultancy)
Making calls on your mobile phone can get quite expensive, especially when calling internationally. Fortunately, there are now a number of great mobile VoIP services that make international calling from mobile phones dirt cheap.
China VoIP & Digital Telecom Inc. Releases Third Quarter Financial Results (P...
China VoIP & Digital Telecom Inc. released its 2008 third quarter financial results yesterday:
Net Quintum VoIP Gateways Achieve Certification for Microsoft Exchange Unifie...
Network Equipment Technologies, Inc. today announced that Quintum, now part of NET, has successfully completed Microsoft certification for Microsoft Exchange Unified Messaging for both the VX and Tenor lines of VoIP switches and gateways, confirming their ability to easily integrate a customer's existing voice infrastructure with Exchange Unified Messaging.
Regional Service Providers Continue to Select Nortel for Anywhere, Anytime Vo...
If customers think access to the latest voice and multimedia applications are only available in large, highly populated cities, think again. With a Carrier VoIP solution from Nortel(1)(NYSE: NT), designed specifically for regional service providers, customers in some of the most remote places in North America can enjoy the same VoIP services deployed in large metropolitan areas.
DeFi Global Access VoIP for iPhone coming (MacNN)
DeFi Mobile has announced the expansion of its Global Access VoIP service to include the iPhone platform. For a monthly subscription fee, users will have access to unlimited global calling, roaming, and long distance. The calls require a WiFi connection, but the company claims that its global partnerships extend the available access points to include private and commercial connections. Other ...
Sigma, BroadSoft Team For VoIP, Join Each Other?s Partner Group (Communicatio...
Sigma Systems is partnering with VoIP software developer BroadSoft Inc. to provide provisioning and fulfillment solutions to telcos and cablecos for hosted business VoIP services. Under the partnership, BroadSoft has joined Sigma?s Solution Partner program, and Sigma has joined BroadSoft?s Enabling Technology...
Mediatrix Telecom Delivers the Mediatrix 4102 VoIP Gateway (PR.com)
Mediatrix's newest VoIP gateway solution offers increased performance and scalability for the SOHO and remote office marketplace. [PR.com - November 19, 2008]