By J. Lloyd

You have heard about VOIP, but you have no idea what it is. Is this just another telephone carrier that has come along since the breakup of AT&T many years ago? Well, that is part of it, but this is another step further along as this system directly relies on the internet.

So, what is VOIP? It is Voice over Internet Protocol, a way of routing voice conversations using the internet or any other IP-based system as you continue using a regular telephone instrument. Okay, but how does it work? Can you be working on your computer and talk at the same time? Is there special equipment you need?

There are several companies that provide VOIP service. There is a cost savings because you have a single network to do everything-it carries both voice and data and on the same internet lines. If you have the right company that can carry both the voice and data lines together, there might be no additional cost to combine these two features.

The VOIP telephone system can help by automatically routing incoming telephone calls to your VOIP phone, regardless of whether or not you are connected to the network. You can take you phone with you on a trip and whenever you connect to the Internet you can accept incoming calls.

You can get free telephone numbers for use in some countries. People using this system can work anywhere as long as there is a sufficiently fast and stable Internet connection available to them. Like your other telephone system, you can usually get 3-way calling, call forwarding, automatic redial, and even caller ID.

So, is this system right for you? There are definitely advantages and as with all systems, some disadvantages. How do you choose? That depends and you should do some extensive research to make sure that the VOIP telephone system will work for you.

Well, you might actually be using a VOIP system at your office and not know it. The VOIP telephone systems have offered businesses high-powered telecommunications capabilities once available only to the largest, most expensive companies’ systems.

Today, advanced VOIP solutions enable all employees, whether they are down the hall or a thousand miles away, to respond rapidly to customers and business opportunities by allowing their phones and computers to integrate into one seamless system.

Check with your telecommunications people in your organization as they can tell you whether or not you are already using the system through work. They will also be very knowledgeable about the positive and negative components of the VOIP system and will probably be able and willing to talk to you extensively about their experiences with it. Remember, they are the people in your organization that must keep the computers and telephones up and operational for the company.

So, what do you think? Do you want to take the plunge and try the VOIP telephone system? Go ahead and take a chance if you think it will work for you. If it does not, you can always change back to a regular telephone.

For more VOIP information please visit http://www.voiptransmission.com - a popular VOIP website that provides tips, advice and VOIP resources. Don’t forget to check out our page on VOIP telephone system.

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y Michael Talbert

With the advent of widespread broadband Internet connections, consumers are discovering what businesses have known for a while. Voice over IP telephony, or VoIP as it is known, can be a viable and cost effective alternative to the Plain Old Telephone System (POTS). As VoIP upstarts are popping up everywhere, most notably Vonage, Packet8 and Skype, even the big Internet Service Providers are offering voice over IP packages to their residential subscribers

Such features as caller ID, call forwarding, automatic redial, and even 3-way calling are standard on most VoIP packages, whereas many phone companies consider them add on’s and will charge you extra. But the real kicker is, if it is right for you and you pick the right Voice over IP solution, you should be able to reduce your phone bill by half or more.

How Does Voice over IP Work?

IP Telephony is a packet switching technology, as opposed to circuit switching as used by the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network). The PSTN method uses copper wires to physically connect one caller to another through a series of circuit switches, as illustrated by the switchboard operators of old.

In voice over IP, the analog voice is converted into digital packets that are routed through the internet, and in the case of one of the parties being on a PSTN connection, the packets are routed to the nearest local switching station and placed back on the PSTN. If both persons are using VoIP, then there is no reason to use the PSTN, and the entire conversation takes place over the Internet.

Needless to say, this is much more cost effective than using land lines for the entire distance. If a caller in New York uses VoIP to call a PSTN number in Seattle, the call doesn’t leave the internet until it reaches the switching station in Seattle, making it for all practical purposes, a local call.

The Drawbacks of Voice over IP Telephony

There are some points that one should seriously consider when thinking about dumping the POTS. VoIP generally requires a Broadband Internet connection, which in turn requires power. If a power outage should occur, you have no telephone service. Battery backups could solve this problem, but not on a long term basis. Internet Service Providers (ISP’s) also have a tendency to go down occasionally, though they are getting better all the time. Calls can be forwarded to your cell phone if your power is out, but in real disaster situation, even cell phones are not a perfect backup, as seen by Hurricane Katrina. Faxing over an IP network has proven to be problematic. Fax machines scan a document and convert the data into sounds, which don’t travel well over the internet. In IP telephony, much progress has been made on a standard called T.38, whose mission is to convert the fax sound into sendable data. Another option is iFax, the T.37 standard that sends faxes as an email attachment or a remote printout using the Internet Printing Protocol. Today, separate Fax lines can be added by most VoIP providers for an extra charge.

Emergency services such as 911 are also an issue with IP telephony. It is the nature of the Internet that tying a particular node to a geographic location is quite difficult, and street addresses are not easily routed to a nearby call center. In the U.S., the FCC has mandated that VoIP providers implement Enhanced 911 (E911). Providers are making progress by encouraging their customers to register a street address to their phone number, enabling them to route emergency calls to a nearby call center.

Voice over IP and Broadband Connections

While a broadband connection is not absolutely necessary, it is what makes VoIP shine. Many households are turning to DSL or cable modems for their internet connections, and wireless broadband WiFi hotspots are popping up everywhere.

The problem with DSL is that it is provided by telephone companies which for the most part require you to have a landline, pretty much defeating the purpose. Some regional Telco’s are starting to unbundle their DSL services by offering “naked DSL”, an Internet connection without the analog line on the local loop. When you think about it, there really doesn’t seem to be much motivation for the Telco’s to promote VoIP, as it would effectively be like cutting their revenues in half.

If your household has cable television, you more than likely can get broadband access through a cable modem. Most cable providers charge around $50 a month for broadband internet access, and for those who utilize the Internet often, a high speed internet connection is well worth the price. Some cable IPS’s offer residential Voice over IP for $40-$50 a month. Through the pure play VoIP companies like Vonage or Packet8, you can get VoIP for around $15-$25 a month, potentially eliminating the need for a land line at all.

Wireless networks also work great for VoIP, and are especially convenient if you travel a lot. Hotspots all over the world allow you to call anywhere using a WiFi VoIP phone. Internet phones come in all shapes and sizes with all kinds of bells and whistles. From a full business desk phone from Cisco, to phones indistinguishable from cell phones, even regular cell phones that are VoIP capable – new products and technologies are coming out every day to get you better connected for less.

Voice over IP telephony has come of age. If you have access to a broadband Internet connection, you could conceivably cut your phone bill by half or more, never pay long distance charges in the U.S. and Canada, and pay way less for International calls as low as 3 cents per minute. Sound quality is usually as good as a cell phone connection. To test you current broadband connection, visit http://www.TestYourVoip.com and download the java applet. In about 20 seconds they will show you in detail how your VoIP phone call would fare to and from national and international destinations. Once you know if your connection can sustain the extra traffic, it’s just a matter of finding a reliable Voice over IP telephony service provider.