Voice Over IP – Saving Money

Here's how you can save money on long distance calling with voIP.

Voice Over IP – Saving MoneyBy Greg Richburg

I was on a tech support call with a client in Australia for over forty-five minutes. Guess how much that cost me. If I told you less than a dollar, would you believe it? Well it is true indeed.

I called my friend in England just the other day. We talked for about half an hour and it didn't cost either of us a nickel. Free and clear as crystal, I used my computer. Nothing fancy, just a simple sound card, speakers and microphone is all I needed.

If you haven't heard about Voice over IP yet, you most definitely will soon. There are several different methods to the crazed digital telephony protocol that could change the way you make calls and save you a bundle.
What is VOIP?

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is the concept for managing the delivery of voice information in digital format through the Internet rather then conventional voice telephone lines. In the simplest form, VoIP turns any computer into a telephone.

Although there are complex and costly ways to do this in the enterprise level, there are also simple, nearly free ways do use VoIP on the personal level. All that's required is a broadband Internet connection of some type. Now I am not here to advertise for any single organization selling VoIP equipment or services, but just to let you know, there are some that offer very nice package deals with equipment, Internet phones, headsets and all the fixings of standard enterprise phone systems. There are also software based systems that operate like your everyday chat systems and require only computer speakers and a microphone.

Why would I want this?

One major advantage of VoIP and Internet telephony is that it avoids the tolls charged by ordinary telephone services that use the standard public switched telephone network. Sure Pac Bell and ATT don’t like the sounds of that, not unless they figure out how to jump on the bandwagon and capitalize on this somewhat new form of technology. Actually VoIP has been around for a while, yet it is starting to pick up speed now as an alternative means of communication. And the primary reason is that it will save you money.

Another money saving fact about VoIP is that since VoIP utilizes your broadband Internet connection for its delivery, customers do not pay Federal USF and FCC Line Charges and pay lower Federal Excise Tax.
WI-FI and VoIP

Now we're getting serious! Where is this going? Can it really compete with the cell phone? Well, at this time the wireless technology has some security risks and setup difficulties to overcome before it becomes a significant player in the game. But on a local, enterprise level, we are not far off.

What is the bottom line?

If you are tired of lofty telephone bills, perhaps there is a solution for you that will help with this years budget. You don't need to transform your entire phone system to utilize the benefits of VoIP. Start small and learn its potential.

A Rule for the Road:

Keep up with technology or else technology will pass you by; and the ignorance will cost you more than you will know.

Greg Richburg runs KlickCommerce, a web based marketing system for Women's clothing. He is a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer and the owner of Netricks, Inc. a network consulting, web design and hosting company located in Fresno, CA.
View his work at http://www.klickcommerce.com. Visit Netricks at http://www.netricks.com559-431-3775

To VoIP Or Not To VoIP

Hello,

If you haven't used VoIP telephone technology yet and not quite sure what the pros and cons are, this article may help.

To VoIP Or Not To VoIP

By: Daymon Hoag

Unless you live under a rock somewhere in Antarctica, you already know VoIP is an abbreviation for voice over Internet protocol, also known as broadband telephone. That being said, should one use VoIP? How does it work? What are some benefits? Are there any problems with VoIP?

To answer this question we first need to know how broadband telephone works. First and foremost VoIP works on a broadband Internet connection like high speed cable or dsl, a DTA ( digital terminal adapter ), and just about any average home telephone will do.

Most long distance telephone calls are carried over the Internet (yes, traditional calls). The DTA box transmits and receives all calls directly to the Internet, bypassing the telephone company all together, consequently; bypassing most taxes and sir charges too.

With most VoIP services, the big benefit for the consumer is significant cost savings. Service ranges from between nine and thirty dollars a month depending on the plan you choose. Many VoIP companies offer flat rate calling, and some for under twenty dollars a month. See http://www.cheapest-service.com/broadband-phone/

As with any new technology, there are still a few bugs to be worked out. Some VoIP services don't offer 911 service in all areas. The FCC has passed legislation to have VoIP companies make 911 service available to all consumer's by November 2005.

The DTA only connects to one telephone. A fix is plugging the outgoing DTA line into the network interface telephone box outside. Unplug the telephone companie's line and plug in your own. If the telephone company tries to reconnect, it might fry your DTA box. Put a warning sign up.

This technique will propagate the VoIP signals throughout all the lines in your home. Another quirk is when Internet service or electricity goes out so does your broadband telephone. If you don't already have cell-phone service, a cheap pre-paid works nicely as a back up.

All in all, my experience has been VoIP is worth what you pay for it. Knowing the bugs and their fixes can lead to substantial cost savings in telephone service. Even if one doesn't completely replace their traditional telephone company, VoIP is an excellent choice for a second telephone line or even just as a long distance plan.

VoIP could even be a good excuse to upgrade your dial-up Internet connection to high speed Internet. The reasoning behind it being, the savings in telephone service could offset the rise in the cost to upgrade to broadband Internet service. You be the judge.

About the Author:Editor at http://www.cheapest-service.com/. No need to keep searching the Internet for the cheapest service available, we already did that for you.

Is VoIP Good For The Home?

Hello Everyone,

Here's an article that may clear up what VoIP is and how it works.

Is VoIP Good For The Home?
By Aaron Siegel

There is no doubt that you have heard about VoIP by now. It’s made headlines and is plastered everywhere both in online and TV advertisements. Just in case you haven’t caught on to the hype yet, VoIP is the abbreviated term for Voice over Internet Protocol. Voice over Internet Protocol is basically the ability to communicate on a phone over your Internet connection.

With VoIP, the promise is the ability to make local and global long distance calls at a significantly lower rate than over a plain old telephone line through your local carrier. The VoIP trend has caught on and large enterprises all over the globe are adopting this new technology to reduce their cost of business communications which may include fax, conference calling, along with streaming video applications. VoIP has been around for some time, but it has only been until recently that it has finally matured to the stage worthy of replacing everyday phone use.

At the household level, it is certain by now that you are compelled to embrace this technology somewhat, but are not sure how to go about it or even if this technology has any real benefit for your family. You are probably wondering, “How much? How difficult? Is it necessary?” This article hopefully will clear up a few unanswered questions you may have regarding this technology and maybe even excite you enough to go on out and get VoIP hooked up in your own home.

First off, you must have an Internet connection. No, not your 56k dial up connection, but an actual high speed Internet connection. This can be cable, satellite, or DSL Internet, but you will need high speed Internet for VoIP to function properly and become your new calling station. Dialup just doesn’t have the capacity or speed to transfer voice digitally without significant quality loss. A company named SpeakEasy has recently come out with a new DSL product that requires no current phone line for high speed Internet if DSL is your current favorite of broadband services and if you are planning on replacing your current phone service with VoIP.

Secondly you will need what is called a gateway. The gateway is connected between your computer and Ethernet modem. The VoIP gateway is where your phone line will be plugged into. Gateways enable freedom from possible computer problems that can shut down calling capabilities or deteriorate voice quality. Computer crashes, slow memory, and many other computer problems that plague us in everyday life, you do not want to plague your ability to make phone calls.
Gateways are specifically designed for VoIP phones but adapters are available for current phones should you not want to buy a brand new phone. VoIP providers usually have the adapters available for sale so you don’t have to shop around for one yourself. Before you write off buying a new phone however, video phones are the newest product line and it won’t be long before this trend explodes. You may want to get your video phone so you aren’t left out of exciting face to face conversations with friends and relatives when they get theirs. Packet8 VoIP has a good video phone sold separately with their services.

The services included with VoIP usually include all the convenient bells and whistles your current phone service provides including your own local VoIP telephone number, call waiting, voice messaging, 3 way calling, and more.

There are some important things to remember with VoIP before you go diving in to this feature rich voice technology. You should check with your VoIP provider for local 911 emergency coverage. Some VoIP providers charge extra on a monthly basis for both 911 and 411 access so make sure you know how much it is going to cost you before committing to a calling contract.

One last important thing to remember is that your gateway is reliant on electricity to function. This means power outages will put your phone line out of service, but then isn’t your phone already only functional with electricity these days?

This article was written by Aaron Siegel of TopSavings.Net which provides consultive services for communications at the residential level all the way up to government.

Services available at the website include VoIP (Including Packet8), Internet Access (Including SpeakEasy), Long Distance, Local Phone Services, Cellular services, and more. http://www.TopSavings.Net

Welcome to the Compare-Solution-Voip Blog!

Hi Folks,

Welcome to the Compare-Solution-Voip Blog!

My name is John Tiniakos and I run http://www.topdatingsitesreviewed.com/compare-solution-voip.htm...yep, you guessed it…It contains reviews of the best and most popular broadband internet phone service providers.

You can hop over to my web site (mentioned above) to check out what’s new, but in the meantime, why not take a look around my blog - hang out, check out some links - bookmark it and check back regularly for current news on voIP telephony.

I will also include some of my personal experiences with internet phone services. And don’t forget to leave a comment and contribute to some interesting voip-related chat.

John