VoIP Phone Service
General

How to choose a VoIP Provider

Damian Vedran

VoIP Phones is growing rapidly in popularity. In general, VoIP is replacing traditional phone service, which is a bit of a surprise, given how often VoIP is advertised to be a ‘greener’ choice. But what exactly is VoIP? How does it work? And can we compare VoIP with our regular phones?

VoIP refers to voice over internet protocol.

VoIP phones or IP telephones use voice over IP technology for placing and receiving phone calls over IP networks, including the Internet, instead of your conventional public switched telephone network. The term ‘VoIP’ actually refers to the combination of VoIP phones (which may also be referred to as ‘IP phones’), internet connectivity, and software. VoIP technology enables telephone communication over IP networks. This is different from traditional telephony, which requires one-to-one communication between the calling party and the receiver.

VoIP phones use advanced routing protocols that allow users to speak to each other via IP packets. The subscriber’s PC then processes the data packets and translates them into analog sound, which is then transmitted over the Internet using the proper ‘peer-to-peer’ (P2P) software. This process is much more efficient than standard phone systems because it allows participants to communicate over large distances without having to pay long distance charges for long-distance calls. The P2P software can be used for VoIP conferences. It is also useful for connecting VoIP enabled mobile devices. Examples of P2P software include Skype, GoogleTalk and others.

There are some characteristics that distinguish VoIP Phones from normal analog phones. For starters, there is no analog hardware required for VoIP phones. VoIP is transmitted over IP networks. Because of this, these devices do not require any network infrastructure, unlike conventional phones. This feature makes them easier to set up and less expensive to run.

A VoIP Phone uses the number of lines available in the local phone network to determine the cost of each call. The number of lines determines the maximum number of minutes that can be used in a single call and therefore the rate for long-distance calls. To make VoIP phones more affordable, many service providers offer a free VOIP phone number to new customers. To keep up with changing rates, it is advisable to check periodically the rates of your VoIP Phone service. You may wish to subscribe to a plan that offers unlimited long distance calls at reduced prices.

One important characteristic of VoIP Phones is the ability to inter communicate with other participants in a conference. This is facilitated by the application of an IP-based application layer. The application layer makes it possible to use applications like Microsoft Office and Quickoffice to edit and share information across IP communication lines. This feature makes it easier to coordinate discussions among employees based on their own computers.

Another important advantage of VoIP Phones is the low call charges.

As VoIP phones use IP numbers, there are no additional long distance charges for long distance phone calls made using VoIP Phones. In addition, many VoIP businesses use their Wi-Fi networks to connect their employees. For instance, an enterprise may want to provide its employees with access to the Internet using their smartphones. To achieve this, the enterprise can connect its Wi-Fi network to its VoIP business phone service and allow its employees to make VoIP telephone calls to any part of the world.

One can easily get in touch with his family and friends with the help of his VoIP Phones. He just needs to have a high-speed internet connection and he can be in touch with his family even while travelling. VoIP Phones also works well along with ATAs (an example is AT&T U-verse Access).

  • VoIP services are available at cheaper prices over the internet.
  • In some countries like Japan, South Korea and other Asian countries, where broadband internet connection is not available all the time, mobile phones play a major role in people’s daily lives.
  • In countries like these, a VoIP Phones can be used as a substitute for a normal telephone.