VOIP, or voice over internet protocol, has already changed the way that many Americans communicate with friends and loved ones. With VOIP it became possible to make seemingly regular phone calls – even long distance phone calls that would have cost a fortune with regular phone services, for free.
In today’s world, with the current state of the economy, everyone is looking for ways to cut their costs of living and to save money in any way possible. Eliminating high phone bills all together would be a tremendous way to save money, but there was one problem with using VOIP that severely limited its value in its original state – the user had to be close to a computer to use it.
People today have grown accustomed to portability, almost everything that we communicate on these days is portable – cordless phones and cell phone let us communicate with friends and loved ones no matter where we are or what we are doing, so it was almost like taking a step backward in terms of convenience in order to save some money.
Saving the money on all phone calls is great, but are people really willing to give up the portability of their cordless phones and cell phones to save the money – sure the VOIP would be good for calls if you new you were going to be just sitting and chatting for a while, but not being able to move about while conversing is a pretty big inconvenience for saving some money.
Enter the WiFi VOIP phone
Looking to advance the technology even further and to make VOIP a serious threat as an alternative to traditional phone service, manufacturers began to look in a similar direction to wireless modems for VOIP to operate on. The WiFi VOIP phone will allow users the same convenience and portability that they enjoy with a wireless internet connection in their homes. What this does is to give the user the same portability with their VOIP service in their homes that they would have with a regular cordless phone. With a WiFi VOIP phone, the user honestly won’t even be able to notice a difference in a switch over from the phone that they had been using to make all of their home phone calls – in fact the only difference there will be will occur in the absence of a bill from the phone company.
The Future
As technology improves and further advancements are made, there is almost no limit to what users will be able to accomplish with a WiFi VOIP phone. As more and more cities begin to adopt city-wide wireless networks, which residents can pay a monthly fee to have access to, there is a strong potential that VOIP technology will allow users to all but replace their cell phones with VOIP phones. Users would pay the monthly fee to have access to the wireless network which would cover their regular internet access, but also give them city wide access to the network on their portable VOIP phones.
What this would mean for end users who use their cell phones for nothing more than connecting with friends, family and associates is that they could effectively eliminate those cell phones and the bills that come along with them. So what we could see in the future of VOIP could conceivably be a device that would very effectively allow end users to do away with their home phone service as well as their cell phone service and allow them to do all of the connecting that they need to (local and long distance, day and night) without spending a penny more than they would already be spending for a wireless internet connection.
By: Amy Nutt
Posts Tagged ‘Cell Phone’
The Present and Future of WiFi VOIP Phone Technology
December 5th, 2009What is VoIP Technology?
November 28th, 2009
You may have heard the term Voip used a lot in the media, but are not sure what everyone is so excited about. Here you will find the answers to your most sought after Voip technology questions.
What is Voip technology?
Technically, VOIP is Voice Over Internet Protocol, or voices traveling over internet lines and wires like other information would. So, what does this mean to you? A lot. Even if you don’t have a clue what Voip technology is, you may still be utilizing it everyday if you have a digital phone line or if you use a microphone hooked into your computer to speck to others while you are connected to the internet.
What is Voip technology going to do for me?
Digital phone and services like it keep costs down for the company, which is passed on to the
consumer. It is usually much cheaper then a traditional land phone line, especially if you want extras such as caller ID and call forwarding.
What is Voip technology going to lack?
As great as Voip technology may be, there are some drawbacks that one using it for your phone service should realize. First, most digital phone companies do not provide access to emergency assistance numbers, such as 911 for those in the US. This may leave your household vulnerable if you use digital phone. Some consumers overcome this by keeping a basic plan with there traditional phone company provider or have a cell phone available in case of an emergency.
Another drawback to Voip technology in the form of digital phone is that if your power goes out, so does your phone. When you have a service through a traditional phone company, you can still access your line even during power outages as long as you do not need a second power source to run it (ex: cordless phones need a second power source to run, so when the power goes out so does your phone). This is not so with digital phone. However, once again having a basic plan with your traditional phone company or having a cell phone on hand may remedy this problem.
What is Voip technology overall?
Voip technology can be an asset to anyone. It keeps the cost of having a land phone line cheap while still allowing us to communicate verbally without having to rely solely on cell phones. The next time you are taking a look at your high-price phone bill from your phone company, take another look at digital phone and Voip technology in general. You may rack up savings that you never even knew existed.
By: Sandra Stammberger
