If you have been paying large long distance phone bills, it’s time to introduce you to the VOIP basics. Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP or VoIP) is the latest telecommunications internet technology. It will allow you to make long distance calls over your internet connection, bypassing most, or all of you your long distance provider’s charges.
However, several large telecommunications companies have caught on to the growing trend for consumers to bypass their charges, and have reacted by offering packaged services that include your regular, local phone line service and the VOIP service that will let you place calls over the internet.
When discussing VOIP basics, it’s important to realize that there are actually 3 types of VOIP technologies that are currently in use. The first is called ATA or Analog Telephone Adapter technology. The ATA technologydoes exactly what it sounds like; it takes the analog signal on your regular telephone line and translates it into a digital signal. T
hat digital signal is then sent via the internet. This is the type of service that the large telecommunications providers are offering. They will mail you the ATA and you can set it up easily on your own.
Another of the technologies that is necessary for understanding VOIP basics still has to do with the phone itself. Instead of using an adaptor to change a regular phone into a VOIP compatible one, you purchase a phone that is designed for making VOIP calls. But that phone won’t plug into a regular phone jack (RJ-11). It will have to be plugged into an Ethernet connection (an RJ-45 jack or a spot on your router).
The necessary hardware and software to make a VOIP call is included in the phone itself.
The third technology involved in learning VOIP Basics is the most exciting for the average consumer, as it doesn’t require a monthly service charge from a provider in order to make free business long distance calls. It is computer-to-computer VOIP service. In this case, you download free or purchase low-cost software that turns your computer into the phone.
In addition to the software, you’ll need speakers so you can hear the other party, a microphone so you can speak to them, a sound card in your computer, and a preferably high-speed internet connection so the signal can travel fast enough to avoid delays in what you or the other party hears.
The person you call doesn’t need to be talking to you over a computer; a regular phone will work just fine. You can use the service on your end to make calls to anyone, anywhere without a charge.
Now that we’ve looked at the VOIP or also know as voice over internet protocol, you might be interested in trying it for yourself. But what you don’t realize is that you most likely already are.
Telephone companies have been using the technology for several years in order to route the mass number of calls they receive more efficiently over their networks.
But to try VOIP at home, download software at sites such as skype site. If you already have the needed items mentioned above (speakers, microphone, sound card and high-speed internet connection), you can be making calls in as little as 5 minutes.
By: Van Theodorou
Posts Tagged ‘Digital Signal’
Learning the Basics of VoIP
January 10th, 2010Ways to Use VoIP Technology
December 27th, 2009
Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, uses your broadband internet connection to place phone calls. By converting your voice (or analog) signal into a digital signal, this makes for a more efficient way to talk on the phone and can save you money.
There are three ways you can use VoIP. You can either connect using your regular phone and an adapter, a special internet phone, or download software and use your computer. Here are the methods, in greater detail:
Using your home phone. If you would like to switch from your regular phone line to VoIP, many people opt to continue using their home phone. To do this, you must use an analog telephone adapter, or ATA. This device converts the analog signal (your voice) to a digital signal. Once the signal is converted, it goes through the internet connection. When shopping for a service provider, ask them if they include this adapter with their packages. Most do.
Connect using an IP phone. When using a special IP phone, you don’t need a separate ATA. Everything you need to use your broadband internet connection as your telephone service is included with the hardware. Instead of using a regular phone jack and connector, it uses an Ethernet connection to plug into your router.
Connect using your computer. If your computer has speakers, microphone, a sound card, and a high speed internet connection you can use your computer for VoIP. Companies offer free or low cost software downloads which allows you to use your computer to make phone calls. Using this method is either free, costing only the price of your internet connection, or nearly free. Earthlink’s Vling software is both free to download and free to use. The only hitch is that you can only talk with other Vling users.
By: Michael Bell
VoIP Technology is Breaking the Chains of the Traditional Phone Companies
November 11th, 2009
Before companies like Magic Jack and Vonage we were slaves to the traditional land based phone systems. Big phone companies like AT&T and SBC (just to mention a couple) had us at a disadvantage and they knew it. With traditional land lines, every feature had a fee, even keeping certain features off you phone cost money. After adding up all those fees, along with your local and long distance, your phone service could cost $40.00, $50.00, $70.00 a month or much more depending of what features you tacked on and how many long distance calls you make a month.
Well I’m probably not telling you anything you didn’t already know. So how about something you may not know about – VoIP and companies like Magic Jack, Vonage and Skype are paving the way for this money saving communications technology. VoIP like Magic Jack and Vonage is finding their way into homes, not only here in the US, but around the world.
VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) – allows and analog signal from your phone to be converted into a digital signal that can be then be sent over the internet (much like a email) instead of over a wire network like the ordinary land line. This allows the user to make long distance phone calls for free or at a much cheaper price depending on the service used. Vonage is a pioneer and one of the most popular of this new telephony technology.
There is now a small host of companies offering VoIP services that will continue to grow as (VoIP) is the future of communications. Magic Jack is such a company and is growing in popularity as more and more people are becoming aware of this new technology. Magic Jack is the only service that has its own network system which is one of the most compelling reasons the service is so inexpensive.
While other VoIP companies are offering good products for reasonable prices, none can beat the price or can offer the simplicity and the flexibility of Magic Jack. The Magic Jack device plugs directly into an available USB port (2.0 or higher) the software in the device makes contact with the Magic Jack home base and after only a few minutes it takes to set up your account and phone number, you are ready to go. You can then take your phone that had been plugged into the land line wall mount and plug it directly into the Magicjack, lift the receiver, hear a dial tone and start making calls.
Companies like Vonage must pay for the network they use, so it comes with a low monthly bill. Magic Jack has one low price you pay annually which is less then one month’s bill of a traditional land line. Magic Jack will let you opt in for a multi year agreement that saves you even more money. Skype is another popular VoIP company that is much better then the traditional landline but has limitations such as phone calls are only free if you are calling other Skype users and must purchase credits in order to call someone using phone services other than Skype. This would kind of be like buying minutes for cell phones.
Magic Jack is not a phone or software installed on your computer; it is a device with the software installed in it that plugs into your computer or any other computer with a broadband internet connection. This means you can take the Magic Jack with you on long trips or even out of the country and make free long distance phone calls back to the US or Canada for free. How’s that for flexibility?
By: Tim Wedin
