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
Posts Tagged ‘Technology Voice’
Ways to Use VoIP Technology
December 27th, 2009Introduction to VoIP Technology
October 28th, 2009
Voice over Internet Protocol, also called VoIP or Internet telephony, is the transportation of voice conversations over the internet or through any other IP-based network rather than the public switched telephone network (PSTN).
Protocols which are used to carry voice signals over the IP network are commonly referred to as Voice over IP or VoIP protocols. Some cost savings are due to utilizing a single network to carry voice and data. Users that have existing underutilized network capacity can use VoIP at no additional cost. VoIP to VoIP phone calls on any provider are typically free, while VoIP to PSTN calls generally costs the VoIP user.
There are two types of PSTN to VoIP services: DID (Direct Inward Dialing) and access numbers. DID connects the caller directly to the VoIP user, while access numbers require the caller to input the extension number of the VoIP user. Access numbers are usually charged as a local call to the caller and free to the VoIP user, while DID usually has a monthly fee. One can also find DID that are free to the VoIP user but charge the caller instead.
Key features of VoIP:
VoIP can facilitate tasks that may be more difficult to achieve using traditional networks, such as:
• Routing phone calls over existing data networks to avoid the need for separate voice and data networks.
• Incoming phone calls can be automatically routed to your VoIP phone, regardless of where you are connected to the network. Take your VoIP phone with you on a trip, and receive incoming calls whenever you are connected to the Internet.
• Free phone numbers for use with VoIP are available in the USA, UK and other countries from several organizations.
• Call center agents using VoIP phones can work from anywhere with a sufficiently fast and stable Internet connection.
• Many VoIP packages include PSTN features that most Telcos normally charge extra for, or may be unavailable from your local Telco, such as 3-way calling, call forwarding, automatic redial, and caller ID.
• VoIP allows users to travel anywhere in the world and still make and receive phone calls.
Flexibility:
• VoIP service users can make and receive local phone calls regardless of their location. For example, if a user has a US phone number and is traveling in Europe and someone calls the US phone number, it will ring in Europe. Conversely, if a call is made from Europe to US, it will be treated as a local call. Of course, there must be a connection to the internet, for e.g. Wi-Fi, to make all of this possible.
• Users of Instant Messenger based VoIP services can also travel anywhere in the world and make and receive phone calls.
• VoIP phones can integrate with other services available over the Internet, including video conversation, message or data file exchange, in parallel with the conversation, audio conferencing, managing address books and passing information about whether others (e.g. friends or colleagues) are available online to interested parties.
By: Waqas Taimoor
Office Phone Systems Utilizing VoIP Technology Revitalizes Operation of Small Businesses
October 2nd, 2009
For small businesses, one of the biggest challenges can be competing with the larger firms fighting for the same market. With limited resources and space, a small business must find economical and efficient ways to make up for their lack of size.
Traditionally, one of the biggest selling points for using a small enterprise is the relative ease with which the consumer can connect with the business, getting around the bureaucratic mess associated with larger offices. The easiest way to streamline a small enterprise and still stay connected to the consumer is through a creatively designed small business telephone system.
One of the newest and most exciting developments in office phone systems over the last ten years has been the creation and growth of the VoIP industry. VoIP or “Voice over Internet Protocol”, is a revolutionary plug and play phone system that allows users to make phones calls over the Internet, either to other Voice over Internet Protocol users or users to traditional landlines. With the changes in technology, Voice over Internet Protocol offers an economical phone service at a sound quality level equal to or surpassing traditional landline services. There are many, many benefits of VoIP that make it the perfect fit for growing enterprises on the move.
While VoIP may sound daunting to those only familiar with the traditional landline system, the set-up of small business telephone system using VoIP is safe and easy. VoIP relies upon existing Internet connections that require no additional installation. Using the same system that you use to reach the Internet or access email, an enterprise can now make both long distance and local calls with relative ease. Even the enterprise already using a traditional landline phone system can make the switch to VoIP with little upgrades that will use their existing phone lines to connect to the on-line calling system.
Another benefit of using Voice over Internet Protocol in your office phone system is the ease of upgrades. While more complex traditional systems might require an extensive remodel of the office layout and the actual phone lines themselves, a Voice over Internet Protocol upgrade can be as simple and easy as a software update. Likewise, with the ease of upgrades, VoIP is better suited to deal with the changing needs of businesses.
As technology changes, the small enterprises will be on the cusp of these developments as they happen. Any day now, a piece of technology could come along revolutionize how offices function in the same way that the fax machine or computer changed businesses of the past. Unlike larger corporations, the small business using a VoIP phone system will be able to change their entire phone system with relatively little downtime, adapting to whatever new technology is developed.
Likewise, since VoIP uses the Internet already, it is far easier to integrate other technologies into phone calls without having to create a complex and convoluted hodgepodge of technologies. Your Voice over Internet Protocol provider can help integrate a service like video conference calling directly into your new small business telephone system.
By consulting an experienced office phone system expert, you can weigh the costs of different packages and decide which system will best suit your needs for today and the years to come.
By: Andrew Stratton
