In the earlier days of the Internet communication was limited to typing text on a screen. Then with the advent of Instant Messaging and chat rooms, communication became more real-time, though still only text was the main venue used. Now the Internet has become so advanced that people can actually use their voices to communicate with individuals online. This technology is known as VoIP, (which stands for Voice over Internet Protocol).
It can allow people to communicate using voice either through the computer or on a telephone. But the best part of VoIP is that it is significantly cheaper than traditional phone lines. This is due to: the technology involved and the quality it offers.
The first reason why VoIP is cheaper than regular telephones is because of the technology it takes advantage of. Unlike the telephone VoIP simply takes advantage of the service that a person is already taking advantage of, which is the Internet. No new connections need to be made to use VoIP. Yet, with a traditional telephone service, a person must have their house wired with telephone lines. This in itself is expensive for telephone companies, who must help cover their costs through people’s phone bill.
The second reason why VoIP is less expensive than regular phones is because unfortunately, the quality is not as good. When a person uses a VoIP phone, the connection can often contain a lot of static, making the conversation hard to hear. Granted, the quality of one’s VoIP service will better depending on what company they use. For instance, free VoIP companies tend to have much worse quality than paid ones. Yet, neither can compare to the quality offered by the telephone, which is good 100 percent of the time. The only time there is ever an issue with telephone quality is if something is wrong with the phone lines. When this happens a person simply won’t be able to make a phone call until the problem is fixed. However, how often does this happen? Compare this to VoIP services which have worse quality and, (during the times when a lot of people are using the service), an inability to make calls quite often.
So, if the quality is so poor, why are people still raving about VoIP? It’s because even though the quality is definitely not as good as regular telephones, it’s good enough to allow for decent enough communication most of the time. In fact, sometimes the quality can be just as good as a telephone. So, while the technology won’t replace the telephone, it’s a good supplement when people want to save on their long distance bills and/or they want to have the advantages possible with a second telephone line without actually having one.
In conclusion, VoIP is a cheaper alternative to land lines because they do not require a separate technology to implement and quality-wise they do not offer as much as telephones. Perhaps as VoIP technology progresses, the quality element can be fixed enough so that people can use VoIP completely by itself.
By: Simon Ahtung
Posts Tagged ‘Telephones’
Why Is VOIP Is Cheaper Then Regular Phones?
March 15th, 2010How Does VoIP Work? Understanding The Basics
February 28th, 2010
How does VoIP work? Like many people, you may have already heard of VoIP. If you weren’t born in this decade, you may still wonder what it really is. What can VoIP do for you and how exactly is it useful?
Basic Concept
VoIP stands for voice over internet protocol. These days, it is considered an alternative to the typical method of communication involving telephones. Instead of using telephone sets that transmit analog signals, VoIP converts these signals to digital chunks. These are reconverted to audio data when it reaches the recipient. The entire transmission happens over the internet. Although VoIP technology is still far from being preferred and considered standard, some people think that VoIP will eventually replace telephones. It could very well be the next step in communications technology.
The Specifics
So how does VoIP work exactly? VoIP is best understood by understanding typical phone calls first. Regular phone calls make use of what is called circuit switching. When you make a call, your call is passed through a series of switches starting from your phone carrier. Once the other party answers the call, the circuit between the two of you is opened.
Instead of circuit switching VoIP uses packet switching. In this technology, your voice is converted to little packets of data. These packets of data come with their instructions of where they should be sent. They are then sent through a variety of possible routes. They take the nearest router and are passed on to succeeding routers until they reach the recipient. When the packets are received, they are reassembled into a form that can be understood.
Advantages of VoIP
VoIP can offer all the features and benefits of a phone service. Its advantage over traditional phones is that VoIP calls can be made from almost any part of the world. Wherever there is an internet connection, you can have VoIP. The technology can provide cheaper calls than standard telephone technology. This is mainly because VoIP does away with costly circuit switching.
Disadvantages of VoIP
VoIP can be fast, convenient and cheap. It has, however its own disadvantages. These disadvantages are basically due to: (1) the current reliance of present systems on telephone technology; and (2) the shortcomings that plague computer technology.
Telephone Connections – Such services for example as security and cable still rely on telephone connections. Unless the whole country or world agrees to switch to VoIP, these services are likely to stick to their old methods.
This is not the biggest concern though. Since VoIP relies on internet technology, it is also susceptible to the problems that confront the internet and computers. You can therefore expect such problems as viral attacks, crashes and stolen packets.
Now you know the basic answer to how does VoIP work. In reality, this piece of technology does hold a lot of potential. Like everything else, the old ways of communicating over long distances can change. VoIP is the first logical shift that can be taken. It may take a long time however, before VoIP can become a fully integrated and snag free system.
By: Torrie Cantor
VoIP Small Business Solution
February 17th, 2010
Many small businesses tend to lag behind their larger counterparts in their use of new technology. Those that do may be doomed, not only to remain small and fail to realize the growth that their initial potential may have promised, but also to lag behind their smaller competitors. In fact a VoIP small business solution can not only save small businesses money, but also significantly increase their communications efficiency.
It is a proven fact that technology can contribute a great deal to growth, irrespective of the size of the company involved, and even a single VoIP network can give a small business a competitive edge.
Not only can a small business VoIP solution dramatically reduce the size of a phone bill to the company concerned, it can also help to reduce the phone bills of their customers. A VoIP subscriber can select any area code it wants to use, so that if the majority of their customers operate from New York, the business can offer these customers calls at the local rate, even if that business is located in Los Angeles.
In fact this type of small business solution to communication costs can allow them to offer toll free numbers to their more important customers, a service hitherto only economically feasible to larger companies. How’s that for a competitive edge? In many businesses image is everything and this VoIP small business solution to competing with the big boys is a massive incentive to adopting this new technology.
This is not all that a VoIP small business solution offers, however. There is also the advantage that the provision of VoIP telephones to sales personnel allows them to communicate with head office, and every other company employee issued with a VoIP handset, free of charge irrespective of distance.
Because the VoIP small business solution to telecommunications, like all other VoIP applications, involves communication via the internet, such communication can be made using software and hardware suitable for IP use such as PC, laptop, palm computers, PDAs, Bluetooth and any other technology suitable for packetized internet transfer and reception. By use of VoIP small business solution technology, small businesses can at last compete with networked corporate companies in speed and flexibility of communication.
Conference calls integrating other web-based voice and video presentation technologies can be arranged at the click of a button, and customers can be impressed with corporate technology at small business prices.
A VoIP small business solution is available for any medium to small company structure, and simple networked systems can easily be incorporated due to the intrinsic internet and web-related technologies involved. This makes facilities available to small businesses which previously had been the domain only of the large corporations that could afford them.
With a customized VoIP small business solution, companies of any size can tick off communication as one more step towards not only competing with large corporations, but getting ahead of their peers with respect to communications efficiency, image and speed of response to requests and enquiries.
After all, if you can communicate with a colleague in Japan quicker and at lower cost than your competitor can with Boston, what chance does he have? A VoIP small business solution designed specifically for you can achieve this as standard – it is not an expensive option!
By: Peter Nisbet
