VoIP Technology » Voice Mail

The Different Stages That Lead to VoIP Service

admin — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 01:46:44 +0000

VoIP service is an ideal means of sending telephone calls over IP networks. The Voice over IP works on the principle of converting analog signals to small packets of digital data and then sending them over a broadband internet connection that ultimately connects the users with the service providers. There are several advantages of using this service. The main reason why people acquire this connection is quite straightforward; the expenses incurred while making long distance calls using such a service is low as compared to the traditional phone line connections.

As VoIP service is based on the transfer of digital data, so the service provider can actually do a lot with this technology. Among the most prominent of the services that a service provider can provide are storing of incoming voice mails in the mailbox, sending of email attachments and 3 way calling. Let us consider a scenario in which the user is busy and wants not to be disturbed by any telephone calls. In such situations, the incoming calls can be stored in the voice mail of the subscribers. A person can also send a voice mail as an email attachment which can be accessed on a computer. Then there are plans where up to three people can involve themselves in conference calling. In fact, calling through Voice over IP is far from restricted. The service allows the user to talk to the entire family in one call. Then there are also the options of sending images, videos and voice to people with whom a person is conferencing.

The internet does not differentiate between calls made to a person living next door from calls to people living in another part of the world. The call charges remain the same; such is the benevolence of the VoIP phone service. It is the benefit in price rates that makes people opt for this service in the first place. Moreover the technology is simple and one only requires some simple tools to access the service. An Analog Telephone Adapter (ATA) is provided by the VoIP service provider. This tool helps to convert analog voice to digital samples by use of Analog to Digital Converter. These digital samples are then compressed by the digital signal processors (DSPs). The DSPs make use of codecs for compression and eventually segment ‘voice signals’ to frames that are then stored as ‘voice packets’. The final process involves transfer of these packets in compliance with Voice Communication Protocol or Session Initiation Protocol (SIP).

When these packets arrive at their destination, they have to be decoded; the entire process is carrier out, albeit in a reverse order. The IP packets are decapsulated in compressed data forms. These data are then decompressed to retrieve the original data making use of the same codec that was initially used to perform the compression. The data is then sent through a digital to analog converter that converts it to the original analog voice format for the listener to hear the voice distinctly. So, VoIP service is actually based on a very simple format but requires fast internet service to ensure an effective and soothing calling experience. This becomes all the more important in the context of business VoIP service, wherein the quality of calls becomes a yardstick in determining the expertise of a particular organization.

By: Kristen Kiya

How Do Businesses Benefit From Having a VOIP System?

admin — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 08:54:08 +0000

Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP technology is capable of cutting costs in telecommunications as well as improving the productivity of a business. Is it right for your business? Here is a look at what kinds of benefits VoIP can bring to business.

1 – VoIP service technology quality has really come a long way since its original inception. VoIP may have been extremely limited in the past, but this no longer the case. Today’s Voice over IP services have evolved significantly, allowing for you to make calls and receive calls using not only standard phones but also IP phones, which are rich in unique features. The sound quality has also vastly improved to the point where many companies have abandoned their traditional telephone systems in favor of the VoIP service.

2 – Using VoIP technology is capable of significantly reducing the costs you pay for telecommunications. The operating costs associated with VoIP services are generally quite significantly lower than when you are dealing with a traditional phone company, because the existing phone infrastructure is expensive to maintain and so are the industry regulations. VoIP providers have lower expenses and so they can charge a lot less for the services that they offer.

3 – VoIP services make your entire phone system a lot more flexible. They make it possible for you to do things which simply cannot be possible using traditional telephone technology. For example, they allow you to bring your phone system along with you since you can plug in anywhere where there is a broadband connection such as at someone’s home or in a hotel room. They also allow you to talk using your laptop, and to get your voice mail and your faxes through your e-mail. With this increase in usability, VoIP services make it possible for you to increase the productivity of your business significantly.

One thing is for sure: VoIP technology is continuing to evolve, and there are a number of compelling new features and benefits that are being developed in order to cater to small business. As an example, dramatic increases in mobility are being provided by combining VoIP services with wireless phone and PDA combinations to decrease cell phone charges while boosting functionality and productivity by a great deal. This is just one example of the exciting things that are happening in terms of VoIP service and technology advancements.

It does not matter what size your business is, VoIP technology happens to be a flexible as well as affordable technology that is capable of offering the same level of sophistication in communication tools that enterprise-size companies are using, meaning that VoIP will allow you to stand up against your competitors in terms of communications technology no matter how large or how small your own company happens to be.

By: Amy Nutt

Discover the Cost Saving Features of a VoIP Solution

admin — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:39:37 +0000

Today’s society is fast paced and demanding, communication technology combined with affordable pricing and flexibility is paramount. VoIP services are fairly new but have addressed these demands through its evolution.

Remember all the extra features that you have to pay for with your traditional phone service? Well, things have changed with the inception VoIP (voice over Internet protocol).

The reasons why a VoIP solution has become so popular today because it offers a boatload of features combined with huge savings when compared to a traditional phone service. VoIP Solution technology route telephone calls over the Internet eliminating the service that public switched telephone networks currently offer.

Essentially, most VoIP service providers offer free bundled features that virtually all traditional telephone charge for. Comparing service plans is actually quite easy. With the technology being so new each service provider offers different plans and pricing. Take time to review and study the most popular plans and services provided to make the best decision that will accommodate your needs.

Some common features include: Unlimited Minutes, Local Number Porting (LNP), Personalized Voicemail, Free In-Network Calling, Caller ID, Call Waiting, Call Transfer, Repeat Dialing, Voice Mail to Email, Call Forwarding, 3-way Calling, Call Return, Online Management & Billing, Choose Your Own Area Code, Call Waiting Disable, Do Not Disturb, Anonymous Call Blocking, Distinctive Ringing for Virtual Numbers, Virtual Phone Numbers, Enhanced 911, Works with your Cell phone features, and Toll Free Services.

Businesses can also enjoy the advantage and benefits of an inexpensive VoIP Business solution without the addition of expensive proprietary software/hardware combinations such as PBX units. Inter-office communication systems and long distance calls for an international company can amount to saving tens of thousands of dollars, if not more, in just one year.

VoIP solutions are something worth while looking into, regardless if you are trying to reduce your budget for home or business, the features and huge savings that VoIP provide huge rewards for all.

By: Roy King

VOIP Telephony – The Benefits and Limitations

admin — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 01:55:57 +0000

Previously we explored the history and technology that gave
rise to VOIP Telephone service (*see footnotes). Today we will examine
some of the benefits and also the drawbacks of this new opportunity.

In previous articles we discovered that traditional “Landline” type
phone service is set up much like a “Toll Highway”. Billing starts
when the “Circuit” is opened, and continues until it is closed.
Just like travelling down a Tollway, the longer you stay on, and the
farther you travel, the more “Toll Booths” you pass through. These
toll booths are the phone company’s switches, and you get charged
for every one that you pass through.

In contrast, VOIP phones use “Packet” switching. As the broadband
Internet connection is always open, digitized voice signals are
sent to the receiver in discrete packets. The result is that no
“dead air” exists on the line, as no traffic is sent when there is
a lull or pause in the conversation. This allows several two-way
conversations to use the same “bandwidth”, or space that previously
was tied up by ONE call.

This has resulted in great economy for VOIP providers who in turn
pass along the savings to the end user. Most top VOIP plans run
around 30 dollars a month, and the best include International calls
to many countries worldwide within that base fee along with a host
of features like Voice Mail, Caller ID, Call Waiting, Three-way
Calling, Online Access, Etc.

While most major traditional carriers have an “all inclusive” plan,
none that I know of include International calling, and most of their
“basic” plans are double the cost of VOIP. In my experience, the most
coveted features are also charged extra for. Add in the taxes and fees,
and all of a sudden you’re talking REAL money!

The other great benefit of VOIP is the ability to take your device
anywhere and make calls just like you were at home. The best services
are fully find-me, follow-me capable. This means that wherever you
happen to be, your phone number will find you and ring at THAT location.
I use mine with a Laptop, a cheap cigarette lighter a/c converter,
a wireless card, and an old “princess” phone in my truck parked outside
of hotspots all the time. That’s huge. You can have your office in
whatever hotel or airport or Starbucks you happen to be in at the moment.

Having covered most of the benefits of VOIP, let’s examine some of
the drawbacks. The major one is spotty 911 service availability. As
the device is portable, any call to 911 will result in emergency
crews being sent to the device’s address of record, which is set up
when you activate the VOIP device and service. Obviously this doesn’t
do you much good if you are in a hotel in Montana but live in Ohio.

One way around this is to change your address with your provider when
you travel, and then change it back when you return home. Of course,
this only works with domestic addresses, and you must remember to do it.

A better way is to ignore the issue entirely, and keep a very basic,
cheap, no frills service plan with your local phone provider. This will
still be cheaper by far than a full blown plan. Also, you avoid the other
main issue with VOIP- Power Outages. If power goes out, or you lose your
Internet Connection, you lose your phone service. Of course, you run
that risk with today’s cordless phones too, so it’s always a good idea
to have an old hardwired phone around the house, or at least a cell
phone available.

By: Glenn Grundberg

6 VOIP Features That Attract People

admin — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 20:54:30 +0000

VOIP is an advanced technology which has surpassed the telephone companies and the mobile companies. Its popularity is increasing enormously with an increase in its network coverage. It has proved to be an astonishing invention which has created a new mode of telecommunication by using internet. VOIP is an abbreviated form of Voice Over Internet Protocol.

Salient Features Of VOIP

The VOIP technology possesses many salient features which have attracted a large section of people towards itself.

1 – With the introduction of VOIP technology, the making of calls has become easy and cheap. You can easily make local, long distance, and international calls by using a broadband net connection which is a high-speed net connection.

2 – Its one of the significant advantages is the capability of directing the incoming calls to the VOIP service and one can easily get the details of incoming calls from any computer possessing internet by using VOIP system.

3 – It is a network that follows you wherever you go therefore you will never miss any of your important calls even if you are out of town.

4 – It has helped a lot in cost reduction because of the cheap call rates, the monthly telephone bills have cut down. Therefore, setting up of VOIP is very much beneficial economically.

5 – There are many value added services offered by the various VOIP service providers. For example, there is voice mail facility, 3-way conference, speed dialing, call forwarding, simultaneous ring, call waiting, caller ID, call return, caller ID block, anonymous call rejection, an interesting feature of do not disturb, and last number dial. All these services are mostly free of cost in their basic service plan.

6 – There is a facility of managing your VOIP account online from any corner of the world if there is an availability of a broadband internet connection.

Drawbacks Of VOIP Technology

The dark side of using VOIP technology has made the customer to reach the state of dilemma whether to go for VOIP technology or not. The major disadvantage of VOIP is that a problem can be cropped up by using VOIP technology and text messaging because it has been found that the use of this technology can lead to many security flaws.

Experts are working on the problem of security flaws, but have not come to any results yet. Therefore, one cannot rely completely on the use of VOIP technology. In terms of security, VOIP is not also completely supportive for their encryptions. Because of this weak point, it has become easy for the cyber attackers to impede the communication system.

How To Call Without VOIP

It is also very easy to make calls without possessing VOIP service by using an adaptor. This adaptor will be hooked up to a regular phone and to your VOIP in order to utilize the residential VOIP phone which can be a VOIP phone, landline, or cell phone. This adapter has proved to be very much useful for those who do not want to make investment in VOIP service.

Residential VOIP

Residential VOIP is a type of software which permits the downloading of technology on your computer to chat with anyone across the globe. In this system of communication, computer will be solving the purpose of the telephone. There is one specification in using residential VOIP service and that is the person whom you want to contact should also need to possess the software with same technology on his computer.

Therefore, after considering the both positive and negative aspects of the VOIP technology, you should come to an apt and appropriate decision whether to opt for it or not.

By: M. Jedediah

Why Invest in Voip Technology?

admin — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:15:21 +0000

The answer is, as usual, it depends. Voip is evolutionary, not revolutionary, technology. If you are moving into a facility where you need to completely build out your infrastructure, then installing a voice over ip device makes sense. It can be very competitive with traditional POTS switched networks. Some companies put a Voip blade in an existing POTS switch. They feel that it gives them the best of both worlds, but I suspect that they might be hedging their bets a bit too much and not benefiting fully from either technology.

Advantage Of IP-Telephony

There are some other ways that you can take advantage of Voip technology. In a “green field” installation, you have a number of attractive choices that can give you more network flexibility. One possibility is eliminating the wires entirely. There is nothing preventing you from installing Voip over wireless 802.11x networks.

Unified Messaging

Unified messaging is another example. Unified messaging is one-stop shopping for all your voice mail, email, and fax communications (Email Fax). Unified messaging lets you retrieve all your messages with one phone call or visit to a website. While unified messaging sounds great, the technology has not entirely jelled yet. It can be costly and complicated to implement, and the services have not been perfected, including problems with voice to text translation. Unified messaging is dependent on the Voip technology so as that application matures, there will be more incentive to implement a Voip solution.

Investing in Voice over IP

It is claimed that a Voip system will save 50% over the costs of maintaining the old equipment.

Of course, it isn’t clear if or not replacing an old system with a more modern switched network would result in similar savings. IT departments are real pragmatists. They will not invest in a technology unless there are demonstrated cost savings or substantial improvements in the quality of service.

Here’s a checklist of things to watch for when considering if to invest in Internet Telephony or not:

If you answer Yes to most of these questions, then you should seriously consider Voip Technology as part of your IT infrastructure mix.

- Does your company have good connectivity to the Internet?
- Are you planning on implementing unified messaging or other integrated data/voice services?
- Is your traditional POTS equipment overdue?
- Does your company have enough bandwidth for all your data and voice needs?
- Does your company have a substantial international presence or communication requirements?
- Does your company have multiple locations?

By: Jim Francisto

The VoIP Race – New Technology in Communication

admin — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:10:57 +0000

VoIP, or Voice over IP, communications and service providers are situated an industry with a furious growth rate and positive trends, paving the future for business, corporate, social and scientific communication. VoIP usage in the USA is expected to have soared from just over one billion Dollars in revenue in 2004 to almost twenty billion Dollars by 2009. VoIP services are relatively new to the market prompting an incredible boost in its usage and sales. Although it would seem that the change from regular phones to VoIP phones and services is predominant in large enterprises and the small to medium enterprises, as well as domestic settings are sticking with the traditional telephone services available, VoIP is still taking over the world.

The VoIP Race
With the influx of demand on VoIP services, communication carriers and suppliers are taking up the trend and converting to these services, offering customers the best in VoIP technology whilst being teamed with an existing carrier. However, an issue affecting the service providers’ business is the usage of VoIP. Many companies are installing it simply for the extra benefits and complex applications such as voice mail and relying on traditional telephones as means for direct communications instead of converting their entire PBX to VoIP. Most people are happy with regular telephones and high bills – something new is somewhat frightening to them. With these perceptions and “fears” of new technology such as VoIP, the industry will not progress as quickly as it should.

Due to the race for better prices, more features and lowest costs, the marketing features surrounding VoIP companies comes at quite a price, leading fees to increase. The cycle is a vicious one and the only provider able to combat this problem is the provider who focuses on their features being better than the rest. Small business enterprises will benefit greatly from the better features available from competing companies.

Times are a-changing!
The fearful perception of VoIP is a huge downfall for businesses still relying on old methods. The out dated methods of communication simply do not offer the advantages a VoIP PBX can. Many small businesses are fearful of moving to this technology because the technology is advanced and relatively unknown to employees and leaders of the companies. However, VoIP providers today have managed to escape the confusion and fear labelled to their services through clever changes. For example, some providers allow calls to be made through the normal phones over PSTN until clients are ready to receive calls using VoIP.

Users and observers not “in the know” may be under the misconception that VoIP is only concerned with phone calls using the internet. VoIP is not simply “talking over the internet.” Features such as voice mail that is accessible over any phone or internet connection, Call Forwarding; CLI; Hunt Groups; Call Barring; Call Restriction; 3-way Conferencing; Music and Message on-hold email, fax, multiple connectivity, easy access to user features settings and much more.

Smart Communication
Many communication companies are catching on to the benefits of joining forces with VoIP service providers, incorporating good value for money deals whilst expanding both companies customer base. This amalgamation of companies allows cheaper calls and services to subscribers in the sphere of customers of both companies.

The VoIP generation is growing. Despite some fears from the public as to the technical side of the services, the growth of VoIP in the communications market, especially in corporations and businesses, is becoming greater and greater.

By: Rosemary Grace Brooks

What You Should Know About VOIP Technology

admin — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:46:32 +0000

You have heard it all-everyone is talking about the VOIP technology and how it is outpacing the telephones companies and even the cellular companies. So what is all the talk about?

VOIP allows you to make your entire local, long distance and international telephone calls over your high-speed internet connection. All of this for just one low price that can be rolled up into your monthly internet cable invoice. The technology is changing rapidly and there are a lot of new features available to people savvy enough to get in on the ground floor for this new technology.

So, what should you do? How different will your VOIP technology be over your regular telephone company? If you listen to the advertisements, you will realize that they are a lot alike, but there are also some benefits that VOIP technology now offers.

For your VOIP telephone phone, you can have voice mail, 3-way calling, speed dialing, call forwarding, simultaneous ring, call waiting, caller ID, call return, caller ID block, anonymous call rejection, do not disturb feature, and last number redial. If changing to the VOIP system you can take your existing telephone number, get great international rates, make it possible for people overseas to call you with it being a local call for them (gone are the long distance rates), you get free in-calling network and can manage your account online.

Well, this sounds a lot like the other phone companies, so what really makes the VOIP technology better? It is debatable as to whether or not this is better. It is definitely different, however; recently, there was a press release on News.com that “A technical review conducted by the British government has found several security flaws in products that use VOIP and text messaging, including those from Microsoft and Cisco Systems.” So, there can be a problem with the VOIP technology.

There is also concern that the VOIP does not full support their own encryptions yet. This means that it is easy to eavesdrop on VOIP telephones and to even change what is being said. Experts are working on security options, but have not yet found one that is completely reliable to take care of this problem.

If you look at it only one way, you would say, this is a major problem and I can not deal with that. However, consider the cyper terrorists. They can and will disrupt any communications system-all it takes is the time and patience to find a single flaw and everything can come crashing down.

The choice is yours to decided whether or not the VOIP technology is advanced enough for you to use this as your primary means of communicating on the telephone. Take your time and really think about whether or not this new VOIP technology will do everything you need it to do. If not, you might want to wait a few years until the technology has advanced more before changing over to the new VOIP technology. You know that technology will only change and be improved for the better.

By: J. Lloyd

VoIP Communication – Technology Helps Your Business

admin — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:45:35 +0000

Communication has come a long way from the time of smoke signals. What was new yesterday is considered required today. Technology advances are fast and furious and to keep ahead in the business world you must advance along with it, or risk missing out on the new moon.

The speed and effectiveness of your communication infrastructure is vital in today’s marketplace, where clients expect instant results. In addition, your ability to virtualize your office is key in a decentralized and mobile environment. Assisting your customers and making them feel serviced is vital in a world where price comparisons can be retrieved in an instant. Service will set you apart. This is where advanced communication technology can help.

The following is an example of how Life Communications LLC assisted a business improve their communications effectiveness, work product and bottom line. Saran Importers Inc. (name has been changed) is an importer of many products, including clothing, undergarments and electronics. They have small offices in California, Michigan and Texas with their headquarters in Brooklyn, NY. The Michigan and Texas offices have two salesmen per location, while the California office has three operations people and one salesman. The Brooklyn headquarters has 10 operations people and three salesmen. For the sake of simplicity, the definition of “operations people” is people who don’t travel extensively, while salesmen do.

They had a Lucent Partner system in Brooklyn and small SOHO (Small Office Home Office) Panasonic multi-phones in the remote locations. They communicated with the remote locations by calling them over a regular phone line and with the salesman by office number or cell phones, which they also gave to the clients. Some problems arose from this arrangement. The following are a sample:

- High cost of inter-office communications.

- Multiple places for voice-mail. Hard to manage.

- If the cell phone was dead or otherwise not available the calls went to voicemail or were lost.

- If a salesman was unavailable for extended periods (more than one day) it affected communications with clients.

- No call accounting. No management of remote offices.

Life Communications replaced their Lucent system with a customized PC-based advanced phone system. In the remote locations they put Voice Over IP (VoIP) phones that communicated directly with the VoIP phone system over secure private network DSL lines. This enabled the remote offices to have all the advanced features of the main office.

They also setup a feature that enabled the salesman to manage where they can be reached. In doing so, they would be able to give out a single phone number that routed through the phone system. They would direct where the phone would ring or even the order of where they can be reached and the amount of times it would ring by each location. If the call would go to voicemail the voicemail would actually reside on the phone system and a voice file would be emailed to the salesman. Some salesmen chose to have a copy, of the voice file, also emailed to the operations person who handled their accounts.

This solved their problems by doing the following:

- Cut down, drastically, on the cost of inter-office communications. The costs of the DSL lines are marginalized due to their dual-use as data lines. All calls between offices are now as if they are in the same office, they communicate by calling the extension, not an outside number.

- One place for voice-mail, all located on the phone system. Cell phone calls are now called by the phone system and if the salesman is unavailable it puts it in the internal voice-mail. This allows for easier voice-mail management.

- Due to the advanced routing feature, calls can ring by multiple places to reach a person who can help the client.

- When salesmen are now unavailable the calls can be automatically rerouted to another salesman who can help.

- All calls, in all offices, can now be managed and kept track of. Client communications can be more effectively handled.

This is just a small sample of the improvements made to the business process. Another advantage to the VoIP system is; as new features, and advancements, come out they can be integrated into Saran’s current platform. Expandability is also part and parcel of this VoIP experience; the system can grow as Saran grows.

By: Cy Yablonsky

Things You Need to Know About VOIP Technology

admin — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 16:28:06 +0000

VOIP is the buzz word everywhere and it is time you understood the VOIP technology and why it is usurping the traditional telephone system. VOIP is an acronym for Voice over Internet Protocol, or simply stated, it is phone service over the Internet. If you have a broadband Internet connection, you can then get phone service delivered through the Internet connection instead of the local phone company.

You must know how different will the VOIP technology be over your conventional telephone system. There are, of course, a lot in common, but there are also some decided advantages that VOIP technology offers. VOIP will facilitate local, long distance and international telephone calls over your high-speed internet connection at incredibly low rates. VOIP technology is constantly getting updated and there are a lot of new features getting added.

Few of the attractive VOIP telephone system features are – voice mail, three-way conference, speed dialing, call forwarding, simultaneous ring, call waiting, caller ID, call return, caller ID block, anonymous call rejection, do not disturb feature, and last number redial. This is not to speak of the tremendous cost savings you can enjoy by switching over to VOIP.

An IP address identifies each IP phone, and it is known by this IP address regardless where it is plugged in. The only thing required would be a broadband connection. This makes the system both portable and flexible.

If you use VOIP through a PC-to-PC connection, then your calls are free anywhere, as long as, the receiver of the call also has VOIP. Further, most VOIP providers offer unlimited calling plans for calls made within a certain area, for single monthly fee. Whatever the use, one thing is abundantly clear – traditional phone service is much costlier. Most VOIP service providers also offer extra premium services such as caller id, without additional charges.

This is not to say that VOIP has no demerits. As a matter of fact, there was a recent press release stating the technical review conducted by the British government has found several security flaws in products that use VOIP. There is also concern that the VOIP does not full support its own encryptions yet. Thus it will be easy to eavesdrop on VOIP telephones and to even alter what is spoken.

Another major problem with VOIP is that it is run by power and if there is a power outage, your communications will come to a standstill. This is unlike traditional phone service, where you can still use your phone without the aid of electricity. Voice quality of VOIP is certainly efficient under normal conditions, but when you run into high traffic times in cable broadband, it could affect voice quality.

There is no denying that VOIP still has some drawbacks to be ironed out. You may exercise your discretion whether to go in for VOIP technology now or wait for some more time till these limitations are removed. It is reasonably expected that sooner than later, the research wing of the company will address these shortcomings and perfect the VOIP technology. But in the ultimate analysis, VOIP’s benefits outweigh its negatives and it is for the intending buyer to study the pros and cons and make an informed decision.

By: C. Bird