VoIP Services

Written by: VoIP-Guide.org - Sep 5, 2008

Voice over IP is the easiest way to add additional telephone capabilities to your business. Rather than adding a traditional telephone line, waiting for a technician, and absorbing the added installation and monthly expense, you can take advantage of low-cost VoIP service available over your existing telephone wiring. VoIP services are cropping up all over the world these days. There are two major types of VoIP services:

* One allows you to make calls from your computer to another landline or mobile phone;

* The other lets you make calls from your computer to another computer.

Voice over IP is still an emerging technology and that means it is still changing in many ways. There are many different ways to use VoIP. These include

(i) Computer-to-computer :( PC to PC) Two parties in different locations speak to one another as each sits at a computer. This kind of VoIP connection has existed almost as long as the internet itself. Usually, both sides of the connection are using headphones and a microphone (though you can use a computer's built-in microphone and external speakers, this usually causes an echo as what comes out of the speakers gets fed right back into the mike and severely disrupts a conversation).

(ii) Computer-to-phone :( PC to phone) This kind of connection is popular among those who make a lot of international calls. There are a number of services that offer overseas calling for just a few pennies per minute. The way it works is that you use your computer (again, with headphones and a mike, VoIP phone or IP adapter (ATA) on a soft phone is preferred) to log into a server, which then uses a VoIP connection to a regular landline phone exchange abroad, which then connects you to the number you want to reach.

(iii) Session Initiation Protocol: (SIP-to-SIP) This method allows telephone calls between two parties while totally bypassing the standard landline telephone system. Each end of a SIP-to-SIP call can use a specialized SIP phone, a regular handset connected to an internet telephony adapter, or a computer running soft phone software.

(iv) Phone-to-phone: This method allows the use of VoIP service to contact any other telephone number, even one on the traditional landline service.

VoIP phone services let you replace your traditional landline phone with one that connects over the Internet. Today, your phone works on Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), a private network that reaches into your office through the standard phone jacks in the wall. With VoIP services, your phone connects to the Internet over your cable or DSL modem....or with most businesses through a T1 or DS3 line connection. The VoIP offering is a fully managed network-based service that provides all the functions and features of a PBX (private branch exchange) without requiring businesses to buy and operate equipment on their premises.

What we need to use it:

To enjoy this new breed of phone services, VoIP service providers bundle a small device, called a telephony adapter, that plugs into the broadband modem and translates the electrical pulses from your phone into IP packets that travel over the Internet. The way you use your phone is the same, even though the network underneath changes.

As broadband Internet service continues its growth and dial-up continues its shrinkage, all the VoIP vendors have been diligently looking for other avenues to provide Internet-related services.

The money you can save:

VoIP phone service can give you lower cost 'basic' service, and can save you even more money on long distance and international calling. If you're a businessman, you should consider adding one or more VoIP lines to your PBX system. And if you're looking for home service, maybe VoIP service can completely replace your regular home phone.

Service providers are fueling the drive toward VoIP in enterprises and small and midsize businesses with a flood of new services. Time Warner Telecom introduced a service for large enterprises, and Covad Communications rolled out a pair of options for smaller businesses.

VoIP Advantage One of the most advantageous services of the VoIP is calling from any cell phone or PSTN through the internet protocol network. Here you get the advantage of mobility of a mobile with a low cost call. VoIP & Conferencing For the web video conference you can make a conference right from your desktop. There is no need of a specific video conferencing room.