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VoIP Phone Service
What’s new in the VoIP phone service sector for broadband customers
Although the concept of placing calls over the Internet has
been in practice several years, today’s VoIP, short for
voice over Internet protocol, is packed with new features
allowing users to listen to voice mail over the web and to
forward calls automatically from any broadband connection.
Five years ago, the voice quality was inconsistent because
the Internet connections were slow and the software was
rudimentary. However, today’s VoIP phone service is simple
to access anywhere there is a broadband Internet connection.
Companies such as
Vonage,
Packet8
and Skype
Technologies all offer competitive packages to lure the
consumer away from traditional telephone services.
How VoIP works
VoIP phone services break down the customer’s voice into
tiny data bits that are dispersed over the Internet. Once at
the recipient’s location, the bits are then reassembled into
the caller’s voice. While traditional phone technology
requires separate circuits for each user, VoIP technology
shares network space with other Internet data, making
business and personal calls that much more reliable and
cost-effective. According to analyst Jon Arnold of Frost and
Sullivan consultants, the U.S. had 500,000 VoIP residential
users in 2004, and that market could grow to 16.5 million by
2008.
In VoIP technology, phones may be hard or soft. In order
to access most VoIP services, the customer needs to set up
an account with a VoIP provider and already have access to a
cable/DSL high-speed Internet connection with a home router
(so that the VoIP is also sharing the broadband connection).
Then he or she will purchase the VoIP phone adapter. These
are called “hard” devices as opposed to “soft” phones like
Skype Technologies or Vonage’s Softphone. With "soft" phone
technology, the customer downloads and registers the VoIP
software. The use of a separate headset, instead of the PC's
microphone and speakers, is also recommended to ensure
better call quality.
What’s new in VoIP services
- Receive voice mail as e-mail messages, since all calls
are routed to a specific IP address, and not to a physical
location
- Using a PC, Skype Technologies offers a VoIP service
that allows any Skype user to converse with any other user
of its service over the Internet for free
- If moving to a new house or to a different state, VoIP
users usually can retain their VoIP number even if they
switch their broadband service
- Improved 911 services that are not tied to the
caller’s location. However, the VoIP user must set up 911
dialing option so that the call will be routed to the
nearest emergency personnel
- At Vonage, calls to Canada and Puerto Rico are
considered local and international calls are not charged
any connection fees with rates ranging from $.04 to $2.45
a minute
As digital VoIP calling becomes more affordable and as
the perceived voice quality and service reliability is
assumed to be equal to that of analog landline phones,
traditional telephone customers will be more likely to
embrace this phenomenon. Soon making a phone call will just
be another service provided over the Internet.
Also See:
[
Audio and web conferencing meets the demands of the
marketplace ]
[ How to
find and evaluate cheap teleconferencing services ]
[ Achieving
proper etiquette when using conference call services ]
Home Page:
[ Audio-Conferencing-Guide.com ]
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