Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Everything you ever wanted to know about VoIP but were afraid to ask

Everything you ever wanted to know about VoIP but were afraid to ask

By Christopher Phelps

“Alexander Graham Bell Would Have Never Thought of This”

Who would have thought that one day we wouldn’t even need telephones to make telephone calls? The latest innovation in phone service technology, Voiceover Internet Protocol (VoIP), requires only a computer and a high-speed Internet line-and it’s cheaper than landline phone calls.

VoIP, (pronounced “voyp”) enables computer users to make voice phone calls and listen to voicemails over the Internet. This recently perfected service not only includes standard phone features such as call transfer, call forwarding, hold and conference calls, but it also can send your voicemails to your e-mail to be heard on your computer. Using the Internet to place a VoIP call is ultimately cheaper than using a landline phone. This new phone service is modernizing traditional landline service and providing a new style of luxury to communication. For example, if your business is run from multiple geographical locations, VoIP’s phone solution allows you to transfer calls as seamlessly as if you were in the same physical location. If you need to go on vacation but don’t want to be without your landline phone, simply unplug it from the wall, take it with you and plug it into the broadband Internet at your vacation spot. It will appear to everyone that you are still in the office with a fully functional phone.

VoIP even has an option for “on the run” salespeople or other professionals to use their laptops as a phone. A software-based phone is installed on the laptop and as long as you have a broadband wireless card to access the Internet, all you need to have is a microphone in which to speak.

How Does VolP Work?

When using VoIP, your voice is converted to a digital signal that travels securely through the web until it reaches its destination and then is converted back to a voice signal. You need broadband or a high-speed Internet connection to use this phone service. But there are limits to how many phones you can hook up depending on your networking environment. Installing VoIP in a business environment can be difficult if you do not have the proper infrastructure. But, because VoIP phones use the same Ethernet cabling currently in place for PCs, it is very convenient.

However, if you have too many computers in your office, the data from the PC’s and VoIP phones could collide and create poor phone service. A computer consultant can assist with separating the traffic to ensure that proper voice quality is maintained. A good business-grade Internet router/firewall is also important to maintain superior VoIP quality. Wireless handsets and adapters are available. For your more robust business phone systems that require automated attendants and various extension options, many VoIP carriers have some impressive software to allow you to manage these situations.

VolP Benefits

Voice over Internet Protocol has various advantages for users and is much more inexpensive than regular phone service providers- as long as you pay for an Internet connection. For those who love to multi task on the computer and hate having to run to pick up the phone, VoIP phone service would provide the convenience of being able to answer the phone while sitting at the computer. Business employees and people who travel regularly can bring a VoIP phone on the road and enjoy using their telephone wherever there is an Internet connection. You can call anyone, anytime, anywhere in the world. Even when your computer isn’t on, you can use the phone service, and you’ll end up saving money on your power bill.

Christopher Phelps is the owner of CWP Tech Solutions, Inc., a full-service computer repair firm also specializing in phone systems, IT maintenance contracts and local search engine optimization. He can be reached at Chris@Cwptechsolutions.com.

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Are VoIP Phones Expensive?


One of the stigmas attached to VoIP is the cost of buying the actual hardware. Though it's obvious why VoIP is cheaper than regular PSTN with regard to the monthly bill, many balk at the thought of replacing their existing hardware with VoIP compatible phones. For a long time this was a valid concern. In fact, it was something of a catch 22 situation for VoIP. Lower costs come with mass adoption and mass adoption comes with lower costs!

However even with this roadblock, VoIP adoption has skyrocketed and now the price differential is so low that it's easily affordable. People are still sometimes stuck though with the image of how VoIP phones are costly. There's no doubt that VoIP phones can be expensive. Some include high end features such as those designed to send and receive high quality HD voice. But there are cheaper phones as well to suit every budget.

VoIP phones vs PSTN phones

On an average, VoIP phones do cost more than PSTN phones. This is because they almost always have more features than a comparable PSTN instrument. The real cost savings of VoIP are being reaped by businesses and these users need more than just simple calling functions. Hence the large number of VoIP phones you see are tailored to these users.

In addition, VoIP phones need to be compatible with PSTN networks and for this they need a device known as an ATA adapter in some form or another. Certain phones are just regular analog phones with the ATA adapter built in and sometimes it's an external dedicated device. There's still no standardization of the way VoIP services are delivered, but this is a factor that will become a lot clearer in the coming years.

Starting prices and basic features

It's important to ensure that your VoIP phone is compatible with your service. If you buy a "Skype" phone for example, it's not going to work with a regular SIP VoIP service. Having said that, any decent VoIP phone should be able to connect using the SIP protocol as it's the standard.

As an example, one of Cisco's IP phones is available for just $16. Of course it has just basic functionality, but even that includes features such as Power over Ethernet (PoE), an LCD display and call forwarding. However, it runs the SCCP VoIP protocol and won't work with SIP phones. This gives you an example of the few pitfalls you need to look out for.

Bhagwad is an experienced writer for VoIP business solutions.


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Business VOIP Phones Frederick Maryland byCWP Tech Solutions Inc
1446 W Patrick St Frederick Maryland 21702

301 662-6219

From Frederick Maryland Business VOIP