Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) is changing the way that we look at phone service. The relatively new technology is quickly becoming the norm in many homes across the world. But a variety of VOIP considerations should be explored before you take advantage of the technology.
Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) is changing the way that welook at phone service. The relatively new technology is quicklybecoming the norm in many homes across the world. But a varietyof VOIP considerations should be explored before you takeadvantage of the technology.
It allows a caller to make long distance calls without having topay much, or anything for them. Combine the VOIP technology witha broadband, or high speed, internet access line, and VOIPprovides an easy, inexpensive way to make phone calls all overthe world. However, there are still some disadvantages of VOIP - especially when it comes to using the technology for functionsbeyond the one caller to one caller scenario.
VOIP considerations for you to examine start with understandinghow the technology works in comparison with traditional phoneservice. With traditional phone service, your long distancephone calls are routed from your local provider's network toyour chosen long distance provider's network, where it is routedto the receiving party's local phone provider's network andfinally, to their home phone line.
Since multiple providers are involved, multiple providerscharged a fee for the call, which the long distance providerpassed on to you in the form of an often hefty per-minutecharge. But VOIP has changed all of that. It removes the longdistance company from the equation, making a long distance phonecall virtually the same as a local phone call. How? By using theinternet as the routing method that passes the call from yourlocal phone provider to your receiving party's local phoneprovider.
You initiate the call, and your analog voice signal istranslated into a digital signal. That signal is then sent viayour internet service to the internet, where it is routed to thereceiving party's local phone provider's network, translatedback into an analog signal and sent to the receiving party'sphone.
The disadvantages of VOIP should be part of what you understandregarding VOIP considerations, but they are relatively limitedfor the average consumer.
The main complaints regarding VOIP have to do with providing thelevel of quality of service that customers are accustomed towith regular telephone technology. The reason for this ismultifold. VOIP requires a large amount of data to be compressedand transmitted, then uncompressed and delivered, all in arelatively small amount of time.
Problems develop in VOIP conversations when this process takestoo long and the callers experience one of two problems; echo orover-talk
For businesses, VOIP considerations have more to do with how tomanage the traffic over their network. Since they may be usingtheir bandwidth for internet and even voice conferencing, theywill need to analyze the amount of bandwidth that is necessaryto handle all of their activities.
But for the average consumer, the greatest advantage of VOIP isthe cost - or rather, the lack of cost. If you have a computerwith a sound card, modem, speakers, a microphone and a(preferably) high speed connection, and you download softwarefrom companies such as skype.com, you can be making free longdistance and international phone calls using VOIP in as littleas 5 minutes.
