How to Select a Good Telephone Adapter

An Analog Telephone Adapter (ATA) is a hardware device that acts as an interface between the traditional PSTN analog phone system and a VoIP service.  An Analog Telephone Adapter will convert a VoIP signal to an analog tone so that you can use existing analog devices such as your phone or fax machine with VoIP service.

ATAs mean huge cost-savings for VoIP as you need not replace your existing analog equipment. But selecting the right ATA from the plethora of choices currently found in the market can be quite daunting.

An ATA has two sets of outlets - one is for VoIP service or LAN and the other one is for the conventional phone. You would certainly require a reliable VOIP adapter in order to obtain the best results and other advantages this technology can offer.

Make sure the ATA has at least two phone jacks for ready use. Make sure the ATA has at least two phone jacks for ready use. It quite often happens that most ATAs in the market have only one phone jack at the back and this leaves no scope for expansion. Having two phone jacks make it feasible for two phone numbers from your service provider - or have one for regular phone line and another for fax line.

An ATA you buy should have one LAN (RJ-45) port and one RJ-11 port to facilitate the interface between the phone network and the VoIP service. Some ATAs do offer additional ports – for instance, a RJ-45 port to connect to a computer for making phone to PC calls. In order for your computer to still browse the internet, make sure that your VOIP adapter has at least a slot for your computer's hardwire Ethernet connection. In fact, some ATA's feature USB ports that enables easy connect to computers and other devices.

Choose all-in-one ATA adapters and many service providers can actually offer you an all-in-one adapter. This means your adapter can be a modem, router, and serve as an adapter at the same time. This may be somewhat costlier but is worth the money.

Many users regularly alternate between PSTN and VoIP and thus the call switching features in the ATA must allow convenient switching between these two.  The ATA must be of high quality so as to support several standard features like Call Transfer, Conferencing, Caller ID, Call Forwarding, Call Waiting etc. Most of these features are extremely useful to business owners and that is one reason why they opt for VoIP systems.

If you not already aware please know ATA runs on electric power. It is expected to cease working whenever there is a power cut. This will result in your communication getting completely paralyzed which you can ill-afford. A quality ATA should immediately switch to PSTN line default during power failure. It will be further appreciated if the ATA provides superior hi-fidelity voice quality with enhanced technologies.

A standard quality ATA should be compliant and interoperable optimally with other hardware devices. Please remember that present-day ATAs come with a lot of sophisticated features and you must carefully study all that the ATA can do before you buy. Please note that most VoIP adapters come with a full manufacturer's warranty and are compatible with most SIP based VoIP service providers.