Mobile VoIP Calls Set For Explosive Growth
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone calls that are carried over mobile networks are poised for dramatic growth, with one research firm suggesting they could grow 30 fold within the next half decade. According to analysts at Juniper Research, there are currently 15 billion minutes of VoIP calls made using 3G and 4G networks. Juniper reckons that as networks become increasingly faster and more common, the number of minutes will rise to 470.6 billion.
Juniper research says that mobile VoIP has also grown because of the increasing number of handsets which support internet calls over Wi-Fi networks and using services such as Skype and Apple’s FaceTime video calling application for the iPhone.
Wi-Fi based voice calls could spell disaster for the mobile phone service providers, since the calls typically earn them no revenue, and has therefore forced telecoms companies to re-examine their policies for carrying VoIP traffic or face financial losses as consumers switch from cellular talk time to lower cost Wi-Fi alternatives.
“We forecast that mobile VoIP over Wi-Fi will cost operators $5 billion globally by 2015,” said Anthony Cox, senior analyst at Juniper Research. “Wi-Fi mobile VoIP is potentially the most damaging of all VoIP traffic as it bypasses the mobile networks altogether.”
The research firm says it expects to see more mobile phone operators striking deals with VoIP service providers, as they seek to defend revenue from traditional voice calls, Mobile telcos such as Three in UK, and Verizon in the US have already come to an arrangement with Skype. Juniper says these types of deals will become increasingly common as revenue for traditional voice calls using conventional circuit switching continues its decline. Mobile phone companies will try to reach some kind of arrangement with VoIP providers, and establish partnerships which will enable them to capture some part of their traffic.
The upward trajectory of VoIP calls is widely expected to climb quickly, mainly amongst business customers, who are more likely to buy unlocked handsets with VoIP support. Models that include the Nokia E Series, and the forthcoming Cius tablet device which is being launched by Cisco.
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Getting Started Using VoIP
To make PC to PC or PC to phone calls, the first thing you need to do is choose a VoIP provider. There are a number of providers in the UK including BT VoIP, Demon and Vonage VoIP. Choosing which provider to subscribe too will largely depend on the packages they offer, the cost of making phone calls to land lines and mobile phones, and how many of your contacts use a specific provider.
Once you have decided which service you will subscribe too, you will need to download the providers software, which in most cases is free to install.
Before you can get started you need to make sure you have a headset, or you have a microphone and speakers. The other option available is buying a USB phone that plugs into your computer’s USB socket that offers a very familiar user experience.
Once you have installed the software and got chosen the hardware, you are then ready to call other people who are using the same software free of charge over the internet, as well as call regular land lines and mobile phones for a small fee determined by your VoIP provider.
If you are using VoIP on your mobile phone, then all you need to do is download the software to your phone, and you need not worry about buying any additional hardware.
Types of Handsets
There are a number of options for choosing a handset to use to speak using VoIP:
- Headset – this plugs into your computer and comes with a microphone and speakers.
- VoIP handset –works just like a phone but instead plugs into your computers USB socket.
- IP Phone – plugs straight into your router so no need to turn the computer on
- Dual phone – capable of making normal calls and VoIP calls
Additional Features:
Many of the better VoIP services allow you to take advantage of a number of the following features:
- Caller ID
- Voicemail
- Local phone number option
- Conference calls
- Call forwarding
- Instant transfer to voicemail
- Instant messaging
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What is VoIP?
VoIP is the acronym for Voice over Internet Protocol. Most simply put, VoIP is the technology that enables its users to make cheap phone calls over an internet connection. The technology has been in existence for over thirty years, but it has been the last half decade where its usage has gradually become mainstream, as broadband internet connections become ubiquitous.
VoIP basically works by recording your voice, compressing it into data samples and transmitting it as digital information over the internet.
Who uses VoIP?
VoIP is a cheap way of making international phone calls. So anyone who regularly makes overseas phone calls can save a lot of money using VoIP. The technology also enables transmission of videos so VoIP users can also make video calls, something that has proven extremely popular with users of services such as Skype.
VoIP is not used merely by casual users, but businesses can save a ton of money on phone bills. Internet telephony is not just cheap or even free a lot of the times, but some providers, for the payment of a flat monthly fee offer a number of different features that are extremely convenient and save a lot of money.
Added features include the allocation of a land-line number that people can use to call and connect directly to you. This means that it doesn’t matter where you are in the world, people can still phone the same number to reach you. Some providers also let you make unlimited phone calls to certain countries or a number of countries as part of their subscription fee.
How is VoIP Used?
Computer to Computer
Many users use VoIP to make calls from one computer to another. But in actual fact a computer is not necessary, and all that is required is an internet connection.
If you exclude the cost of the internet connection, computer to computer phone calls are in fact free and this is the main way people use VoIP when they are at home. To be able to do this though both users need to use the same service, and all that is required is the purchase of a headset or phone (plus a webcam if you wish to make video calls). Once you have plugged the headset into your computer you are ready to go.
Computer to Phone
VoIP does not exclusively need to be confined to computer to computer calls. It can also be used to call normal land-line or mobile numbers. However using VoIP to do this is certainly not free and in some cases can be quite expensive, and these calls are where VoIP providers make money.
Despite the cost, using VoIP to make calls to landlines and mobiles can often still be a lot cheaper than using a regular phone, and is certainly cheaper when you use it to place an international call.
The beauty is the person you are calling does not have to be connected to the internet, instead your provider routes the call through to the land-line number.
SIP
SIP which stands for Session Initiation Protocol uses exactly the same technology as PC to PC communication. It is far more usual to use a special SIP phone, which plugs straight into your broadband connection to make the calls, and this removes the need to turn your computer on.
SIP is extremely popular with corporations that have offices strewn across the globe. It allows them to simply install the SIP phone, and make unlimited phone calls to one another.
Mobile Phones
The latest trend has been the explosion of growth in consumers buying smartphones, a lot of which come with VoIP capability. This means the owner of the smartphone simply needs to download the software of the provider to their mobile phone, and use it just as if they were on their computer.
You should check your mobile phone service provider, because some are reluctant to allow their subscribers use this feature on their phones because it may stop their users from making more expensive phone calls using their network. Many mobile phone service providers restrict the ability of their subscribers to use VoIP from their 3G network, confining it to Wi-Fi connections only.
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Benefits of Switching to VoIP for Your Business
VoIP is a new technology, enabling users to essentially make telephone calls using the internet – VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol. For home users, access is usually provided through a computer, but dedicated hardware, including handsets, are more common for business users and are increasingly becoming the norm. VoIP calls can be made to any type of telephone line, not just other VoIP lines. It has become increasingly accepted in recent years, and has become seen as a replacement for standard telephone lines in some areas.
As the data is carried over your existing broadband connection, operating costs for VoIP providers are far lower than for telephone network operators (e.g. BT), who have to maintain and operate a physical, regulated national and international network. This lower operating cost is reflected in the usage costs, and is remarkably different when comparing national and international calling costs. Internally, there are also lower costs associated with using VoIP. Moving or setting up new employees on an internal network does not require a telephone engineer to handle a line or number change. Employees can simply move the VoIP phone and access broadband at any point, and have the same contact number, with no physical set up required.
A related benefit is that VoIP makes your network very flexible, including things the aren’t feasible with standard phone technology. Providing you have broadband access, you can use the VoIP service anywhere, such as at home or when travelling. Employees and customers can be in contact via your normal landline number, and, conversely you can make calls without the expense of a mobile phone. Although you don’t always need a computer, you can connect VoIP system to one to make multitasking easier, meaning, for example you can stay connected at an internet café.
Some VoIP services feature the ability to forward faxes and voicemail to your email inbox, meaning they can be archived and forwarded easily, and some providers allow you to save time by having emails automatically read aloud. There are benefits for customers too. It is possible, and straightforward, to set up a “virtual” phone number. This means the number customers dial doesn’t necessarily have to be the normal one for your region, you can set it to theirs, meaning they’ll only be charged their local call rate. Calls made to you can also be set up to direct to a mobile phone before going straight to voicemail if nobody is there to answer at the VoIP line, meaning customers can always get in touch with you.
It doesn’t matter what type of broadband connection you use, so you can consider any of the broadband providers to provide the line for your VoIP service. If you’re considering using multiple VoIP lines over one broadband connection, it can be a good idea to consider speed when comparing, to provide a reliable replacement for a traditional phone line.
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VoIP Explained
VoIP, or, to give it its full title, “Voice over Internet Protocol”, is, as the name suggests, a technology that allows voice telephone calls to made across the Internet, via a broadband connection, rather than via a conventional, analogue telephone line.
How VoIP Works
VoIP works by converting analogue sound waves – the caller’s voice – into a digital signal, which then traverses the Internet, and is converted back into analogue sound, which the recipient can hear, before it reaches its destination. VoIP calls can be made from a computer, equipped with free, downloadable software, and a specially designed VoIP handset, or indeed, from a conventional telephone handset, equipped with an adaptor.
Previously some VoIP services only offered connection only to other users of that same service, but the growth, and uptake, of services means that local, or long distance, calls to a telephone of any kind, are already a very real possibility. Competition is only likely to increase in the coming months, and years, such that a wide choice of new, and improved, services – including mobile options – at lower prices, is likely to become available.
VoIP Equipment & Services
Many VoIP providers distribute free, downloadable software, which allows VoIP calls to be made directly from a computer, using an existing microphone. A slightly more sophisticated method, and one which will improve sound quality, is to use a VoIP handset, or call-centre style headset, which plugs into the USB port of a computer. The obvious limitation of VoIP from a computer, however, is that if there is a power failure, or even if a computer is simply switched off, outgoing calls cannot be made and incoming calls cannot be detected. Another possibility, therefore, is an adaptor, which allows a standard telephone handset to be plugged into a broadband connection.
VoIP service providers include Vonage, which offers unlimited, free calls – domestic and / or international – to both Vonage and normal phone users for a set monthly fee along with a “bandwidth saver” feature, allowing users to adjust the sound quality, and therefore the bandwidth requirement, of any given call. BT also offer VoIP through their home hub which comes with their BT Total Broadband package and through BT Fusion, which offers various packages utilising VoIP, via the domestic ADSL service.
Conclusion
VoIP technology – including desirable features, such as facilities for call forwarding, and voice mail, amongst others – generally offers functionality at a reduced cost, compared to a traditional “Private Branch eXchange”, or PBX, solution. Unlimited local, and international calls are available, at a fraction of the cost of traditional telephone services, while the ability to dial from any broadband connection, and to choose a telephone number regardless of location, are other major selling points.
However, do bear in mind that a VoIP telephone number – which may be needed to access a full range of VoIP services – is unlikely to be included in most telephone directories, and that a VoIP phone, itself, will not work during a power failure. Consider, too, the quality, and reliability, of the telephone service that you require; voice and data communication on the same network, as is the case with VoIP, can create bandwith issues.
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VoIP For Small Businesses
Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) may have a complex name, but the technology is not hard to understand. Simply put, VoIP takes phone calls over the internet instead of using conventional phone networks. Calls between VoIP users never touch the phone network and can therefore be FREE because they never get near telephone companies’ billing systems.
Calls that start or finish on VoIP are often cheap because they only touch the conventional phone networks when they ‘pop out’. Because those calls spend less time on the phone network, phone companies charge less for them.
For small businesses, this results in the chance to save a lot of money on phone calls. National and local calls for example, can often cost as little as £0.04 using VoIP. Long distance international calls can often fall below £0.04 a minute. Line rental charges often plummet, thanks to the fact that many VoIP lines can co-exist on a single internet connection.
Those savings have captured small businesses collective imagination to the extent that even established telephony players like Demon and BT offer VoIP services, while a mosquito squadron of smaller players are also chasing the VoIP pound. One of the reasons they are attractive is that VoIP can comfortably co-exist with the PABXs* and other telephony equipment small businesses own, so the move to VoIP does not have to come at the expense of features like voice mail or transferring calls.
New players however, are now taking matters a step further by offering to host all the necessary equipment to operate a VoIP service and thereby relieving small business from the need to acquire and maintain a PABX at all.
*PABX = Private Automatic Branch eXchange – this telephone network is commonly by businesses that use call centres or call routing within the office. PABX allows a single access number to offer multiple lines to outside callers while providing a range of external lines to internal callers or staff.
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Demon Internet Buy out?
Scottish communication company Thus, the owners of Demon Broadband, are on the brink of a massive takeover bid from Cable & Wireless.
Thus, which grew out of the telecoms operations of Scottish Power, is currently valued at around £250 million. Cable & Wireless revealed to investors that it had made an approach to the board of Thus, whose shares then shot up by 25 per cent.
In a statement to shareholders, the company said:
“Thus is confident in its future as an independent group, which offers an attractive combination of strong growth and future cash flow generation. The Board remains focused on delivering maximum value for shareholders and will evaluate any proposal from any third party against the value that the company can deliver as an independent group.”
Cable & Wireless are the 2nd biggest telecoms provider in the UK behind British Telecom, and they will continue to prosper having just landed a £100million contract with supermarket chain Tesco.
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Vonage targets Skype 0207 customers
Vonage have reacted quickly to news that voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) provider Skype’s announcement that 0207 (central London) numbers would not be supported after December 20th by offering affected users the chance to continue using their 0207 number. The decision is reported to impact as many as 10,000 Skype users within the UK.
Vonage call plans start from £5.99 a month for unlimited calls to UK and Ireland landline calls and £7.99 for international call packages. Vonage are also in the process of relaunching their website on the back of a usability study which will make their cheap international phone calls packages easier to understand for prospective customers.
>> Visit Vonage’s website to see their cheap phone call packages
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New Look BT Home Hub Released
BT’s have updated the design of their Home Hub which is their wireless router (connecting your computer to the BT broadband enabled phone line) enabling you to provide broadband wirelessly throughout the home from a sexy looking box! The Home Hub will update itself automatically and is futureproofed as technical upgrades can be delivered more easily. The redesign also makes it even easier for you to set up so you can be online without too much fuss and surfing the net at speeds of up to 8MBps in no time.
The BT Home Hub is included with Option 3 and Option 2 (when ordered online) at no extra cost (only £30 extra with Option 1). The hub allows you to connect multiple devices (such as desktop computers, laptops, gaming consoles, and also BT Vision TV) either via a cable or without using wires – all you need is a computer with wireless capability. Internet security is catered for with a built-in pre-configured firewall, to keep hackers and other intruders out, and make sure your computer and personal files are kept safe. It is also easy to connect external devices like the BT Hub Phone (included with Option 3 at no extra cost), or your existing touchtone phone, so you can make cheap BT VoIP calls over the Internet.
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Vonage Cheap International Phone Calls
My Uncle lives in Canada but spends a lot of time travelling round the world for business and the last time I saw him he sat me down (over a few beers) and told me the next big thing that would hit the UK – VoIP. My reaction was ‘er what’s that’. Well VoIP stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol and basically means using your broadband connection to make phone calls.
“Well,” I told my uncle “I’ve been making phone calls over my broadband connection for a year or so using Skype”. Skype for the uninitiated is a software programme that enables FREE calls (including video if you have a camera) to other Skype users by plugging a headset into your computer. You can also call landlines including internationally at pretty cheap rates. Skype actually works quite well, but the call quality is very hit and miss depending on how many Skype users are online. It can be very annoying when you’re shouting “what, I can’t hear you, I’ll turn you up! I can’t turn you up. I’ll call you later!!!!” or listening to your fellow caller sounding like Cher singing “Do you believe in life after love” (I must stop using that joke when talking about Skype but it’s true!).
Anyway, my uncle says to me “that’s not true VoIP, you should try Vonage” before whispering mystically “it’s the future! You don’t need to even have your computer turned on to make calls. All you need to do is plug a regular phone into the Vonage adapter and plug that into your router and you’re good to go. It’s not VoIP in a Skype sense, it’s broadband telephony”
So I went away and did a bit of searching and took a quick look at the Vonage website, £5.99 a month for unlimited UK calls, er no thanks! Why would I want to pay a monthly fee for a service I already get for free? Cheap International landline calls - that’s why.
Cheap International Calls with Vonage
Well my uncle went back to Canada but he gave me a local phone number scribbled down on a piece of paper “what’s this?” I said. “It’s my Vonage phone number” was the reply. Now this started to raise my interest. With Vonage you can set up “virtual phone numbers” whereby people can call you at local rate even if they are the other side of the world – a useful feature if you have relatives abroad or indeed business contacts. To explain further I live in Northampton and my uncle set up a virtual phone number for Northampton so I can now call him in Canada and only pay a local rate, and the best thing is I don’t even need to be a Vonage user!
Unlimited Cheap International Calls with Vonage VoIP
OK so it currently costs me a local call rate to call my uncle, great, but I also have a lot of friends that have moved to Australia where they don’t have Vonage (currently only available in the UK and North America) and anyway I can’t ask them to purchase Vonage just so I can call them cheaply can I? Well what I can do is sign up for Vonage World Plan Two for £7.99which includes unlimited anytime calls to Australia (as well as New Zealand, UK, USA, Canada, Ireland and Germany). This means I can call Australia at anytime for any duration as part of one monthly fee. I can of course set up a Virtual Number for my mates in Australia so they can call me when they want at a cheaper rate than expensive international calls – everyones a winner!
Vonage Summary
Vonage offer excellent packages of cheap international calls for just £7.99 a month (and a local calls only package for £5.99 a month). The call quality is as good as a landline but you will obviously need a reasonably quick broadband connection and a reasonable amount of download allowance if you are to be a regular caller. A full review of Vonage will be on the blog shortly but in the meantime you can read more about Vonage cheap international calls here.
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