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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What is VoIP – The Basics

The fact that Skype has been purchased by eBay proves that the big players are taking notice of VoIP and with multinationals such as Microsoft, BT and Sky jostling for position, the future of VoIP looks bright. VoIP first came to peoples attention in the mid-nineties when people were looking for cheaper alternatives to landline and mobile calls. It is only in the past few years that VoIP has become a viable alternative to the aforementioned telecommunications and has gained a widespread use in the internet community.

The spread of VoIP can be attributed to the increasing numbers of users who access the internet over a broadband connection – the faster the broadband speed the better as anyone who has had a VoIP conversation with a friend sounding like Cher performing “Do you believe in life after love” can testify! This matched with improved performance from VoIP providers and more technical proficient and affordable equipment has led to VoIP being tipped as “the next big thing” in telecommunications.

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