.: Are You Ready For VoIP?
Category:Home / Technology / VOIP
So does the abbreviation VoIP leave you dumb struck? Don't worry; even I was when I heard about it for the first time. The clouds parted when I discovered what it stands for: Voice over Internet Protocol.
Have you ever been left hapless at the sight of immensely long queues outside phonebooks? And that too when you need to make a call to your aunt in LA and wish her on her 65 th birthday. And, though you brave the queue for seemingly endless minutes or hours, the constantly rising bill makes you our or conversation too short to even cal it conversation. International calls are still not dirt cheap and now that the world and its brother have PC's and Internet connection, even technophobes should have enough sense to download software that enables you to make phone calls using the Internet! Yes, you read it right. Make phone calls using Internet. Just need to catch hold of an IP phone and a software like Skype and you are ready for a futuristic roller coaster experience!
Calling anywhere on Earth for three or four rupees a minute – at most, is a pretty darn good idea, and one that's catching on big time. VoIP, in layman's terms is the use of certain hardware and software that makes you call up any other person on this planet. Thereafter, you only need a good headset to have a chat and assuming of course, that you have a multimedia PC and not a BBC micro.
In a poll conducted worldwide, as many as a billion people have abandoned telephone for IP telephony. In fact, you can make a phone call to the US on dialpad coin for as little as 75 paise a minute. The internet does not know or care whether the data that's rushing through its 'routers' began as a phone conversation or a movie or a search for Pamela Anderson. As long as it is in digital packets, it can find its' way to the Internet Protocol (IP) address it's meant for. And so what is happening is more and more phone calls are getting made through Internet.
You can do it in either of the following of two ways: by going to a site like http://dialpad.com or perhaps your own Internet service provider's site (if they offer the service), or by just picking up an IP phone at a broadband Internet café like sify. If you make the call using your computer all you have to do is to go to the website, buy a prepaid package that suits you using your credit card, and enter the destination number.
Another way is Skype. Skype is a free software for Internet phoning. It's so simple that even technophobia can't be an excuse. Check out whether your computer has Windows 2000 or XP, 400 MHz or a more powerful processor, 126 MB or more RAM, a sound card, speakers and microphones and atleast 33.6 kbps dial-up-modem connection. A broadband connection is best. Make sure your hard drive has atleast 15MB space to download Skype. If the above is Greek to you, just ask any geek to check out your system parameters.
Now, go to http://www.skype.com, click on the download link, save the programme on your desktop, open it and double click on the installation file. Once Skype is installed, take out your last month's phone bill and have a good laugh.
With Skype, you can call another Skype-user anywhere in the world for free (you only pay for the net usage, not calls). Skype has an option for landline calls that requires payment charges depend on where you are calling. But rates are still cheaper than landline costs.
The voice may break or come in snatches if the connection is slow. But things are likely to get vapidly better in that matter. My experience has been that if your soundcard, microphone and headsets are of good quality, Skype gives you fairly good service.
Also, IP telephony scores over messenger services offered by MSN or AOL. In the letter, if your net connection speed is different from your interlocutor's, its' hard to talk simultaneously. With Skype, this makes no difference.
The broadband wagon has started to role, so its' success seems assured. In fact, it could even affect mobile telephony. New Scientist reported earlier this year that cellphones with built in Wi-fi capability that link to low-cost internet connection are nearly for launch long-distance call costs can take another big fall.
The flip side is, if you are calling Skype-to-Skype, the called party will have to be online and pretty near the computer. Similarly, if a Skype-contact calls you and you are offline or online but missing about in the other room, you'll miss the call.
That's a disadvantage so do as the experts suggest. Just spread the word on your online habits among your Skype – contacts or pre – arrange a chat by email or via a short, normal phone conversation. But the whole purpose of the technology is defeated by the cost of Skype – enabled phones still, with IP telephony, I sometimes wish to give all the phone booth things a piece of my mind – at little cost and from a safe distance.
Article keywords: voip
Article Source: http://www.articles32.com
Willie Reynolds maintains a website dedicated loaded with free VoIP advice.
.: New VOIP Articles
1). 6 Voice Over IP Tips
There are many benefits to VoIP. Here are 6 benefits we found to voice over ip. You may be able to think of even more reasons to switch or to include this exciting way to communicate at reduced prices.
2). Top 10 Reasons You Should Switch To VoIP
If you are considering changing to voice over internet protocol or VoIP for short you need to know the arguments for changing. Here are our top 10 reasons to switch to VoIP.
3). 7 Good Reasons Not To Switch To Voice Over IP Technology
For every positive there is a negative when it comes to voice over ip technology. Here are 7 good reasons not to switch in spite of the savings you may realize.
4). How To Choose The Best Voice Over Ip Provider
Choosing the best voice over ip provider may require you to do something that you have never done before. Here are a few tips to help you choose the best voice over ip provider.
5). Residential VoIP: Things to Consider Before Switching
Choosing VoIP over traditional telephone services has its pros and cons just like anything else. It is up to the consumer to weigh the advantages and disadvantages, and to come to a conclusion with eyes wide open.
6). Advantages of IP Telephony for the Residential Consumer
As more of us are building our own local area networks at home to connect our family members to each others data and appliances, broadband connections to the outside world have expanded our pipe to the Internet, giving us plenty of bandwidth to consider converging our home network with voice over IP telephony.
7). VoIP Communication Technology
VoIP... or Voice Over Internet Protocol, is the latest and greatest communications technology.
.: Top VOIP Articles
1). VoIP Problems?
Well of course there's VoIP problems, although I think problems is too strong of a word. Instead I would call this VoIP issues. (Just semantics? maybe, read on!)
Some may be old enough to remember making long distance calls where there was static or crackling on the phone line connection. Maybe you remember having to speak LOUDER in order to be heard on the line.
2). How To Set Up A Business VoIP System
To set up a business VoIP system, you need several components. A central device to manage the calls, the way a private branch exchange (PBX) or key system unit (KSU) does in traditional phone systems is one of them.
This can be a dedicated piece of hardware such as an IP PBX, a regular PBX that has been IP-enabled, or a server running specialized software.
3). VoIP Information: Benefits & Drawbacks
Once upon a time, a telephone was just a telephone. You set the base in your home and it featured either a corded or cordless handset for talking to family and friends. Even though that same telephone remains the standard, VoIP, which stands for Voice over Internet Protocol, is increasing in popularity and gradually beginning to change the way that the world sends and receives telephone calls.
4). Skype versus Yahoo
With the influx of complaints regarding Skype’s fall from grace, Danny Wirken measures up the top competitor and internet giant Yahoo!’s news internet telephony service.
Cheaper, faster, better quality, better customer service and a brand you can trust. These are the things Yahoo! want you take away from any of their promotional material for the new Yahoo! voice VoIP service.
5). Voice Over Ip – What Is It And What Are The Choices?
Voice over Internet Protocol. First was the telephone. Alexander Graham Bell had a vision. He saw people communicating over long distances with their own voice, not trough beeps and squeaks. Then came the Internet. A few students and the US military had a vision, somewhat similar to Bell’s. They saw people communicating over long distances, but this time in writing.
6). Why VOIP?
Voice Over Internet Protocol delivers the service of converting the analog line into a digital signal so that voice could be transferred through the internet and this proves to be a lot cheaper than the PSTN (public switched telephone network). Voip is the best for making long distance calls in, inexpensive rates.
Voip and IP telephony are fields which have seen extensive growth and they continue to develop efficiently.
7). Advanced VoIP Gateway Technology
Increased demand for video-based applications in the mobile network drive the deployment of 3G networks. Inherent complexities in traditional video gateways cause performance bottlenecks and inflate costs. If the industry expects to absorb the impending explosion in demand, these proposed cost-saving and complexity-reducing changes are needed.
Unrelenting market demand for video-based applications over mobile networks is driving the increased deployment of 3G networks.