If you haven’t lived under a rock for the last several years, you’ve seen the ads for the VOIP Service Provider called Vonage, offering a box that, in addition to an Internet connection, lets you make unlimited long distance calls to the US and Canada for a low, flat fee. There are competing VOIP providers, like Skype (owned by eBay) with different pricing models.

VOIP stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol, and digitally translates your voice into packets that get routed over the Internet, much the same way an email is broken down into packets and sent over the Internet. The benefit of VOIP comes in comparison to traditional switched telephone networks, where calls were routed through individual switches, requiring extensive infrastructure on the part of the telephone companies, and thus, required charging per minute billing.

However, during the telecom boom of the late 1990s, every major telephone company laid new fiber optics lines and switched to a packet driven methodology, greatly reducing their operating expenses – albeit at the cost of a very large investment up front in the new technology.

The result of this is that, eventually, everything is going to go to VOIP, but certain VOIP service providers are jumping the gun, and you can benefit from it. There are VOIP providers that require a fixed monthly service fee or give you free calls to other numbers (or addresses) within their network, but charge you to call a regular land line, and there’s even a VOIP provider that’s looking to have you buy a $300 piece of hardware and get free phone calls for life.

In the past, VOIP software had latency issues – you’d speak, and there’d be a small (but noticeable) bit of lag between when you spoke and when the other party would hear you. As the networks have matured and grown more robust, and the digitization software has improved, this has ceased to be an issue. VOIP is a great technology for home use. With its virtual voice mail system and multi-line options, it’s also a great solution for a home based business, or home office for an entrepreneur; most VOIP service providers charge far less than what a typical telephone company does for the same level of services.

No discussion about VOIP would be complete without talking about one of the major gating factors of VOIP technology. That gating factor is that a good VOIP connection and conversation depend heavily on the reliability of your highspeed Internet connection. If your connection is not fast or reliable, chances are very high that your experience with VOIP technology is not going to be good. Unfortunately, the VOIP carrier you choose has no control over the speed or reliability of your Internet connection.

Still confused about VOIP and how to choose the right VOIP carrier? Our web site provides a great deal of detail about what to look for in VOIP service, where NOT to get VOIP service, and even our Expert Pick for the best VOIP service. VOIP is an extremely cost effective solution that if it’s right for you and your location, you should consider.



Thanks to Jon Arnold for contributing this article to our VoIP blog:

Ip Telephony Migration

The term VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol, and it is a recent technology that allows Internet users to place voice calls over the Internet. This term may also be referred to as telephony, Internet telephony, or IP telephony.

With VoIP Internet phone service, you no longer need a phone to make voice calls. When you are logged on to the Internet, you can make use of your connection to call people anywhere in the world. This type of call is also cheaper, especially when you compare it to long distance voice calls.

VoIP calls are less expensive because they make use of the network that your Internet connection already uses. Also, there is no need to install extra equipment which helps lower costs. For this reason, calls made between one VoIP user to another are often free or cost a negligible fee. VoIP calls made to regular phones, or to a public switched telephone network (PSTN), cost significantly more, however.

VoIP to PSTN Calls

There are two ways VoIP users and PSTN users can converse with each other. One of the methods is known as direct inward dialing, or DID, which directly connects a PSTN user to a VoIP user. DID calling is provided by VoIP providers.

The other method for making VoIP calls to PSTNs, or vice versa, is through the use of access numbers. With this type of Internet phone service, PSTN callers input access numbers that correspond to a certain VoIP user’s extension number in order for a call to be successful. Access numbers are usually charged as local calls, making it affordable for the PSTN caller and free for the VoIP user.

Who Uses VoIP?

VoIP Internet phone service is gaining popularity, and has been used by individuals and businesses alike. Thanks to the availability of broadband Internet service to individual users, VoIP technology is now available to anyone with a broadband connection. If you want to order VoIP technology for your business, look for a VoIP provider, such as AT&T VoIP, who will provide you with plenty of options for making the most of your VoIP service. Some providers provide you with inbound and outbound VoIP calls worldwide, while some even allow you free unlimited calls to the United States and Canada.

Some providers, such as AT&T VoIP service, also provide customers with a separate phone jack for VoIP calls to increase the quality and make the reception almost the same as that of regular phone service. This type of VoIP service is fixed, and will only allow you to make calls from your home or wherever you have the phone jack installed. This allows you to keep your existing phone number while taking advantage of VoIP technology.

Providers such as Gizmo Project and Skype allow you to make VoIP calls using any computer, anywhere in the world. With this type of VoIP Internet phone service, you can contact anyone and make voice calls no matter where you are.

If you already have AT&T Internet service, all you need to do is order VoIP AT&T phone service to begin enjoying the convenience and affordability that this phone service offers. AT&T is a leading provider of Internet phone service. Choose AT&T VoIP phone services and receive the highest-quality phone service available.

Learn more about VoIP Phone Service.



Thanks to CJTeam for contributing this article to our VoIP blog:

SIP Wireless Phone

There is increasing awareness of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) in the Australian marketplace of late, and understandably so. VoIP has the potential to revolutionise the way we communicate.

Much of the hype has been around residential VoIP, rather than business VoIP communications. It is crucial to understand that major differences exist between residential and business grade VoIP solutions. Relying on a residential grade VoIP service can have disastrous effects for a business, including loss of sound quality in phone calls and down time where your business’ ability to communicate may be cut off entirely. The integration of a business grade VoIP solution has many cost and efficiency benefits for Australian Small to Medium Businesses (SMBs).

The most obvious advantages of a business-grade VoIP solution are the reductions in call and line rental costs, however, there are many other significant business advantages for SMBs of all sizes to realise:

* Increased productivity by integrating VoIP with the computer desktop and allowing features such as Click2Dial from Outlook

* Increased business metric capabilities from detailed reporting on inbound and outbound call patterns

* Vastly improved and centralised personal attendant and reception capabilities allowing visibility of all staff extensions in a consolidated view, simplifying transfers to extensions and voicemail

* Awareness of an individual’s location as ‘available’, ‘busy’ or ‘out of the office until 2pm’

* Increased efficiency from converging the voice and data networks (operating both voice and data on the one network)

To decide how best to integrate VoIP with your existing voice and data infrastructure you must have a clear understanding of your business drivers and the results you wish to achieve.

VoIP Gateways

Ideal times to consider the introduction of a VoIP solution are during an office relocation, or during times of high growth. An excellent entry level solution for businesses who wish to experience the benefits provided by VoIP is to connect their phone system to PSTN via a VoIP gateway device. A VoIP gateway device is a simple piece of hardware that allows the basic integration of VoIP with a traditional phone system, most often without having to physically change any configuration.

Pacific Internet’s VoIP gateway is connected via a business-grade broadband service and will send calls destined for external locations (whether local, national, mobiles, international or another VoIP service) across the VoIP network and into the traditional phone line at the destination point. It is Pacific Internet that maintains connectivity to the traditional phone line. This scenario allows for the seamless integration between the two networks (PSTN and VoIP) and a traditional phone system to co-exist with a VoIP solution. The advantage of a gradual migration to a total VoIP solution is that it allows you to immediately appreciate some of the benefits of VoIP, without the upfront cost of replacing your entire existing voice infrastructure.

Connecting to Traditional Voice Networks via VoIP

A number of scenarios are available to connect your phone system to the traditional PSTN via VoIP, the most common of which are:

* Full replacement of traditional analogue or digital lines for all inbound and outbound calls, providing for standard geographic Direct Inward Dial (DID) numbers to be allocated to the VoIP service, for example, 02 9999 9999 for Sydney, 07 3333 3333 for Brisbane, 02 4900 0000 for Newcastle

* Partial replacement of traditional analogue or digital lines for all outbound calls

* Installation of additional VoIP lines to sustain call overflow during unexpected or regular peaks in outbound calls traffic

* Additional lines for calling only specific, designated prefixes. For example, making all outbound calls to mobiles via VoIP.

Each of these scenarios can be configured to either work automatically or to require manual user selection with most phone systems. For example, if VoIP is being installed solely to make all outbound calls to mobiles then the phone system can be set-up via Least Cost Routing (LCR) to automatically use a VoIP line when an individual calls a mobile.

An important consideration when integrating your traditional telephone system with VoIP is to very clearly understand current calling behaviour. For consideration are items such as:

* How many simultaneous inbound calls does the business receive?

* How many simultaneous outbound calls does the business make?

* How many spare PSTN ports (or trunk ports) does the telephone system have?

* Are the spare PSTN ports for analogue lines or for digital (ISDN) lines?

* If there are currently insufficient spare PSTN ports, can the phone system be cost-effectively upgraded with additional cards to provide sufficient port capacity?

Once you have a clear understanding of your current call behaviour and phone system, you can accurately determine how many VoIP lines are required and the resulting demands this will place on business-grade broadband service. You must consider bandwidth requirements, segregation of voice from data, and Quality of Service (QoS).

As your VoIP provider, Pacific Internet, can make qualified recommendations on the best configuration to achieve your desired business benefits. Integrating VoIP with an existing business data network and phone system takes a significant amount of careful planning and it is crucial that this step not be overlooked, however, it is an ideal way to test a VoIP solution and immediately start to appreciate some of the cost and efficiency benefits that VoIP can provide.



Thanks to Katrina LA for contributing this article to our VoIP blog:

Pocket PC Softphone

PBX phone systems were the standard in recent years. These were needed to handle the huge telephony needs of big business. But a PBX is expensive, high maintenance, and difficult to upgrade when the company needs change.

With the ubiquitous Internet availability, businesses of all sizes have another option for their demanding telephony needs. This is a VoIP system.

What is VoIP?

VoIP is the acronym for “Voice Over Internet Protocol.”

Protocols are the policies for how all things related to the Internet should work. These rules are in place to make sure that people around the globe are working with the same rules which will help the Internet work best.

So, VoIP is the international standards for how the human voice can be transmitted over the Internet.

Traditional Communications

Consider the fixed landline in your home. Your home phone has a physical wire which is connected to a local telephone pole. That wire then connects to a group of others at the telephone company’s central office. And finally, the utility has lines to all of their other central offices where lines exist.

When call from your home, the utility sends your call over the lines to the line of the person you are calling using the central office locations.

To make this happen, the phone company uses a Public Switched Telephone Network, or PSTN. This process uses dedicated lines and is relatively costly because of the need for all of the physical wiring and equipment.

PBX System

An office business has physical lines which come into the building from the utility company, and then physical lines which connect each phone within the building to the main wired control panel as well.

Traditionally, the business’ PBX or “Private Branch Exchange” would route the calls that come into the building for the different extensions in the system.

While this set up is certainly effective and has its place in certain operations, a small business owner may consider this larger system more complicated to administer.

In addition, PBX is often cost prohibitive for medium or small businesses to purchase, leaving a small business owner without many options.

VoIP Phone Systems

Many offices of all sizes are now moving away from PBX, and embracing VoIP technology.

Businesses can use this newer technology to address their telephony needs with ease of administration, the relatively easy ability to upgrade their systems, as well as the number one advantage … reduced costs.

This advanced technology allow large, medium, and small business communication to operate over their existing data network.

Where in the past, each phone and each computer had to have its own line to connect to the central network of the building, now only one is necessary.

Just as your computer sends out digital data over the corporate Ethernet network, your voice over IP phone can turn your voice into digital data and send it the same way and over the same cable.

Also, when wireless networks are available, the transmissions can use the wireless network as well. Cellular phones are one example of this wireless technology.

When you look at VoIP vs. PBX, it is easy to see that VoIP is the technology being adopted now, and large PBX systems are an effective traditional communications method, but a cumbersome one.

Just as how, fax machines were the way to pass documents from one location to another, but now, we use e-mail … PBX has been the way to route calls but now VoIP is taking over our telephony needs.



Thanks to Andrew Stratton for contributing this article to our VoIP blog:

SIP VoIP Software

Recently, my neighbor asked me about how to call international long distance with no-minute charge. He also was interested in learning how to lower his home phone bill. I told him about a phone system called VoIP that would benefit his interest. This article is a brief information to introduce VoIP to you.

First, do you know how many people are using VoIP services? Here are interesting numbers… In 2007 there were almost 65 million worldwide voip subscribers. In the USA, over 16 million US VoIP subscribers, with continue to grow 6-8 million new subscribers every year, about 24 million US VoIP subscribers expected by 2008. By 2010 , US VoIP Subscribers will reach 44 millions, and the number of worldwide subscribers is predicted to rise to over 197 millions.

So what is VoIP - VoIP is standing for ” Voice over Internet Protocol “. VoIP also is referred to as Internet Telephony, IP Telephony, or Voice over the Internet, VoIP Telephone, Broadband Telephony, Broadband Phone, Voice over Broadband, or simply Internet Phone.

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a protocol optimized for the transmission of voice hrough the Internet or other switched networks. It’s described as the transmission of voice traffic over IP-based networks, a unique technology that allows us to make calls using a broadband Internet connection ( through broadband modem ) instead of a regular (analog) phone line. At first, the Internet Protocol (IP) was originally designed for data networking systems. Later, with its success in data networking field and the explosion of Internet Era, the IP has been developed in voice networking and nowadays it is bringing us the most profit in this field. VoIP has become more and more popular because of the cost advantages to consumers compares to traditional telephone networks.

A brief explanation on how does VOIP work? - The traditional phone system is using analog phone signals to deliver and receive calls, with VoIP system, it’s using digital signals that can be sent over the Internet. If you have quality Internet connection - DSL (digital subscriber line), described as High Speed Internet Service which makes fast Internet connection ) you can get phone service delivered through your Internet connection instead of from your local phone company. In basics, here is how system works:

PC to PC: Computer connects to Broadband Modem connects to Internet connects to Broadband Modem connects to Computer

PC to Phone: Computer connects to Broadband Modem connects to Internet connects to Telephone Network connects to Telephone

Phone to Phone ( using Router ): Telephone connects to Phone Adaptor connects to Router connects to Broadband Modem connects to Internet connects to Telephone Network connects to Telephone

Benefits of using VoIP: There are two major reasons to use VoIP: Low Cost and More Profits

Low Cost: Phone services via VoIP costs less than equivalent services from analog systems. With the traditional analog phone services, users pay a flat monthly fee for the service, and pay other fee for long distance call service plus per-minute charge. With VoIP, the users who already have High Speed Internet service (DSL), can take advantage by using VoIP over this service - Many VoIP Service Providers allow you enjoy unlimited in-network calling - it means you can call any other in-network customer without charge. Other companies allow you to call any number, including local, long distance, mobile, and international numbers. For International calling, the users who using VoIP can get big savings with lower rates. Depends on each VoIP service offer, you can enjoy unlimited calling worldwide to many destinations for a flat monthly fee with no minute charge or low rates.

More Profits - Compares to analog phone networks, VoIP has more advantage functions. You can make calls from your personal computer to other’s computer or other’s regular phone, or you can make calls directly from your regular phone to other’s regular phone. Besides, The digital signals let you enjoy high quality voice and many advantage services such as Voice Mail, Caller ID, 3-Way Calling, Call Waiting, Speed Dial, Repeat Dial, Do Not Disturb, Call Forwarding, Emergency 911 Service, Online Account Management, Virtual Calling Card, access the service to your cell phone…

Further more, Incoming phone calls are automatically routed to your VoIP phone where ever you plug it into the network, so you can take your VoIP phone with you on a trip, around the world - anywhere you can connect it to the High Speed Internet, you can call and receive your incoming calls anytime. The VoIP Router can be set up anywhere with High Speed Internet, it provides you the advantage of savings. For example, a VoIP provider allows you get the US number and connect the router outside of the US. So when you call to that number, just like you call locals, and the person who is in other country calls you by using this service ( connected through router ) just pay a very small charge per minute, or sometimes it’s free.



Thanks to Loi Nguyen for contributing this article to our VoIP blog:

VoIP Analog Telephone Adapter