VOIP: A Basic, Basic Intro
by:
Bear Cahill
What is it?
Most folk are familiar w/ NetMeeting and another software system that let you talk to others over the internet. VOIP is similar. However, it besides uses your phone - the interface we're all familiar with.
Instead of connecting your phone to the wall, you connect it to a box either the VOIP institution provides or you buy on your own. This is the modem. You need highspeed/broadband computer network for this. Your electronic equipment
plugs into your cable/dsl electronic equipment
and now it can 'talk' btwn your phone and the internet.
Your phone lines already do pretty more what VOIP does, just w/ different/older technology (well, several of it's new w/ optics and such, but...).
How hard is it to setup?
It's actually really easy. Assumptive you have the institution send you a electronic equipment
or you buy a kit at the store, you just plug the electronic equipment
btwn your current cable/dsl electronic equipment
and your computer (e.g., the out from your cable electronic equipment
now goes to the new box and the out from that to your computer). It besides has a phone jack for your regular phone.
Once it is on, it wish boot up and assemble itself.
What are the benefits?
There are galore benefits depending on the institution you go w/, but here are a few I have (all of these are free w/ the monthly fee- $14.99 for my setup):
Features like caller id, call waiting, call waiting caller id, call forwarding, etc.
Voicemail
Email alerts for new voicemail.
Web access to voicemail - you can play your messages on your computer.
Auto-forward - if the phone is ever down or isn't answered, it's auto-routed to another number
Online management of all features, settings, account, etc.
Computer dialing - highlight any number on your computer, hit F6 and it sets up the call from your phone to theirs - really convinient!
Support your regular phone (you don't need a voip phone)
There are several another cool features accessible for extra $ like the softphone which lets you use your computer as a phone w/o the electronic equipment
- this means you can take your laptop computer w/ you where
and you have your phone w/ the same phone number everyplace too (you can do this w/o the softphone, but you have to take your VOIP electronic equipment
about w/ you - not bad if you're going somewhere for a longer trip).
Another actually cool thing is the virtual phone numbers. You can get extra amount that ring the same phone, but they are local amount to any area code you want. So if I live in City and have family in New York, I can get a local phone number here and there. That way my family in New Dynasty can call a local number (free) and talk to me! Vonage charges $4.99/month for that. I'm not sure just about the others.
And the biggest benefit - IT'S CHEAP! I pay $14.99 plus several tax and such, but not the ump-teen taxes, charges, fees, etc. like the phone institution charges.
Also, if you do a little research/reading, you can set it up to where
every phone jack in your home is wired for VOIP. It's little more than plugging the output of your VOIP electronic equipment
into the wall jack you already have. Really little more.
Bottom Line
You get lots of good, free features and options for doing/managing a lot more including a lot over the web and it's SO more cheaper (at least it is for me!). Being the 'average guy' I am, I don't actually use all the features. Fortunately, it's pretty more a 'set it up and forget just about it' type thing except that I save $40+/month w/ it!
I use Vonage b/c that's what I was told just about 1st and it was one of the first. There are others and I'm sure they have their strengths, but Vonage has the cheapest base option at the time I did my research.
About The Author
Bear Cahill is a software system engineer in the Dallas, TX area and runs a few websites: The Armchair Geek (www.thearmchairgeek.com), Webpage Hosting Information (www.webpagehostinginfo.com), Go To College Online (www.gotocollegeonline.com) and The Video Exchange Community (www.videoexchange.org)
