Introduction to VoIP

VoIP stands for “Voice over Internet Protocol” and it’s going to change the way you think about making long distance phone calls.

Basically, VoIP technology turns analog audio signals (like the sounds you hear when talking on your regular telephone) into a digital signal (which is then transmitted over the Internet.)

So why is VoIP revolutionizing the industry? Because it means that by getting your hands on some of the free software that’s available right now, you can totally bypass your telephone company, and start making long distance phone calls for free. This revolutionary technology has the ability to totally change the phone system of the entire world!

One of the really interesting thing about VoIP is that there’s not just one way to make a call, currently there are three as illustrated in the diagram below:

ATA (analog telephone adaptor) - is the most commonly used VoIP method right now. Using an ATA, you connect your regular telephone to your computer or Internet connection. The ATA is an analog-to-digital converter and it takes the analog signal from your phone and converts it into digital data and transmits it over the Internet.

Using an ATA is so simple that anyone can do it. Open the box, plug the cable from your phone into the ATA instead of the wall socket, and you’re set. Depending on your computer, and where you live, and what type of Internet connection you have, you might have to also install the software onto your computer.

IP Phones - They look just like the phones we’re used to. They have a handset, cradles and buttons. But an IP phones use an RJ-45 Ethernet connector instead of the standard RJ-11 phone connectors. They connect directly to your router and all the hardware and software is already built inside to handle your IP calls. Look for Wi-Fi IP phones to be available in the near future, which will allow you to make VoIP calls from any Wi-Fi spot. (Can you see the power of that? Just take your IP phone with you when you travel, and stop in at any Internet café, hotel or other location where you can use your Wi-Fi laptop, and you can “phone home” wherever home happens to be!

Computer-to-Computer. This is arguably the easiest way to use VoIP. Not only do you not have to pay for long distance calls, there are several companies that are offering free or low-cost software right now for you to make use of the VoIP technology. All you need is the software, a microphone, speakers a sound card and a broadband or cable DSL Internet connection, and your loved ones sound as if they’re in the next room. And, except for your normal monthly ISP fee, there is no charge for any computer-to-computer call…no matter how far.

And guess what? Chances are, you’ve already been using the VoIP technology without even being aware of it, any time you’ve made a long distance telephone call recently. Many of the major phone companies are already using VoIP technology to reduce their own bandwidth . It’s a simple matter of routing thousands of phone calls through a circuit switch and into an IP gateway. Once received on the other side of the gateway, the calls are decompressed, reassembled and routed back to a local circuit switch.

IP telephony is the wave of the future. It makes sense in terms of ROI, from both an economic and infrastructure point of view. It may take some time, but eventually all of the current circuit-switched networks that are in use today will be replaced by packet-switching technology. More and more businesses are already installing VoIP systems. And as the technology makes our way into our everyday language our lives, and our homes, it will continue to grow in popularity.

According to Forrester Research, they predict that nearly 5 million U.S. households will have VoIP phone service by the end of 2006. The two biggest advantages for home users so far are price and flexibility.

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