Small businesses, home-based businesses, and self-employed individuals have been turning to internet telephone service (also called broadband phone or VOIP) in droves. What is the attraction? As a self-employed, telecommuting, small-business-owning freelance writer, I can provide some insight.

I switched my business to internet phones early in 2005. Despite a few hiccups, I’m not going back to landlines. Internet phone service has too many advantages, which I’ll describe for you. I also have some tips for avoiding possible rough patches.

VOIP Internet Phone Small Business and SOHO Advantages

VOIP Advantage No. 1: Look bigger.

• If your small business has to seem large, a virtual PBX with a dial-by-name directory might help. These systems cost thousands to install. But many VOIP companies let you rent this service for less than a hundred dollars a month.
• Give each member of your team their own outside line. With most VOIP companies, each line costs around $10.
• Get one or more 1-800 numbers at around $10/month.

VOIP Advantage No 2. Freedom of movement.

• Freedom to travel. When I went to Sacramento to visit a friend, I ended up extending my stay to a whole month. I couldn’t have done that without regular phone access. With VOIP, my Massachusetts number follows me wherever I go.
• Tropical adventures. I regularly work with a virtual assistant company that takes phone calls on their Quebec phone number everyday. That wouldn’t be so strange except they’re in the Philippines. They’re using the same small business VOIP phone service sold right here in North America. True, VOIP companies don’t generally guarantee their services will work outside the country of purchase. But the internet is the internet, whether in Fargo or the South Pacific. With the growth of broadband to virtually every non-pariah nation on earth, your second office really could be in a tropical paradise–or year-round ski resort. Isn’t that the freedom you hoped being your own boss would bring?
• Telecommuting. Feel a cold coming? Work from home! With VOIP, even the receptionist may be able to telecommute!
• Voicemail by email. You don’t have to be by the phone to get voicemail. This is the perfect service for busy people and email addicts. Bonus: the message (in a file similar those used on MP3 players) can be stored indefinitely.

Internet Phone Advantage 3. Cost

• Make lots of calls? Many VOIP providers’ unlimited-calling plans cost just $20 to $80 a month.
• Features such as call waiting, caller ID, hold, call forwarding, and multiple ring-to numbers are usually costly extras with landline service. With most VOIP services, those are built-in features.

SOHO VOIP: Tips for Making it Work for Your Business

SOHO VOIP Tip 1. Test internet phoning out before committing.

Yes, some VOIP connections are so scratchy and patchy they sound like cell phones. That’s usually because of a problem in the internet connection. Such problems may not be apparent in ordinary web browsing and file downloading. Go with a service that has a 30-day money-back guarantee. Try VOIP out where you live and work. Make sure to try inbound and outbound calls.

Small Business Internet Phone Tip 2. Phoning from a laptop.

With VOIP telephones, you don’t need a computer. But you can use your computer as a phone. A piece of software called a “softphone” uses your computer’s speakers and microphone. If your laptop is running too many programs at once, calls will deteriorate. Higher-end laptops shouldn’t have this problem.

SOHO Internet Phones Tip 3. Go with an established VOIP company.

You don’t want to lose your telephone service and possibly your number. Yet only a few VOIP companies have roots before 2000. Choose a service with deep enough roots to survive a VOIP industry shake-out.

Small Biz Internet Phoning Tip 4. Choose a provider carefully before putting the number on your business cards.

Switching VOIP companies is at least as much of a pain as switching landline phone companies. In fact, there is typically no outward number-portability. You can bring a number in, but good luck taking it with you. Researching in early 2005, I found no nationwide VOIP services officially offering outward number portability.

Choose a VOIP provider with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Test the service out thoroughly. One thing is likely: you may want to switch VOIP providers, but you won’t want to go back to landline.

Joel Walsh, freelance writer and small business owner, recommends you check out Packet8, an established provider of: VOIP: http://www.packet8.net

A long-standing question for potential VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) consumers is “How much bandwidth does a VoIP phone require to make quality telephone calls?”

First of all, Bandwidth is defined as the ability to transfer data (such as a VoIP telephone call) from one point to another in a fixed amount of time. The higher the bandwidth speed you have, the more data you can send over your Broadband Internet connection.

There are two types of bandwidth at your location: upload bandwidth and download bandwidth. The Upload Bandwidth is the amount of data you can send to the Internet and download bandwidth is the amount of data you can receive from the Internet. The more Internet bandwidth you have from your ISP (Internet Service Provider) the better.

In most cases, the normal VoIP telephone call will use up 90 Kbps (kilobits per second). If you have a Broadband Internet service provider that doesn’t offer much bandwidth then most VoIP providers give you the option to lower the VoIP voice quality by lowering the bandwidth used for VoIP calls to 60 Kbps or, to really conserve your bandwidth, 30 Kbps. Most people can’t tell the difference between the three settings. We suggest you use the high sound quality setting (90 Kpbs in most cases), if bandwidth is not an issue. High VoIP voice quality is generally the default setting but if you are running into a situation where your bandwidth is limited then you can adjust your VoIP bandwidth to one of the lower settings. Some consumers with 128 Kbps upload connections can receive less VoIP service quality due to a poor quality ISP (Internet Service Provider). By selecting a lower quality VoIP bandwidth setting, this problem can be avoided.

If you plan on using a VoIP service provider, should you get a DSL or a Cable Internet access provider? In general, DSL upload bandwidth starts at 128k where as Cable Internet upload bandwidth starts at around 600k. Cable Internet is a little bit more expensive, but it is also about 4-5 times faster than residential DSL and a bit friendlier to a VoIP telephone call. Having said that, both DSL and cable modem high-speed services provide sufficient broadband Internet access bandwidth to support any of the top VoIP service providers. If you are experiencing low Broadband Internet Service provider bandwidth, we suggest you try Packet8 VoIP. Packet8 VoIP boasts an advanced compression technology in which each active voice line uses approximately only 23Kbps of total data throughput, upstream and downstream.

The amount of bandwidth that a VoIP provider requires to make a quality telephone call is only one thing to consider when choosing a VoIP service provider. In fact, there are many things to consider when choosing a VoIP provider. An educated consumer generally results in a satisfied consumer.

Please see VoIP things to consider article (http://www.voipchoices.com/voip-considerations.html) to find a list of more things to consider when choosing a VoIP provider. You can also compare VoIP providers side-by-side by price and features at www.VoIPChoices.com

Chris Landry is the foremost authority on residential and small business VoIP providers. Chris is the founder of http://www.VoIPChoices.com. Chris has prequalified several high-quality VoIP providers and compares them by price and features at http://www.VoIPChoices.com

Chris can be reach via email at Chris@VoIPChoices.com.

You’ve probably heard the story of a young man who designed
a new computer operating system, and was turned down by IBM
for the first rights. That would be Bill Gates, of course.

And did you know that when Marconi, the inventor of Radio,
offered the rights to that new technology to the Italian
Government in 1894, they turned him down? You see, the new
device was only capable of sending a signal a short distance
at that time, and was eclipsed by the more popular
telephone. No one though it would amount to anything.

Of course today, Microsoft is, well, Microsoft. And Wireless
Radio technology has spawned everything from Television to
Cellular phones, and is still changing the way we
communicate and do business over 100 years later.

These are examples of Disruptive Technologies. Wikipedia
defines disruptive technologies as:

“A disruptive technology is a new technological innovation,
product, or service that eventually overturns the existing
dominant technology in the market, despite the fact that the
disruptive technology is both radically different from the
leading technology and that it often initially performs
worse than the leading technology according to existing
measures of performance. A disruptive technology comes to
dominate an existing market by either filling a role in a
new market that the older technology could not fill (as more
expensive, lower capacity but smaller-sized hard disks did
for newly developed notebook computers in the 1980s) or by
successively moving up-market through performance
improvements until finally displacing the market incumbents
(as digital photography has come to replace film
photography)”.

A thing to note is that disruptive technologies are not
disruptive to customers, and often take a long time before
they are significantly disruptive to other service providers
or manufacturers, so they are often difficult to recognize.
Indeed, as studies have shown, it is quite common for
incumbent companies to ignore disruptive technologies, since
they often compare badly to existing approaches, and the
initial markets for a disruptive technology are often very
small compared to the main existing market for the incumbent
technology.

Even if a disruptive technology is recognized, existing
businesses are often reluctant to take advantage of it,
since it would involve competing with their existing (and
more profitable) technological approach.

This situation exists today with VOIP Communications
Technology. VOIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol,
and is rapidly overtaking the traditional Voice Market.
Several years ago, when most Internet Connections were Dial-
Up, this technology didn’t stand a chance against
established phone services. However, with the Worldwide
proliferation today of High-Speed wired and wireless
networks (note: another use of Radio technology), this
obstacle is being rapidly eroded.

About the Author:

Glenn R. Grundberg is a Master Electrician and Low-Voltage
and Communications Expert Certified by BICSI and several
Major Hardware Manufacturers. Mr. Grundberg writes on a
variety of subjects, and Consults on Major Construction
Projects Worldwide. Mr. Grundberg also Sits on several
Codes and Standards Commitees Including the NFPA 72 for
Fire Alarms. Mr. Grundberg is also an Internet Marketer
specializing in Affiliate Products and Programs,
including Top, Innovative MLM Opportunities.

To Sign up for our newsletter or courses, please visit
http://www.theaffiliatebusinessreview.com

VoIP is said to be the technology of the future because it allows us to do things that were impossible just five years ago. Now, instead of having a public telephone network the VoIP technology allows you to use your broadband connection to make telephone calls. What’s great about this is that you can use the phones you have always used; you just get to combine two services into one.

The VoIP technology works if you have a broadband connect and a device called a router. The router enables your phone to call just like it always has, but now it’s over the broadband digital connection instead of through a conventional phone line. In addition to a router there is a VoIP gateway that connects you to a voice over network so that your voice can be converted into a digital sound instead of through the analog technology of the past. Information is basically sent in packets across broadband lines to give a great sound and seamless connection to those who have VoIP service and even those who do not. VoIP really is a revolution in combining internet access and telephone service because it utilizes the same technology for two very different things.

The VoIP is great because now you can have just one bill that allows you to have phone access as well as broadband service. Luckily, most companies can even allow you to be online at the same time as you’re on the phone. There really aren’t any limitations to the VoIP service and in the future it will only get easier. In the coming years digital phones will be made so that each consumer won’t have to have a router, and VoIP service will probably be more common than those who have a public telephone network. If you already have a broadband connection you should definitely consider a VoIP phone connection because it’s most cost efficient, it’s practical, and it really is the way telephone and internet service is going!

Laura Rupert is a freelance writer who contributes to The Tech FAQ.

VoIP services have several advantages for businesses. As phone calls are transmitted over the internet as data, the service dramatically lowers telecommunication costs. Whether you are in a car or at a business meeting thousands of miles away you can still make as well as receive calls without incurring great expenses. And, you will never miss a call or communication from a client. Where you go your business connections will go with you.

With advances in technology, it is no longer essential for you or your caller to be seated at a computer terminal. VoIP calls can be made using standard phones or IP phones. You can reap the benefits by using the extensive internet network in your offices to communicate better at little cost.

The phone system can be transported wherever you go and apart from calls, data can be transferred with great ease. You can do away with expenses related to maintenance of phone infrastructure and costly industry regulations.

Most VoIP systems are such that you can use your laptop along with a headphone or microphone to talk. So you will never miss an important business call. Furthermore, you can get voice mail and faxes forwarded automatically to your mail box. Similarly you can archive, file, or forward data to different employees or offices at the press of a button.

You can get virtual phone numbers of any available area code. So, even if you are in New York you can have phone numbers pertaining to California or Florida. The VoIP numbers can be set so as to simultaneously ring on the IP phone, landline, as well as cell phone. Then it will be automatically diverted to voice mail. This according to expert analysis results in greatly increased productivity. Internet telephony added up to nearly 4 additional hours each week per employee.

Since VoIP systems are constantly evolving its use will keep your business abreast with technology and the advantages that come with it. New wireless PDA/phone combinations will enable you to use VoIP services when you are near a Wi-Fi network and use the cell phone when you are away from a network. This increases mobility without added expenses. The IP network offers your business real-time high quality videoconferencing facilities that are affordable. The system also supports complex call center applications.

VoIP systems offer not just cost effectiveness. There is greater productivity, efficient incorporation of data, the ability to handle all business communication requirements such as Internet, e-mail, customer services, voice mail, as well as video conferencing. Software accounting programs, filing systems, and other PC based applications integrate seamlessly with VoIP systems. By combining data, video and audio needs, companies save incredible amounts on bandwidth usage.

Whether your business is small or large, VoIP offers a flexible and affordable option to sophisticated communication systems.

Paul Wilson is a freelance writer for http://www.1866Voip.com, the premier website to find help on Voip including topics on online voip, voip phone, voip service providers, voip solutions, business voip, internet telephony voip and more. He also freelances for the premier Voip Services site http://www.1888Voipservices.com

Business VOIP offers advantages over regular telephone service that allow business more freedom and savings than ever before. Today’s technology driven society predicts that if you do not have business VOIP, you will soon. However, before you jump on the business VOIP bandwagon, you should know what business VOIP is and how it can benefit your business.

Many business owners use some amount of technology every day, but sometimes find themselves unwilling to try new technological advances due to a lack of understanding or an overwhelming amount of complication associated with certain technologies. However, business VOIP is a relatively simple technology to obtain and use that allows you more versatility in your phone uses while saving you money.

Business VOIP may seem like a very foreign term to your business. The “VOIP” in business VOIP stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol. That may sound technical, but really it just means that you will be able to use telephone services over your internet connection rather than your traditional phone lines. How does this benefit your business? Free long distance is one way your company can save money with business VOIP.

Business VOIP allows you to call anywhere in the world using your internet connection. This means that there will be no additional long-distance charges when you use business VOIP. Besides savings on long-distance, you will also be able to avoid those other costs tacked onto your regular phone bill like taxes, tariffs, and other mysterious charges. In some cases, companies already using business VOIP have reported savings up to 60 percent over their traditional phone bills.

However, the financial savings associated with business VOIP is not the only reason to change to this more technologically advanced phone system. The potential services available through business VOIP will also offer your business flexibility and communications potential that will enhance your continued efforts at growing your organization. For instance, there is technology available for your business VOIP system that will allow your computer to communicate with others via the phone, and business VOIP also opens doors to conferencing via tele-video. Imagine being able to see the person you are speaking to in real time video or being able to present a product in real time.

Another great aspect of business VOIP is that it allows you to enhance your advertising potential immediately via message on hold. Through a simple .wav or .mp3 file, you can take an audio file and turn it into an advertisement your clientele can hear via your telephone. Taking the advancement of the telephone and adding in a new kind of communication potential makes business VOIP a must for most businesses.

Read the rest of the article here: Business VOIP.

Download the Home Based Business Manual (Free $97 Value!) and receive valuable tips, strategies and techniques designed to grow a very successful Home Based Business.

Copyright © Charles Fuchs is an established online marketer who specializes in helping people start their very own Home Based Business. He specializes in showing people the Best Work at home and Best MLM Leads online.

VoIP or Voice Over Internet Protocol has been simmering for the past few years. This year the market has heated up. Many large businesses have jumped on the VoIP bandwagon and have realized savings of 50-percent or more off their phone bills. VoIP providers are competing to add to or replace large PBX systems for the corporations and add web conferencing capabilities plus wireless VoIP (wVoIP) over LAN’s as well.

Hospitals and other large, fragmented workforces are discovering the value of using wireless VoIP phones to converse with one another quickly and efficiently while in different wings, floors or buildings of a large facility. This kind of wireless VoIP setup can have huge cost savings over cell phones and is more efficient that using pagers.

While business VoIP has caught on in the corporate landscape, residential VoIP is still trying to take hold. This is largely because of a couple of current disadvantages of VoIP. First, not all current VoIP systems have power backups. When the power goes out in a residence, the landline is still operational. Since VoIP works over a high-speed Internet connection, which requires power, if the power goes down, so does the VoIP connection. This will be of concern to many concerned about emergency situations. The good news is that many VoIP hardware providers are starting to deliver systems with power backup to address just this issue.

The second drawback of residential VoIP is that not all current VoIP service providers offer full, 24-7 emergency 911 service. After hour calls in Florida, may be mistakenly rerouted to Idaho for instance. This is also about to change. The Federal Communications Commission has mandated that all phone service providers offer e911 service as standard. According to the FCC, “All interconnected VoIP providers must automatically provide E9-1-1 services to all customers as a standard, mandatory feature without customers having to specifically request this service. VoIP providers may not allow their customers the option to “opt-out” of E9-1-1 service.”

Clearly, though, residential VoIP is heading towards direct competition with the local phone companies’ coveted landlines. A couple of years ago at a meeting in SBC’s Publishing division, one of the executive managers cried, “Landlines, we need to stop losing landlines!” This was in response to cell phone companies taking away market share from the local Baby Bells. Now that VoIP is on the radar, the executive management teams for the local and long-distance phone companies must be huddling in their back offices, trying to figure out how they will stop the bleeding in the years to come.

With VoIP costing far less that traditional local and long-distance phone service and overcoming the last of the residential hurdles, one can be sure that consumers will soon be taking notice. Many will also start wearing t-shirt like “VoIP VIP” and “Got VoIP?” to herald in the new era in telecommunications.

Copyright © 2005 VoIP Service Providers3

VoIP Service Providers – Marvin Bellnick writes for VoIP Service Providers, a company dedicated to publishing the latest happenings in the Voice Over IP industry.

What is VoIP

VoIP is an acronym for voice over internet protocol, aka voice over ip phone. A VoIP, in essence, is a computer phone that allows you to make phone calls from your computer to anyone in the world, e.g., PC to PC, PC to phones – landlines or cells.

The voice signal converts to data packets and travels across the internet through a VoIP platform, and then converts back to voice at the receiving end of the communication exchange. Leading telecom experts are projecting that 75% of the world’s communications will be done on VoIP within the next several years.

What Kind of Equipment Do I Need?

You will need a computer with internet access and an inexpensive microphone if your computer does not have one built in. Although most VoIP voice over ip phone providers require high speed internet connections, there are a few that can be used on dial-up connections.

How Can I Place a Call or Receive a Call?

Basically, the same way you would a regular phone, except on your PC. When you download a VoIP voice over ip phone line on your computer, a phone usually appears on your screen. The computer phone acts like any other phone in that you can dial numbers on it from a pad, or click on a contact’s pre-programmed name, and press the call button. You will then hear the phone ringing to the party you have called and can talk to them when they accept the call.

When receiving a call, the phone will ring on your computer and you can click to accept the call and talk, or let it ring (based on the number of rings you have set up) and forward the caller to your voicemail.

What Kind of Features Does a VoIP Phone Have?

Typically a VoIP voice over ip phone not only has audio capabilities, but also three-way calling, text messaging, and contacts list. Some VoIPs even have webcam capabilities. In addition, there is usually a button to click that can indicate to others when you are available, unavailable, away, or off line.

Who Can I Call Using a VoIP Phone?

Most reputable VoIP computer phone providers limit PC to PC calls among their own subscribers for privacy purposes so that the quality of sound is not compromised.

Most reputable VoIP voice over ip phone providers have their own patented technology.

Some VoIP solutions providers require limiting PC to phone landlines or cells to their own subscribers, while others do not.

Advantages of VoIP

With VoIP computer phones, you have unlimited talk time to anyone in the world from PC to PC for a flat monthly rate

Most VoIP voice over ip phone providers offer drastically reduced costs for calling PC to landlines

Most VoIP’s offer reduced costs for calling PC to cell phones, however, prices often vary depending on the cell phone carrier.

Savings of up to 80% off current phone bills.

What are the Costs for VoIPs?

Typically there is an activation fee which varies between $20.00 to hundreds of dollars, although some are hidden.
Monthly fees, after enrollment, varies between $5.00 per month to $99.95 per month.
If you do not have a microphone on your computer, you would have to purchase one. Cost is between $5.00 to $40.00.

Things to Watch Out For with VoIP Services

Hidden costs

Unsecure lines – meaning anyone can listen to your conversation because of shared servers or open platforms, thus making you vulnerable to viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and unscrupulous hackers, which ultimately can corrupt your computer and create a costly computer crash.

Inability to be used with dial-up connections

Public listing of your name and/or phone number

Many VoIP services have spyware.

Dee Scrip and her close friend Andy Murray operate the website http://www.whypay4calls.com. Where you can experience a 7 day free trial with a secure line on patented technology. NO contracts, obligations, or hassles!

Communication has come a long way from the time of smoke signals. What was new yesterday is considered required today. Technology advances are fast and furious and to keep ahead in the business world you must advance along with it, or risk missing out on the new moon.

The speed and effectiveness of your communication infrastructure is vital in today’s marketplace, where clients expect instant results. In addition, your ability to virtualize your office is key in a decentralized and mobile environment. Assisting your customers and making them feel serviced is vital in a world where price comparisons can be retrieved in an instant. Service will set you apart. This is where advanced communication technology can help.

The following is an example of how Life Communications LLC assisted a business improve their communications effectiveness, work product and bottom line. Saran Importers Inc. (name has been changed) is an importer of many products, including clothing, undergarments and electronics. They have small offices in California, Michigan and Texas with their headquarters in Brooklyn, NY. The Michigan and Texas offices have two salesmen per location, while the California office has three operations people and one salesman. The Brooklyn headquarters has 10 operations people and three salesmen. For the sake of simplicity, the definition of “operations people” is people who don’t travel extensively, while salesmen do.

They had a Lucent Partner system in Brooklyn and small SOHO (Small Office Home Office) Panasonic multi-phones in the remote locations. They communicated with the remote locations by calling them over a regular phone line and with the salesman by office number or cell phones, which they also gave to the clients. Some problems arose from this arrangement. The following are a sample:

- High cost of inter-office communications.

- Multiple places for voice-mail. Hard to manage.

- If the cell phone was dead or otherwise not available the calls went to voicemail or were lost.

- If a salesman was unavailable for extended periods (more than one day) it affected communications with clients.

- No call accounting. No management of remote offices.

Life Communications replaced their Lucent system with a customized PC-based advanced phone system. In the remote locations they put Voice Over IP (VOIP) phones that communicated directly with the VoIP phone system over secure private network DSL lines. This enabled the remote offices to have all the advanced features of the main office.

They also setup a feature that enabled the salesman to manage where they can be reached. In doing so, they would be able to give out a single phone number that routed through the phone system. They would direct where the phone would ring or even the order of where they can be reached and the amount of times it would ring by each location. If the call would go to voicemail the voicemail would actually reside on the phone system and a voice file would be emailed to the salesman. Some salesmen chose to have a copy, of the voice file, also emailed to the operations person who handled their accounts.

This solved their problems by doing the following:

- Cut down, drastically, on the cost of inter-office communications. The costs of the DSL lines are marginalized due to their dual-use as data lines. All calls between offices are now as if they are in the same office, they communicate by calling the extension, not an outside number.

- One place for voice-mail, all located on the phone system. Cell phone calls are now called by the phone system and if the salesman is unavailable it puts it in the internal voice-mail. This allows for easier voice-mail management.

- Due to the advanced routing feature, calls can ring by multiple places to reach a person who can help the client.

- When salesmen are now unavailable the calls can be automatically rerouted to another salesman who can help.

- All calls, in all offices, can now be managed and kept track of. Client communications can be more effectively handled.

This is just a small sample of the improvements made to the business process. Another advantage to the VoIP system is; as new features, and advancements, come out they can be integrated into Saran’s current platform. Expandability is also part and parcel of this VoIP experience; the system can grow as Saran grows.

Cy Yablonsky is
a realtor associate at Othello Realty,
http://www.OthelloRealty.com. Cy has an
extensive background in technology
and communications and applies that to the real estate
market. Feel free to reprint this article as long as
all links stay live and no changes are
made.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that VoIP is a new kid on the block. The Telcommunications industry has known about…….and been using….VoIP technology of some kind for awhile. There’s always been talk concerning VoIP and how to capitalize on this Juicy market to come. Early on, only Cisco was really able to make it work properly. But it was just a matter of time before covergence would emerge and make more “dreams” posssible.

Today businesses are rushing into this market in mass for different reasons. From the price savings to the convergence effect of using a single network. But there is still “truth and myth” about VoIP as a business application you need to be smart about when using your own IP PBX or IP-Phone. [Note: for the purposes of this discussion soft phone such as Skype is not addressed.]

Myth……..

Being able to be reach anyone and call from anywhere.

This is almost true but you need optimal conditions in order to do this. The following problems will explain why many times challenges still exist when trying to place a VoIP call.

* Let’s imagine you have an IP phone connected to your IP PBX or have your own VoIP line and you are willing to use it from a public network, in a conference room, or in the hotel you are staying in. The following problems might appear.

1. The ADSL line is too slow…..This means you might be able to place the call but lags and echoes will appear.

2. There is no Quality of service…..Without getting into details, if someone is downloading or uploading a heavy document, you will lose quality because the IP is not prioritized.

3. The NAT (telecom Network) is blocking all VoIP calls…..This can be caused by multiple problems from Port translation to firewalling.

4. Your are using the WIFI….Most of the time hotspots are just made for surfing on the Net. Many problems could appear such as lags etc. Hotspots aren’t made for using your VoIP phone…..yet.

The Truth………

To be honest, the truth about IP phone is that it will work fine mainly when you are using it on a clean network using “Quality Of Service”….and in a well known IP enabled environment. To make it work fine you need:

1. An XDSL pro with “Quality Of Service” and best of all connected directly to your Telco Provider.

2. An IP phone with a good firmware….. Don’t risk using a cheap phone. You’ll get what you pay for.

3. A good VoIP provider….. Most of the time the price of your calls have a bearing on their quality too. Anything costing 50% or less than what your standard PSTN phone service provider is good enough (believe me they still make a good profit).

4. No WIFI…. Don’t use WIFI for VoIP, you will lose quality most of the time.

Conclusion:

VoIP technology is still in the growth stage and developing everywhere because of price structure pressures and IP convergence advances. Just don’t get the false sense of security that all VoIP providers are good, and don’t think you will be able to place a call from anywhere.

If you want to introduce VoIP into your business, do your home work. Be sure to consider your intended application(s), appropriate configuration, and beware of being unduly impressed only by the price you might pay. Make your decision based on the best combination of meeting your application, configuration, and cost point requirements….as a total package.

Michael is the owner of FreedomFire Communications….including DS3-Bandwidth.com and Business-VoIP-Solution.com. Michael also authors Broadband Nation where you’re always welcome to drop in and catch up on the latest BroadBand news, tips, insights, and ramblings for the masses.