VOIP – Is it for you?

VOIP has created quite a buzz of late. VOIP stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol. More and more people and businesses are switching to VOIP from the standard PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Networks). VOIP transmits the data via the internet versus a PSTN which uses an electrical circuit established between two callers. There are a few reasons why people are switching to VOIP. The first is quite simple – Price. The price for most VOIP services is significantly lower than a landline system or PSTN. There are free pc to pc services and even the services that tie into the regular phone system are much cheaper than the same service plan for regular telephone service. It is not unusual to find unlimited calling anywhere on a pc to pc basis and most of the major services have a variety of plans. These can include local overseas numbers. The second big reason for changing is the ability to bundle services such as caller id, call forwarding, voice mail, call block, etc as part of the same package without the additional costs you would expect to pay with a landline system. Increased mobility is another big advantage of VOIP. You can have your local phone with you where ever you are as long as you have broadband internet access. Plug in your converter to an internet connection; add your phone and you can have your regular phone service on the other side of the country. Not as portable as your cell phone but if you travel a great feature. You can have the ability to have a number within the local area of your friends and family or customers so that they may call you locally. Imagine, you can have a local presence in numerous areas all from the same phone for only a few dollars a month for each one. VOIP will also allow you to integrate voice and data and has been used for conferencing and desk top sharing. If both parties have VOIP it is possible to share video, audio and even share a desktop view of their pc. Finally, VOIP can allow you to easily set up three way conferencing or other conferencing set ups at a much lower price than a land line system. In conclusion if you are looking for savings and more options VOIP can be the cornerstone of your communications program.