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VoIP Articles > VoIP: A Basic, Basic Intro
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VoIP: What is VoIP about anyway? If you
are new to VoIP and want to know how VoIP works then this article is
for you. It provides a brief summary of what VoIP is
and how it can benefit you the consumer. It is a good
article to get a basic understanding of what VoIP
technology is all about. To see a list of VoIP
providers or to compare
VoIP providers by price and features please visit www.VoIPChoices.com. Be informed and save! VOIP: A Basic, Basic
Intro What is it? Most people are familiar w/ NetMeeting and
other software that let you talk to others over the internet. VOIP
is similar. However, it also 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 company provides or you buy
on your own. This is the modem. You need highspeed/broadband
internet for this. Your modem plugs into your cable/dsl modem and
now it can 'talk' btwn your phone and the internet. Your phone lines already do pretty much what
VOIP does, just w/ different/older technology (well, some of it's
new w/ optics and such, but...). How hard is it to setup?
It's actually very easy. Assuming you have the
company send you a modem or you buy a kit at the store, you simply
plug the modem btwn your current cable/dsl modem and your computer
(e.g., the out from your cable modem now goes to the new box and the
out from that to your computer). It also has a phone jack for your
regular phone. Once it is on, it will boot up and configure
itself. What are the benefits?
There are many benefits depending on the
company you go w/, but here are a few I have (all of these are free
w/ the monthly fee- $14.99 for my setup): There are some other cool features available
for extra $ like the softphone which lets you use your computer as a
phone w/o the modem - this means you can take your laptop w/ you
wherever and you have your phone w/ the same phone number everywhere
too (you can do this w/o the softphone, but you have to take your
VOIP modem around w/ you - not bad if you're going somewhere for a
longer trip). Another really cool thing is the virtual phone
numbers. You can get extra numbers that ring the same phone, but
they are local numbers to any area code you want. So if I live in
Dallas and have family in New York, I can get a local phone number
here and there. That way my family in New York can call a local
number (free) and talk to me! Vonage charges $4.99/month for that.
I'm not sure about the others. And the biggest benefit - IT'S CHEAP! I pay
$14.99 plus some tax and such, but not the ump-teen taxes, charges,
fees, etc. like the phone company charges. Also, if you do a little research/reading, you
can set it up to where every phone jack in your house is wired for
VOIP. It's little more than plugging the output of your VOIP modem
into the wall jack you already have. Very 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 much cheaper (at least it is for me!). Being the
'average guy' I am, I don't really use all the features.
Fortunately, it's pretty much a 'set it up and forget about it' type
thing except that I save $40+/month w/ it! I use Vonage b/c that's what I was told about
first 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 engineer in the
Dallas, TX area and runs a few websites: The Armchair Geek
(www.thearmchairgeek.com),
Webpage Hosting Info (www.webpagehostinginfo.com),
Go To College Online (www.gotocollegeonline.com)
and The Video Exchange Community (www.videoexchange.org)
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