Traditional Telecommunications are Being Trumped by VoIP Services

Traditional Telecommunications are Being Trumped by VoIP Services

The way people speak to one another is significantly changing. Indeed, expensive telephone bills and high call charges are being left behind in favour of the improved services and cheaper, or free, call rates being offered by a number of online businesses. And, with such features as low cost international calls and free video calling, it's easy to see why people are increasingly taking advantage of them.

Although there were a number of initial teething problems with making calls over the internet, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology has greatly improved, largely due to improved broadband connections and enhanced internet applications. Accordingly, current figures indicate that of the 1.6 billion people using the web, over 100 million subscribe to some form of VoIP service: this number is predicted to rise over the next few years.

Requiring an internet connection and the relevant software, which is free to download, anyone can use VoIP to make calls. Dependent on how you choose to use the service, it's then possible to utilise a number of different applications.

Those who want to make free VoIP-to-VoIP calls, for instance, need to ensure the person they want to connect with has the same software package as them. They can then speak to that person whenever they want to, for any length of time. There's also a range of other features available for gratis, including conference- and video-calling, and instant messaging services.

In addition to making free calls, you can also connect with landlines and mobile phones for a fraction of the traditional costs charged by telecommunications companies. Generally speaking, there are two payment options, both of which offer up a variety of benefits.

The first one is pay-as-you go, which involves adding credit to your account. Once you've done this, you can then make cheap calls or send text messages to anywhere in the world from your computer or, if you have the application installed, your mobile phone. Call rates can start from as little as £0.012 per minute.

The second option is to take out a monthly subscription. Several of the companies offer deals, for example, that will allow you to spend up to six hours each day, or 10,000 minutes per month making calls, for a fee of around £8. You can also often take advantage of cheaper call rates with a subscription, and many don't require you to take out a long term contract.

There are a number of VoIP companies operating over the internet that offer people the opportunity to make free and/or low cost calls. Consequently, it's now possible to speak to your friends and family at any time of the day or night, without living in fear of receiving mammoth bills at the end of the month!

VoIP carriers - Growing popular with time

VoIP carriers - Growing popular with time.

by Kristen Kiya

VoIP has emerged as the latest technology that facilitates communication. Making long distance calls at affordable costs is now possible â€" due to the emergence and growing popularity of IP telephony. Many corporate users are implementing these solutions within their organizational context to reduce costs and augment their profit margins. Others are realizing the business opportunities of VoIP solutions in captive markets and making the most of reselling opportunities in this domain.

The point is that corporate users are finding it beneficial to replace traditional phone systems with VoIP carriers and solutions. However, before the deployment of the same, it becomes important that a proper research is initiated. SMBs as well as large corporations can then benefit from the innovations and opportunities in the telecommunication domain and realize their full potentials.

But before that, certain facts need to be mentioned that can be taken as constant. First and foremost, the IP solutions can be easily upgraded to newer and better versions if circumstances so demand. VoIP carriers ensure that the systems can be upgraded with the advancements in technology.

Secondly, the importance of a voice over IP provider and wholesale carrier services cannot be overemphasized, especially in the organizational context. With VoIP carrier services, organizations can bring in large savings in their phone bills. The call quality is impressive â€" if the wholesale carrier services are obtained from carriers of repute.

A potential corporate user can easily set up an account with the providers of these services. It can check out the prices, plans, features and other QoS issues before making a final decision on selecting a VoIP carrier. Certain selection criterion exist that should be taken into account before selecting a broadband service provider. Apart from pricing and customer service, the other two key features include ease of use and upstream and downstream bandwidth connection rate.

End user benefits of using these voice services are many. Users can stick to their existing phone numbers. Other key features that are a part of many such carrier service plans include call waiting, call routing, 3-way calling, teleconferencing, video-conferencing, instant messenger service, and dedicated fax lines. Certain plans are specifically designed for long distance callers. All these features have special significance for call center as well as contact center operations.

Different VoIP plans may vary between service providers; however, one thing is common. It is possible to call any telephone number almost anywhere â€" whether it is a long distance number or an overseas phone number. An end user can use the services through personal computers or special VoIP phones. They could also combine their existing phone systems with telephone adapters to make internet enabled calls.

Tucson Business: VoIP is it better than Traditional Telecommunications ?

Tucson Business: VoIP is it better than Traditional Telecommunications ?

by Keith Gill

VoIP is Better, Cheaper, less resource intensive, and still presently tax free (although I see that changing in the near future)

The arrival of VoIP has changed the landscape of telecommunications for everyone in the industry. The quality of the new internet technology, when it is good, is far superior to land line calls. When it’s bad it has more to do with the lack of control of VoIP packets traversing the public Internet to deliver it’s service.

Vonage, Lingo, Packet 8, and XO communications are huge, highly marketed VoIP providers focusing both on the residential market and commercial business market. These companies suffer a lot of abuse talking about voice quality and over all quality of service in general. Although some of this abuse may be justified due to poor infrastructure planning most of the quality of service issues are due to relying on the public internet to deliver it’s voice packets. No one can predict what will happen to a VoIP voice packet once it leaves the controlled enviroment of the providers network and ventures out into the wild west of the uncontrolled public internet.

VoIP works best when the service is delivered over a private network without having to traverse the public internet. Simply Bits in Tucson AZ has built out the largest privately owned VoIP and broadband network in southern Arizona.

Simply Bits is able to deliver its VoIP service to all businesses in southern AZ without having to have the VoIP voice packets traverse the public internet. What this equates to is VoIP the way it is supposed to be… Superior voice quality, with far more versatility, features and less overall cost than traditional telecommunications legacy copper line solutions.

The traditional telephone communication companies have been locked in a time warp. Many of the older companies still have a small bandwidth of only 300 to 3400 hertz and a limited dynamic range of around 50 to 60 decibels (compare that to a typical hi-fi sound system that spans 18,000 to 20,000 hertz with a dynamic range of around 100 decibels).

VoIP may force these leopards to change their spots. The typical bandwidth spans over 50 to 7000 hertz, but it can extend as high as 14k hertz. The dynamic range is also good. If the providers ever get VoIP service to a consistent delivery, there is no doubt that the quality will win out even the biggest skeptics.

Legacy, copper wire business telecom solutions are inherently inferior for one simple reason. A single point of failure because it has to use a physical "wire".

Wires are good for mending fences and straightening teeth.

In this day and age a wire in the ground or in the air supplying Voice and Data services to a business with mission critical applications is out-dated and borderline reckless.

Sometimes a wire in the ground is just begging to be inadvertently cut...This usually happens at the worst time possible...Like in the middle of credit card transactions during the busy holiday season...

Can you really afford to depend on an out-dated copper wire?

VoIP is "virtual" and delivered via an ethernet connection. It runs over the bandwidth connection that you run your internal network on that gives you access to the internet.

VoIP and traditional telecommunications are worlds apart when it comes to sound. Traditional calls are like using a hand held FM radio compared to the VOIP which is more like a large hi-fi system.

VoIP still has a ways to go before it dominates the telecommunications industry. When it is good, it is the best thing available to subscribers. The problem is that it is not always good when it is delivered via the public internet as it’s backbone (someithing Simply Bits of Tucson AZ has eliminated). When VoIP voice packets are delivered via the public internet and the quality of service is bad,.. it is bad, and you wouldn’t want to be on an important phone call, that’s for sure.

Find out why Simply Bits of Tucson has solved this problem and can deliver VoIP the way it is meant to be....A superior solution.