Last Week Someone Mentioned VoIP?

VoIP sounds like a new disease but instead it is a new technology. Where in goodness do these names come from?

Well like so many modern technologies VoIP is an acronym. And in this instance it stands for Voice over Internet Protocol. Eye roll, time.

Still foreign to me.

With a bit more digging I uncover that it also known as:-

• internet phone


• broadband Phone


• voice over Broadband


• voice over ip

Ok the pieces are starting to fall into place. An Internet phone is something that starts to sound a bit more logical.

Yes, I had heard of people using the internet to make phone calls. But I thought that was just for 'geeks' and the technically minded.

The allure of free phone calls and very cheap calls is very appealing. Giving the phone company the flick would be… exhilarating.

It would appear our everyday home phone is analog. And I must admit I have never really understood how that worked either.

Somehow analog uses circuit switching to send information. When you make a call it manages to open a two way connection between your phone and your friend's phone. This channel stays open the entire call and requires thousands of miles of copper wire and switching equipment. When I think of it like that, it's hard to believe a call ever works.

Anyway VoIP uses a different technology called 'packet switching'. So when you call your friend instead of an open line sending continuous data, it somehow breaks down your voice into miniscule parcels and sends these parcels independently.

Each parcel is addressed to your friend and travels independently to your friend. As each package is an individual entity it will travel through the internet on a different path. Yep, each package will determine which path will be quickest for itself.

So each package could and will travel through different areas in order to reach your friend. They will then re-order themselves and present themselves to your friend. All in real time.

Now, some technical person is going to read this and say "Well, technically speaking it works this way…" or "Technically that is not quite correct..".

But for us that have no idea, this is a very basic and straight forward explanation of how VoIP works.

So next question is, can I get VoIP?

In order to get VoIP, it would appear you need a high speed internet connection. So, if you have broadband, you are on your way.

Next, you will need to choose a VoIP service provider and what kind of VoIP phone service you will use.

From what I can gather there are two types of VoIP phone services a computer based service and a phone based service. The computer based service is generally cheaper, easier to set up but does limit who you can call and ties you to your computer. Whereas the phone based service generally has a monthly fee (though much cheaper than your current phone company), requires either a phone adapter or a VoIP phone but allows you to call just like normal.

So there you are - a quick basic introductory tutorial into the world of VoIP. It is an interesting new development and a technology that is not going to go away. In a few years we will all be communicating using VoIP, so now is as good as time as ever to take a look.

Just do a quick search in your favorite search engine or take a look at this site www.discover-voip.info that I found useful.

Till Our Next Communication