VoIP - Sometimes Not An Easy Choice

Previously I wrote that VoIP was a good choice. If naked DSL or DSL without phone service is not an option for you, then VoIP can still be a good choice for your second or even third phone line. It sure comes in handy for your teenage children not to mention a home office. I recently sold service to a gentleman who wanted VoIP specifically for the ability to have a virtual number. His daughter recently went off to college in another state. He purchased VoIP service and signed up for a virtual number. He got a virtual number in the same area code that his daughter was in. This allows his daughter to call him at local charges vs. the long distance charges she would normally have to pay. Kudos? to him for making his decision. Just another great benefit VoIP has to offer.

This weekend I was speaking with a friend of mine who recently purchased a home computer. He knew about my business and wanted to know his options for internet access. He also knows that I'm not just a big fan of VoIP but that I myself use it. His primary objective was internet access, secondary objective was VoIP. Here's where the choices, for him, weren't so straightforward.

First off, his current phone provider is the local cable company. He doesn't use cable TV, rather he uses satellite TV. This current scenario meets his needs. He's a huge sports fan and not about to give up his satellite TV because of the sports packages. Do you know anyone else in this type of situation? I told him that 'normal' DSL is out of the question. Our local RBOC won't allow DSL access without phone service. What about naked DSL? Yes, my company has recently signed up a couple providers offering naked DSL, but the price is a bit higher. About the same as cable internet access would cost when you don't have cable TV service. In both cases, naked DSL and cable access, the monthly fee was more than he's willing to pay.

Well then, that was our dilemma. His existing setup won?t allow for either DSL or Cable without him spending more than he wants per month. A switch to cable TV service with cable broadband access won't work for him either. He just doesn't want to give up the satellite TV sports package. So what to do?

His options, as it were, are limited. I asked about his phone habits. How many local and long distance minutes do him and his family use? His child is fairly young and his wife?s family lives in the area, so long distance minutes don't come into the picture. That leaves local calling. I have a bundled service I could offer him, but guess what, YEP, the RBOC 'will' allow a competitor to offer local service BUT the RBOC will 'not' allow that competitor to offer DSL.

He was trying to avoid the local RBOC, which is why he switched to cable phone service a few years back. Now, although he does have choices, the only thing to meet his budget is to cancel cable phone service and go back with the RBOC. Once phone service is active, then I can get him DSL access. DSL access from the local RBOC?s is really dropping in price so he can get his first 6 months at a very reasonable price. Even after that 6-month period, the rate is reasonable as well. This solves his primary objective to get high-speed internet access but doesn't solve his secondary objective to get VoIP. He has no use for a second phone line so that's not an option.

Since the FCC has mandated that RBOC's need to offer naked DSL in roughly 3 years time, that's actually going to work for him. After that 3-year timeframe his young child will be in high school. He'll have more choices in just a few years. So, for this case, he doesn't get everything he wants at the budget he can afford. Rather he solves his primary objective of internet access for now and will go for VoIP once the prices of naked DSL come down.

Although this is doable, it's really a shame. It may be rare and it was the first time I've personally run across this type of situation. Phone from cable, TV from satellite works great for him, but because the phone companies and cable companies don't play well, he looses. I will show him how to make his long distance calls from his computer, but for VoIP as a primary phone service, he?ll need to wait. Sometimes the decision to use VoIP is not such an easy choice. (For now)

FullService Broadband provider. Our free service is possible through Try Right Technology, Inc. We provide unbiased and informative information on broadband and communication products

VoIP Providers Doing Their Best To Get Your Money

We've seen this happen before. A new technology promises cheaper and better service.

But when consumers try to take advantage of it, the new "cheaper", "better" service ends up being a degraded level of the same old thing, and usually for more money when all is said and done.

Think cell phones. Think internet connections.

The problem with cheap new technologies is that they don't provide sufficient profit to be developed at a mass level. That's why telcos and cable companies dragged their feet for years before getting serious about broadband internet. Do you remember when 128k connections cost $300 a month? Why give people ten times as much capacity for much less money?

Which brings us to VoIP. There appears to be no incentive at all for the major telco and cable carriers to get into this business yet. Until they find a way to leverage their infrastructures for their own profit in the VoIP business, you can expect them to throw up obstacles. Like tollgate fees. The idea of charging companies like Vonage and Skype for use of the "free" IP network has been floated, and is not likely to go away any time soon.

**Fracturing of the VoIP market**

That leaves companies like Vonage, Skype, and Microsoft to compete at the consumer end of things. They are fighting over who will get the most customers. Just like the cell phone companies, they are using specialized hardware and added services to differentiate themselves from the others.

You can expect they will all be taking a page from the cell phone marketing book. Offer cut rate (or free) hardware to get customers signed up to a long term contract. But the catch is, the hardware will only work with one system. That way customers will not jump ship without thinking twice about investing more money in new hardware.

The strategy was apparent at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Each of the major players unveiled new gadgets that only work with their system: a special Wi-Fi phone for Vonage, speakerphones and USB handsets for Skype, and handsets from Uniden and Philips that only work with Windows Live Messenger.

The dilemma is that the major players in the VoIP business need to generate cash. They hope to do that by tying up lots of customers with exclusive hardware that is not compatible with their competitors. But the risk is they will alienate a lot of the same consumers they are trying to convert.

**Will new handsets make Microsoft a VoIP player?**

Bill Gates announced at CES in Las Vegas in January that Uniden American and Royal Philips will have new VoIP phones available for MSN Messenger users by the time the new VoIP-enabled version of Messenger is available. According to Microsoft, there are 200 million MSN Messenger users worldwide.

The new version of MSN Messenger, called Windows Live Messenger will have advanced VoIP capabilities, and an interface with the traditional phone system through an agreement with MCI.

The handsets available from Uniden and Philips will be cordless dual landline-VoIP phones making them a complete replacement for both traditional phone service and PC to PC services like Skype. The companies hope the three way combination of Microsoft and MCI along with Uniden and Philips will make the MSN Messenger service a leader in the VoIP battle for subscribers.

The new Uniden phone, due out in the spring will be a 5.8GHz unit and will cost in the $ 100 range. The Philips phone will have similar features and price, but will be targeted to non-North American markets. The combination is aimed at putting the Microsoft/MCI service on par with Skype and making it a serious alternative to providers like Vonage.

As with Skype, PC to PC calls will be free using Windows Live Messenger. Microsoft and MCI claim that PC to landline calls will cost only a few cents a minute, and much less than some other alternatives currently being developed.

**Who is Microsoft targeting? Skype or Vonage?**

According to Russel Shaw, writing in the ip telephony blog (http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/?p=821), the real target of the Microsoft/MCI project is not Skype, but Vonage and other "pure play VoIPs" like Packet 8, as well as the traditional telcos waiting in the wings to pounce once the market gets going.

Services like Vonage are extremely vulnerable because they rely on the infrastructure of the telcos without paying a surcharge to use it. Those costs are off-loaded to their customers who pay connection charges. But it is almost a certainty that the telcos will not sit idly by while companies like Vonage use the telcos' own capacity to take away their customers.

That means the "pure play VoIPs" are going to get squeezed between Microsoft/MCI on one hand, and the telcos on the other.

Rick Hendershot publishes Linknet Business News | German mobile users can get Free SMS service - Freesms versenden - kostenlos freesms in deutsche handynetze versenden.

VoIP Providers The Top 7

Voice Over IP (VoIP) is the new phone system technology. It's valued for cheap prices and cost effectiveness. It offers many of the same calling features as regular landline services at typically no extra cost. VoIP allows users the freedom to use their high-speed Internet connection to integrate their phone, audio, video, and web browsing capabilities into one application. Because of these new trends, VoIP providers are adding new products and services daily.

Here is a list and details of the top 7 VoIP providers with costs:

1. Skype (Ebay - New Owner)

Skype is famous VoIP provider with the slogan, "The Whole World can Talk for Free". Skype is a free download and users can make free calls via, Skype to Skype. For a fee, you can advance your Skype to Skype Out and make calls to landline phones. Skype In will let your choose your area code and phone number. This way, friends and relatives can call you locally, if you select the same area code. Skype is compatible with the leading operations systems - Windows, Linux, Macs and Pocket PCs.

2. Broadvox Direct

Broadvox Direct VoIP providers offers small business and residential services. Their residential services include the Residential Choice Plus plan for $10.00 per month. The Residential Choice Plus plan includes 100 outbound minutes and unlimited incoming minutes. Their Residential Unlimited Plan costs $30.00 a month and includes unlimited calling anywhere in the US and Canada. The Small Business (SOHO) Regional Plan costs $35.00 per month and includes 1500 monthly minutes in the US and in Canada. The SoHo Small Business Unlimited Plan costs $45 per month and includes unlimited calls in the US and Canada and also includes a free fax line and Yellow Page listing.

3. Vonage

Probably the most well known VoIP providers, you may be surprised to discover that Vonage is also one of the more expensive providers. Vonage offers two plans, residential and small business. Residential users may choose between the Basic 500 plan and Unlimited. The Basic 500 plan offers 500 minutes of talk time for $15.00 a month. The Premium Unlimited residential plan costs $25.00 per month.

The SOHO Basic plan costs $40.00 per month and allows 1500 minutes. The Small Business Unlimited plan costs $50.00 a month and provides unlimited calls throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada.

4. Dialpad

Yahoo and Dialpad have merged services. There is trend amongst VoIP providers to consolidate their services. Currently, Dialpad offers 3 service plans: Dialpad Monthly 300, Dialpad Monthly 500, and Dialpad USA. The cost for Dialpad Monthly 300 is $7.50, Dialpad Monthly 500 costs $10 and Dialpad USA costs about $12.00/month.

5. Galaxy Voice

Galaxy Voice offers two plans, Residential and Business. Their residential plan costs about $20.00 a month and includes unlimited calling, Voicemail, Caller Id, Call Waiting, Call Return, Three Way Calling, and Call Forwarding. Their business plan costs $40.00 per month and includes unlimited calling, Free Voice Mail, Free Call Transfer, Free Call Forwarding, Free Repeat Dialling, and Free Caller ID block.

6. Packet 8

Packet 8 offers phone and videophone plans. One of the few VoIP providers to offer both services. Their residential plans are the Freedom International and Freedom Unlimited. Both of these plans cost $19/month. Their business plans consists of three different plans. These are the Virtual Office service plans, the Virtual Attendant Service plans, and the Business Phone Service plans. The Virtual office phone plan costs $19 per month, the Virtual Attendant service plan costs $14 per month, and the Business plan costs $35.00 per month.

7. VoIP American

VoIP American one of the biggest VoIP providers and has 3 different plans. These are the VoIP American PBX plan, the VoIP Voice and bVoice plans. The VoIP American PBX plan cost $19.00 a month for a private line and $44.00 a month for unlimited calling. The VoIP Voice Residential Basic plan costs $14.00/month and Residential Unlimited plan costs $29.00/month.

VoIP providers are increasing in number with growing competition amongst the various VoIP providers prices will start to come down even further. The quality of the voice calls is getting better and now video calls is becoming the standard offering by the VoIP Providers. Talk will be cheap!

James Rogers guides you through the maze of VoIP provider and services with concise VoIP information including costs. VoIP is the future of cheap global communications. Want to learn visit: http://www.4voip-providers.com

VoIP ? Basic Assumptions

I thought I'd outline some of the basics of VoIP. I use this service myself and have sold VoIP services to my customers. What I didn't understand until last night is how much I assume. You see my business is mostly web based so my customers read up on VoIP and have a general understanding of the technology before making a purchase.

What I came across in my conversations last night was that some people attracted purely by the cost really don't understand what the trade off's are, what is required and their level of expectation is, in my humble opinion, to high. Now don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of VoIP. However, I understand what's involved, how to hook it up as well as the pros and cons of using such a service. For me the cost factor did weigh in when comparing the pros and cons to the cost savings. My level of expectation was brought inline with what VoIP can offer me.

Here are some basic assumptions I was guilty of:

1. When using your broadband internet connection for your computer and VoIP a router is necessary.
2. During a power loss the phone doesn't work unless there is a UPS system in place.
3. ISP goes down, your phone line goes down.
4. Those phone jacks in the house don't work with VoIP.
5. The phone base plugs into the VoIP converter/adapter box which then plugs into your router. If you want multiple phones in multiple rooms, you will need a cordless phone or cordless phone system. (Multiple handsets)
6. E911 is not automatic. You need to check availability
7. Fax machines may not work
8. There can be call interference (echo). Voice quality is good, but not yet as reliable as POTS lines.

Naked DSL or DSL without phone service is not widely available. As such, if your broadband connection is via DSL you may not be able to use VoIP as your primary phone service. Simply put, if your goal is to switch to VoIP and then cancel your existing phone service, you may loose your broadband connection as well.

During my conversation last night their assumptions were much different than mine. Their assumptions were

1. Existing phone jacks will still work with VoIP
2. My corded phone will still work during a power outage just like they do now.
3. I can send/receive faxes without any issue
4. I can plug my VoIP into any room I want
5. 911 service is automatic. Everyone has this.
6. The quality of calls is as good if not better than POTS lines because after all it's coming through the internet right?
7. I don't need any extra equipment - it's just a phone.

After our discussion they were more educated in what VoIP can and cannot provide for them. In the end they choose not to get VoIP service and that's OK. A bundled POTS package was more to their liking and frankly fit them much better than VoIP would have.

Yes, I am a fan of VoIP and yes I believe this technology is here to stay. Having said that, I do not think VoIP is for everyone. Some consider routers, cordless phone(s), checking 911 availability, etc. to be a hassle. They just want to use their existing phone and achieve the 'exact' same results. Well, VoIP is almost there, but still has a way to go. If the cost savings can outweigh your own pros and cons by all means go for it. If not, wait, watch and read up some more.

Ready to give it a go? Good for you, (hope to see you at our web site). Not yet ready? That's OK too. (Still hope to see you at our web site for possible cost savings on your traditional POTS line or cellular plan)

Ok, perhaps a shameless plug in that last part. Use our web site, use someone else?s, use a library, do whatever is necessary to educate yourself to make more informed purchasing decisions. It's better to be a little prepared than completely disappointed especially with something you'll use everyday such as your phone service.

FullService Broadband provider. Our free service is possible through Try Right Technology, Inc. We provide unbiased and informative information on broadband and communication products and services

VoIP as Business Solution

VoIP as Business Solution

VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) or widely known as Internet Telephony, have been publicly used for several years now. VoIP itself originated to be used by ARPANET as commercial realizations of the experimental Network Voice Protocol in 1973. But due to many drawbacks it is believe not ready for widespread implementation even till now. Yet despite having few drawbacks left, many of communication pioneers have leaded the way for VoIP to be widely used.

VoIP needs an active Internet connection since the technology itself based on Internet Protocol. The cost generated by VoIP generally lower than the conventional way of communicating. It even practically free in certain situation. This provides valuable aspect to business enterprise due to considerable cost reduction offer by VoIP.

Behind it's complexity of technical structure, VoIP has proven to be easier to implement these days. Although it's quality of sounds may not the best due to latency and jitter problem, many big company installed VoIP as their communicating purpose known as IP Phone. Mostly their investments on VoIP are on internal network that relatively have much bandwidth to spare so jitter and latency can be reduced as much as possible. Outsourcing may the best option if your company core competency is not within Information Technology.

The interesting part of VoIP besides its cost is the ability to route the call anywhere you want. This allows you to communicated anywhere in the world from your computer with just internet line and on fixed cost or even free. Even now due to releases of new 3G technology for mobile phone and mobile phone ability to inter-connect with private and public wireless network, VoIP has been used in mobile phone in many countries.

VoIP as business investment are very much common these days. Since it offers many advantages compare to POTS (Plain Old Telephone System) also the drawbacks are reduced as the technology growth. The beneficial of this system has been widely used even there are free service of VoIP for individual uses such as Google Talk, Skype and many more that makes VoIP gain its own attention in the world.

Check out another articles and news on Digital Binary

I run a blog contain interesting information about Information Technology. You may find another article and news in my website Digital Binary

Stay Connected With Your Downline Using Free VoIP

Over the last few years I have noticed a large amount of my downline, sponsors and clients often have terrible phone calling plans depending on where they live. One of the top skills we as sponsors in our programs continually teach our teams to pick up the phone and call their downlines in an effort to help those people achieve success.

If you live in a good part of the country or a country that offers great phone calling plans you don't have much to worry about. However if you are unfortunate to live where the plan is very expensive, you may not be in a position to call your team properly. Keep in mind that a phone call can make the difference between getting an active member or losing that member for good.

So how do you solve this problem if you are an online marketer or business owner but you're one of the unfortunate people who cannot afford to call as much as you should? I may have a simple solution for you that will not break the bank. VOIP is Voice Over Internet Protocol. In other words you use your PC and your internet connection to make telephone calls for free or low monthly plans. You can even pay as you go in some cases.

Google Talk:
If you don't mind registeting for a free Gmail account at Google they offer free VOIP service that enables you to call or send instant messages your team, family and friends. Offering a quick download it should only take you about 3 minutes on a modem ( files size: 900K). One notable item is that it requires Windows XP/2000 with a minimum of a 56k (broadband recommended) connection. Dial up will work however broadband will be easy to talk and IM your friends.

iConnectHere | Broadband Phone:
What's nice about iConnectHere is it's low normal plans starting under twenty dollars. They will help you "Hang up on High Prices" as their slogan says. iConnectHere Broadband Phone offers low calling rates maybe the lowest in the world for your local, long distance and international telephone needs. Imagine being able to call that lead from Austailia! Their plans could save you up to 80% when compared with traditional phone service according to thier sites information. Plus their plans include bundled features at no extra cost.

As you can see just from the two services above you do now have a way to connect with your new referrals, sponsors, customers or even your family and friends can use free VOIP to cut costs. Using these types of services will help improve your support to your downline and won't cost you like it does when you use a land line phone system with their high cost calling plans.

If that's not enough for you here are two more services that will make it easy for you to contact the important people in your online business. This service is called Skype where the whole world can talk for free according to the Skype website.

Using the service Skype provides, you can call ordinary phone numbers all over the world. if your downline member has a bad calling plan as well Skype is a little program that allows anyone to make free calls over the internet to anyone else who also has the Skype software which is free, easy to download and to use. It also knows how to play nice with most computers available today.

Skype also offers Voicemail which lets you direct your incoming calls when you?re busy or offline to your voicemail. Your downline will be happy they can get in contact with you when they have questions.

NetZero also offers you a service where you can call people anywhere in the world from your computer for free. NetZero Voice makes calling as easy as instant messaging, except instead of typing (chatting) you are talking over your Internet connection for free.

Simple to use as with other similar services you just download the software, sign-in with your NetZero member ID and dial any NetZero member ID to begin talking for free and it works with dial-up or broadband.

Either way you look at it, now you can and really you should select one of these types of services so you can enable voice communications with your new referrals and customers. It just makes sense as people buy from people not websites or buildings. They buy from you, if you call them! Get VOIP and get in touch with them today! Joe Sansoucie is the owner of the Pay Per Click search engine http://Frogsearch.com where every Thursday evening he hosts a keyword workshop for new online business owners in an effort to help them identify and successfully target their market. Visit Joe here. http://www.frogsearch.com

What Is VOIP and Why Does It Matter?

One of the latest services available online is called Voice Over IP, or VoIP. Its also sometimes called internet telephony or broadband phone service.

VoIP lets users make phone calls using the Internet instead of the regular telephone network. With VoIP service, users can make calls using their computer or, by adding a special adaptor, using a regular phone. As VoIP services continue to improve, they're even being used by large companies to replace their traditional internal phone systems.

How do you use VoIP? First you need a broadband connection to the Internet. A cable or DSL connection will do just fine. Then you need a VoIP service provider. VoipProvidersList.com lists thousands of VoIP providers serving over 100 countries, and could be a good place to start.

You may want to simply connect a headset to your computer, or you may choose to use a telephone handset with a USB connection to your computer. You may even decide to buy an adaptor for your existing telephone, or a special VOIP phone that can provide many advanced features. However you choose to make your calls, the most significant difference between VoIP and regular telephone calls is the price. With many services, VoIP, you can call anywhere in the country for free, and even international calls may cost only a few cents per minute.

Pete Binder is a HUGE fan of all things VOIP, the Webmaster of http://tuxvoip.com and the author of this article. For more on this important topic, please visit http://www.tuxvoip.com.