Webcalls.co.uk - your guide to VOIP for personal and business use
VoIP is a term that you may not have heard of, but rest assured it will become very common over the next few years. Broadband connections are getting faster, only a few years ago 512k was leading edge and fast internet access for the UK. Now we are seeing 2mb being availble for most people and in large cities 4 or even 8 meg connections. What is VOIP? VoIP is a way of converting the analogue signals when using a phone to a digital format (across a network) and then back into analogue at the receiver. This often means you get free calls to other VoIP users if you are both connected to the internet or home or business network. There are a number of ways to use VOIP, these include:
Software phones - often these are available free
Analogue phone adapters - these enable you to plug in a normal phone and use it as an IP phone
An IP phone - these are special phones built for VOIP. Sometimes they can handle multiple lines in as well as advanced calling features as well - ideal for a home business.
USB phones - handsets that plug into your PC which enable broadband calling
The cheapest and easiest method of testing VOIP is by getting a software phone on your PC. This is great to try out with your friends and family on broadband. All you need is a microphone and speakers, although a headset is usually best. There is plenty of free VoIP software around and many of these allow you make a normal phone for a small charge.
Broadband connections are getting faster, only a few years ago 512k was leading edge and fast internet access for the UK. Now we are seeing 2mb being availble for most people and in large cities 4 or even 8 meg connections. What is VOIP? VoIP is a way of converting the analogue signals when using a phone to a digital format (across a network) and then back into analogue at the receiver. This often means you get free calls to other VoIP users if you are both connected to the internet or home or business network. There are a number of ways to use VOIP, these include: