Advantages of IP Telephony for the Residential Consumer

Businesses have for some time now been utilizinghad.
voice over IP telephony through the building ofDifferent countries handle VoIP calls and rates
converged networks. As VoIP technology maturesdifferently. Panama taxes VoIP calls as do many other
and the network pipe grows ever larger, LANs thatcountries that have a nationalized telecommunications
existed primarily for data transmission are beingindustry. Even so, International rates have never been
converted to handle all types of media based on theas low. Its just much more cost efficient to route calls
Internet Protocol. With a well established infrastructureover the Internet.
of fiber optic trunk lines, wide area networks can carryMuch like the cell phone industry, most pure play VoIP
much more traffic at much higher speeds than theyproviders such as Vonage or Packet8 offer various
could have in the early nineties. The next step in thecalling plans to suit your individual needs. NetZero
evolution of networking for businesses large and smalloffers one of the lowest plans with 100 minutes for
is one network that handles transmissions of data,$3.95 a month. Vonage has a 500 minute plan for
video, and voice. The converged network.about $15 and Packet8 has unlimited minutes for $20.
The same can now be said for the modern residentialEven the cell phone companies with their free in
household. As more of us are building our own localnetwork calls cant compete price wise.
area networks at home to connect our familyServices provided by Vonage and others compare
members to each others data and appliances,favorably to local phone companies. Voice mail, call
broadband connections to the outside world havewaiting, caller ID, call forwarding, and 3-way calling are
expanded our pipe to the Internet, giving us plenty ofstandard features with most providers, whereas a
bandwidth to consider converging our home networklocal phone company may bundle these features and
with voice over IP telephony.charge for them. Local number porting allows you to
But why switch? When one considers the servicestransfer your existing phone number in most cases
and costs offered by VoIP providers compared toand premium features such as multiple phone numbers
traditional telephone companies, the reasons areand toll free 800 numbers can be had for around $5 a
compelling.month.
First and foremost, the financial savings of talking onSome services not offered by the phone companies
the Internet, as opposed to using the telcos copperare the virtual phone number, allowing you to have
lines, can be significant. In some cases up to 60%. Thisnumbers in different area codes, and voice mail to e
is best illustrated with long distance calls. As calls aremail which lets you check your messages from a
routed over the Internet, they will indeed eventually becomputer. In fact, many providers offer a soft phone, a
switched over to landlines, but not until they reach theirsoftware application that turns your laptop, PC or
destinations local switching station. To the telephoneMAC, into a video/telecommunications center.
company, this looks like a local call and is thus free.Voice over IP Telephony may not be for everybody.
Pretty much all VoIP service providers offer free callsThere are some disadvantages that we will cover in
within the U.S. and Canada, with some including Puertothe next article, Things to Consider Before Switching.
Rico and even certain destinations in Europe.But if you are tired of $80 phone bills, and of being
International rates are significantly lower than telconickled and dimed for every little add on, then VoIP is
rates and many destinations are as low as 1 or 2definitely a new consumer technology that you should
cents a minute. Rates may jump when crossing overlook into.
to a cell phone network, but are still the lowest to be