VOIP Telephony - The Benefits and Limitations

Previously we explored the history and technology that gaverise to VOIP Telephone service (*see footnotes). Today we will examinesome of the benefits and also the drawbacks of this new opportunity.

In previous articles we discovered that traditional "Landline" typephone service is set up much like a "Toll Highway". Billing startswhen the "Circuit" is opened, and continues until it is closed.Just like travelling down a Tollway, the longer you stay on, and thefarther you travel, the more "Toll Booths" you pass through. Thesetoll booths are the phone company's switches, and you get chargedfor every one that you pass through.

In contrast, VOIP phones use "Packet" switching. As the broadbandInternet connection is always open, digitized voice signals aresent to the receiver in discrete packets. The result is that no"dead air" exists on the line, as no traffic is sent when there isa lull or pause in the conversation. This allows several two-wayconversations to use the same "bandwidth", or space that previouslywas tied up by ONE call.

This has resulted in great economy for VOIP providers who in turnpass along the savings to the end user. Most top VOIP plans runaround 30 dollars a month, and the best include International callsto many countries worldwide within that base fee along with a hostof features like Voice Mail, Caller ID, Call Waiting, Three-wayCalling, Online Access, Etc.

While most major traditional carriers have an "all inclusive" plan,none that I know of include International calling, and most of their"basic" plans are double the cost of VOIP. In my experience, the mostcoveted features are also charged extra for. Add in the taxes and fees,and all of a sudden you're talking REAL money!

The other great benefit of VOIP is the ability to take your deviceanywhere and make calls just like you were at home. The best servicesare fully find-me, follow-me capable. This means that wherever youhappen to be, your phone number will find you and ring at THAT location.I use mine with a Laptop, a cheap cigarette lighter a/c converter,a wireless card, and an old "princess" phone in my truck parked outsideof hotspots all the time. That's huge. You can have your office inwhatever hotel or airport or Starbucks you happen to be in at the moment.

Having covered most of the benefits of VOIP, let's examine some ofthe drawbacks. The major one is spotty 911 service availability. Asthe device is portable, any call to 911 will result in emergencycrews being sent to the device's address of record, which is set upwhen you activate the VOIP device and service. Obviously this doesn'tdo you much good if you are in a hotel in Montana but live in Ohio.

One way around this is to change your address with your provider whenyou travel, and then change it back when you return home. Of course,this only works with domestic addresses, and you must remember to do it.

A better way is to ignore the issue entirely, and keep a very basic,cheap, no frills service plan with your local phone provider. This willstill be cheaper by far than a full blown plan. Also, you avoid the othermain issue with VOIP- Power Outages. If power goes out, or you lose yourInternet Connection, you lose your phone service. Of course, you runthat risk with today's cordless phones too, so it's always a good ideato have an old hardwired phone around the house, or at least a cellphone available.

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