One of the advantages of VoIP is the number of features that it has to offer. Deciding which features are important to you is necessary when choosing a service provider, so this article will briefly discuss some of the more common features. You can use the comparison chart at this site to quickly compare features offered by the various VoIP service providers.

There are some basic features that are offered by almost all of the best VoIP providers. These include caller id, call waiting and call forwarding. Voice mail is included at no cost by most providers, but there is a distinct advantage unique to VoIP - web-based access to voice mail. This allows you to listen to your voice mail from any PC that has access to the Internet. Some providers even offer an option to send these messages to your email address in the form of an attachment. You can then listen to them using the media player on your PC.

Some of the more advanced features offered by most of the VoIP providers include 3-way calling and virtual phone numbers. 3-way calling is another name for a conference call - the advantage with VoIP is that anyone can set up a 3-way call by simply dialing the other two parties. Virtual phone numbers allow you to select the area code that you want to be assigned to your phone number. This allows you to make local calls to distant area codes, regardless of your physical location.

Another advanced feature offered by some providers is that of fax capability. This allows faxes to be sent over your VoIP connection. Video phone capability is another feature that is available to VoIP users. While not widely available as of yet, some service providers do offer this.

VoIP 911 service capability is another feature offered by most VoIP providers. This is one feature that you will need to compare carefully if you plan to use your VoIP connection to place emergency calls. Some providers have basic 911 service, which allows you to place local 911 calls, but does not provide the 911 operator with your physical address information. E911 service (or Enhanced 911 service) is available from some providers, and it does provide this address information to the 911 operator.

The ability to use a softphone is another feature offered by some providers. This will be important to you if you plan to access your VoIP service while traveling. This can be done by using a softphone installed on your laptop PC. Also, some VoIP providers require you to use a softphone or USB phone that requires software to be running on your PC. With these providers, you may not be able to use an analog telephone adapter (or ATA) to place calls with your existing analog telephone. This also means that your PC will need to be up and running in order to use your VoIP service.

Two more features that you may want to look for are add a line capability and toll-free numbers. Add a line allows you to add an additional phone number for a small fee. This is especially important if you plan to take advantage of virtual phone numbers. Toll-free numbers operate the same way as with traditional phones - they allow people to place calls to you from throughout the US and Canada at no charge. Also, they have a toll-free prefix (such as 1-800 or 1-866) that is easily recognizable as being a toll-free number.

The best VoIP services offer users many additional features besides the ones discussed here. Some of these features are similar to the ones offered by the traditional phone companies, but most are available for less cost when using VoIP. Other features offer enhancements that are not available with regular phone service. Many of the features that are considered “extra” with traditional phone service are included in the basic cost of VoIP service.

If you are considering taking advantage of the cost savings available with VoIP, be sure and compare the cost of the features that are important to you. You will be pleasantly surprised when you compare this cost against what you are paying for these features with your existing telephone service.

This article "Choosing the Best VoIP Features" is Copyright 2006 Compare-VoIP.net and may not be reproduced.

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