VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is a technology that allows Internet users with high-speed (broadband) access to place telephone calls over the Internet. Current VoIP technology provides the ability to do this with or without a PC. Inexpensive adapters are now available that allow you to interface your regular analog telephone to your broadband Internet connection. Calls can also be placed from your PC using a special piece of software called a softphone.

Although not a new technology, several factors have recently expanded the market for VoIP services. One of these factors is the wide availability of broadband Internet access. VoIP technology originated several years ago, at a time when most home consumers had dialup internet access. However, dialup access does not provide the necessary bandwidth to ensure quality voice calls over the Internet.

Because of these quality issues, VoIP technology was seldom used by consumers other than to make PC to PC calls. This required both parties to be running a softphone on their PC. While the voice quality was not good, users did experience a significant cost-savings - in some cases the service was even free. Now, with the expanded availability of broadband access, these cost savings can be realized without sacrificing quality.

Another factor behind VoIP market growth is the enhanced ability of VoIP service providers to provide an interface to existing analog telephone systems (usually referred to as PSTN or Public Switched Telephone Network). This allows VoIP users to place calls to phones located anywhere in the the world. Calls can be placed to regular analog and cell phone users, regardless of whether or not they have VoIP service.

Another factor is the availability of low-cost adapters that allow a regular analog telephone to be interfaced to the Internet without a PC. This eliminates the need for PC softphones, which are not as convenient as simply picking up the phone and dialing. Using one of these analog telephone adapters (or ATAs) is simple - just plug the phone into the adapter, and plug the adapter into your high-speed Internet router or modem. Your pc does not even need to be turned on to use one of these adapters. Although softphones are no longer required to access VoIP, they can still be used.

As it exists today, VoIP service can provide a significant cost savings over regular phone service. Most of this savings comes from lower long-distance rates - voice calls can be sent over the Internet at a much lower cost than over traditional telephone networks. Also, since VoIP providers do not have to maintain a large physical network, their basic service can be provided at a lower cost. In addition, VoIP provides cost-saving features which did not previously exist - such as virtual phone numbers. A virtual phone number allows you to select the area code for your VoIP phone number(s) - regardless of your physical location. This feature allows callers to place a local call to your phone number from a distant city - in effect placing a long distance call for free.

With its wide range of features and potential cost-savings, VoIP is poised to become a leading solution in telecommunications world-wide. In the recent past, very few people actually considered replacing their regular telephone service with VoIP - it was seen as an enhancement or cost-saving method. But with recent advances, more and more people are using VoIP as their sole provider of telephone service.

This article "The Basics of VoIP" is Copyright 2006 Compare-VoIP.net and may not be reproduced.

Read More VoIP Tutorial and Article Topics

Read Our VoIP Service Provider Reviews

Review the VoIP Basics of:

We Recommend:  ViaTalk  VoIP.com  Vonage  Packet8   Vonics