One of the many features that is greatly enhanced by VoIP service is voice mail. VoIP has the capability of providing web-based voice mail that can be accessed from any PC with Internet access. You are not required to be at home, or to dial a specific number to check your voice mail messages. They can be checked anytime that you are online. This feature is provided for free by most all of the VoIP service providers. It may be available to you from your regular telephone service provider, but there will be an additional monthly fee for this service.

This feature is possible, like many other VoIP features, because of the digital nature of VoIP. When a person places a call to your VoIP phone number, the sound of their voice is already being carried in digital form over the Internet. So it is a relatively easy and inexpensive matter for VoIP providers to save your messages in the form of a sound file. They can then make your messages accessible from the web via an application that is similar to a web-based email application. Some providers also offer an option to have your voice mail messages sent to your email address. They do this by attaching the sound file to an email that contains the caller information as well as the date and time of the call.

There are quite a few advantages to this type of voice mail. One is that it can be checked from anywhere, even internationally. So this type of service is especially valuable to business travelers. As long as you have Internet access available, you can check your voice mail messages regardless of where in the world you are located. And since you are likely checking your email messages anyway, this saves you time by combining what would normally be two separate tasks.

Another advantage to web-based voice mail is that all of your messages are saved. With traditional voice mail, whether provided by a home answering machine or your telephone service provider, there is a fixed limit to the number of messages that can be saved. With web-based VoIP voice mail, your messages are saved in the form of sound files, and can be manipulated and archived in the same way that you do with your email. This means you can save all of your recent messages in a convenient area, and then archive them as they get older. So you can save all of your voice mail messages indefinitely if desired.

One thing that bears mentioning is the fact that you do not need to have high speed internet access in order to listen to your voice mail messages. They can be downloaded over a dialup connection. Although this will require a little extra time, you still have the convenience of being able to browse through the messages and listen to only the ones you choose. If you plan to use a dialup connection to check your voicemail messages, then you will probably want to choose a provider with the option to send them to your voice mail. You can then combine the tasks of checking email and voice mail into one.

You can still listen to your messages the old way if you prefer, but once you use web-based voice mail you will probably prefer to use it. Being able to browse through your messages in list form is much more convenient than manipulating voice-mail with the touch-tone keypad. Web-based voice mail is a good example of a regular telephone service feature that is greatly enhanced by VoIP technology.

This article "VoIP Voice Mail - How is it Different " is Copyright 2006 Compare-VoIP.net and may not be reproduced.

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