Why VOIP Can Save a Business Thousands

For over 100 years the only possible way to carry on a conversation over a long distance was to use the regular telephone lines. The problem is that for every user, a business would need a separate telephone number. These numbers are costly for any large company and can be difficult to manage. The difficulty lies majorly in the lack of extendability of the system itself. For example, if you have purchased the a class of numbers, and would like to assign a block to a specific department, once the whole block is consumed, you could no longer provide a number in the same range. Think of it as a city street. Once you have built and numbered the houses, it would be difficult to add another number in-between the already built houses. The only solution is to either re-number every single house, or to provide the new house with a number outside the regular range.

For this reason, extension addressing was a primary feature when the VOIP protocols were established. The current addressing allows for a company to address any amount of extensions to its users as well as make it transparent to the customers. This comes as a huge benefit to companies that no longer need to have a dedicated employee solely for its communication system. The addressing is done automatically by the PBX (Private Branch Exchange).

This is one of the many reasons why Voice -Over-IP has had a tremendous success with business implementations. A company could use a single phone number and re-route all the calls to extensions. This is in fact a very popular way of attending to customers through numerous departments. Other features such as the auto-attendant will allow the customers to direct themselves to the particular department and not having to speak with a costly concierge or a receptionist. The VOIP technology has increased in popularity through the business world. But un-surprisingly residential customers are ditching the old system and joining the VOIP world.

How Can Google Talk Help Your Business?

Google Talk isn’t just a supplement to phones and e-mail. It’s also a way to save money. Like most of the other Google services described in this book, it’s free. You can install it on each of your employees’ computers and get them typing messages to one another quickly and without incurring any expense at all. And if you run up costly long-distance phone bills with international calling, you can opt to exchange chat messages with Google Talk instead. Since you’re using the Internet to communicate, you don’t pay anything more than you already do for Internet access. And you ‘‘converse’’ almost as fast as you would on the phone.

Not only that, but Google Talk can be used for an increasingly popular technology called Voice over IP, also known as Internet phone service. Programs like Skype and Vonage let you use your computer as a telephone; with a microphone and (optionally) a headset, you can literally speak (yes, I mean really speak with your actual voice, the old-fashioned way!) over your computer using Google Talk. Why use your
computer as a phone when you already have lots of phones at hand? The answer is in your pocketbook. Programs like Google Talk enable you to talk to someone across the country or across the globe without spending a dime.

The VoIP Telephone Services Revolution

Ever since the birth of the internet, entrepreneurs with an eye to the future have predicted that voice communications -- telephone services -- would eventually be merged with internet services. With the widespread adoption of VoIP, that day has come, and it is causing a revolution in the telephone industry.
In simple terms, a VoIP service allows you to use your broadband (high-speed) connection to place telephone calls over the Internet. It is not difficult to see how this is rocking the telecom industry to the core.
It's all about cost

Two things have made traditional telephone service providers like AT&T and Bell so powerful. Their monopoly over local telephone services, and their traditional stranglehold on lucrative and usually over-priced "long distance" services. Both of these captive markets have been seriously eroded over the last few years, as the reality of VoIP has started to sink in.
In anticipation of the revolution that is now upon us, most aspects of telephone service have gradually been opened up to competition. Most of us now have a choice of providers for both local and long distance telephone service. And the biggest reason for the new competitive environment is the recognition that the widespread adoption of VoIP is inevitable.
The development of VoIP
VoIP has been developing slowly over the last ten years or so. Early implementations allowed computer users to talk to each other through their computers. This was only feasible if you had a voice-enabled computer, a reliable and stable internet connection, and a software program installed on your computer that made it all work.
The advantage of this computer-to-computer communication was that you could completely bypass the traditional telephone system and talk to anyone in the world free of charge -- as long as they had a similar setup to yours. But the disadvantages of communicating this way were also obvious. You could only communicate this way using your computer. You were completely dependent on often unstable dial-up internet connections. And the person at the other end of the conversation had to also be "online" with a voice-enabled computer.
Today's VoIP has solved these problems
Today's versions of VoIP have left these problems in the past. Two things were required to make VoIP technology feasible on a large scale basis, and both of these things have now been realized.
First, broadband internet service has been widely adopted. This makes it possible to have stable internet connections that are "always on". Second, the industry has developed a simple, inexpensive method of integrating the IP network (the internet) with the traditional telephone system. This allows a user of VoIP to use his or her own telephone to call anyone else in the world who has a traditional telephone connection.
This is where we are today. As traditional telecom companies like AT&T, Bell, Qwest, and SBC develop their own implementations of VoIP technology the way has been opened up for a myriad of choices for consumers. Today's VoIP allows anyone with a broadband internet connection to place calls to anyone with an ordinary telephone connection, anywhere in the world.
Why you save money with VoIP
The major advantages of VoIP are lower cost, and greater flexibility with no significant decrease in voice quality. First, a VoIP subscriber does not need a traditional phone line. Instead, you are assigned a phone number by your VoIP provider. Prices for these numbers can be as low as $9 usd per month.
Second, most VoIP subscribers will purchase a "bundle" of services that includes unlimited incoming calls and unlimited long distance calls to anyone within a defined geographic area. For instance, VoIP unlimited calling plans to anyone in the USA or Canada start at around $20 per month.
Third, most VoIP service providers offer free bundled features that most traditional telephone companies charge for. These include free voicemail, call forwarding, caller ID, call waiting, call waiting ID, 3 way calling, speed dialing, and many more of the services that the traditional companies are constantly trying to sell you.
Greater flexibility and portability
Another significant advantage is the flexibility and portability of VoIP phone service. With VoIP your personal telephone number is programmed into the converter that acts as a bridge between your internet connection and your regular telephone.
This has several important advantages. As already mentioned you do not need an actual land line. Instead your telephone number is assigned to your converter (not to your geographic land line). So you can take your converter with you anywhere in the world, plug it into any available broadband connection, and immediately start using your regular number to make and receive calls.
This flexibility also lets you choose a number in an area code where most of your long distance calls originate. For instance, if many of your friends, family, business associates or customers are calling from a specific city that traditionally involved a long distance call for them, you could choose a number in that area code and immediately turn all their calls to you into local (free) calls for them.
The advantages of VoIP are many, and the savings can be very significant. So it is no wonder that VoIP has become the hottest telecom technology of the decade. Informed consumers and businesses around the world are adopting this technology at a phenomenal rate.

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Finding The Cheapest Voip Service

You've done it, I have done it. At some point we have all combed the Internet trying to dig up the cheapest service rates we can find. Some of us look for discounts in the form of bundled services, while others seek out that holy grail of low rates.
When looking for the cheapest service rates, new technology is worth looking into more often than not. Instead of just searching for low rates, try looking for new ways of getting that service first, then compare rates on those services.
Thanks to modern technology, elective utilities can be much less expensive than ever before. You might try voip service, or satellite tv rather than cable, both of which can save one a significant amount of loot each month.
Another way to pinch a penny is to keep an eye out for promotional offers and special incentives. People sometimes have a habit of thinking this is just another way to get you to "buy something". Maybe so, but is sure is nice to get that rebate a few weeks later.
Sometimes finding the cheapest service is a matter of taste. My grandfather for example wouldn't touch voip service with a ten foot pole for fear the "new fangled" monster might do him in. We all know this type, and pardon me if this is you :)
In closing, when sticking with traditional services, be sure to read the fine print. It isn't always the advertised rate that gets you. 0.02 cents a minute is great for long distance, but not if it's only that rate for 2 hours on Friday afternoon.

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