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Internet telephony & voip
Internet telephony consists of a combination of hardware and software that enables you to use the Internet as the transmission medium for telephone calls. For users who have free, or fixed-price Internet access, Internet telephony software essentially provides free telephone calls anywhere in the world. In its simplest form, PC-to-PC Internet telephony can be as easy as hooking up a microphone to your computer and sending your voice through a cable modem to a person who has Internet telephony software that is compatible with yours. This basic form of Internet telephony is not without its problems, however. Connecting this way is slower than using a traditional telephone, and the quality of the voice transmissions is also not near the quality you would get when placing a regular phone call.
Many Internet telephony applications are available. Some, such as CoolTalk and NetMeeting, come bundled with popular Web browsers. Others are stand-alone products. Internet telephony products are sometimes called IP telephony, Voice over the Internet (VOI) or Voice over IP (VoIP) products.
VoIP is another Internet-based communications method which is growing in popularity. VoIP hardware and software work together to use the Internet to transmit telephone calls by sending voice data in packets using IP rather than by traditional circuit transmissions, called PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network). The voice traffic is converted into data packets then routed over the Internet, or any IP network, just as normal data packets would be transmitted. When the data packets reach their destination, they are converted back to voice data again for the recipient. Your telephone is connected to a VoIP phone adapter (considered the hardware aspect). This adapter is connected to your broadband Internet connection. The call is routed through the Internet to a regular phone jack, which is connected to the receiver's phone. Special hardware (the phone adapter) is required only for the sender.
Much like finding an Internet service provider (ISP) for your Internet connection, you will need to use a VoIP provider. Some service providers may offer plans that include free calls to other subscribers on their network and charge flat rates for other VoIP calls based on a fixed number of calling minutes. You most likely will pay additional fees when you call long distance using VoIP. While this sounds a lot like regular telephone service, it is less expensive than traditional voice communications, starting with the fact that you will no longer need to pay for extras on your monthly phone bill.
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