Voice over IP
Vol. 1 - No. 7
Voice Over IP
There are a couple of companies that today are offering “Internet phone” services. The service offers low cost long distance phone service by relying on your existing broadband Internet connection.
How Does it Work?
Let’s start by looking at the way traditional wired phones work. When Bob makes a regular phone call to Alice, both telephones are connected by wires to central switches owned by the phone company. When Bob dials Alice’s phone number, he is telling the switches how to send his voice signal directly to her telephone. For as long as they are talking, there is an electrical connection that can be traced from Bob’s phone to Alice’s.
In between the switch that serves Bob’s phone and the one serving Alice, the phone company does a lot of technical magic behind the scenes, but in the end, there must be a specific connection between the two phones.
Here’s how things work using Internet telephony:
Bob uses his Internet phone to call Alice’s phone number. His phone hooks up to a special adaptor that connects to the Internet. The adaptor takes the sound signal from Bob’s telephone, makes a digital recording, and sends packets of the digital voice data over the Internet, just like sending an email or surfing a Web page.
Bob’s call gets sent to a server owned by the Internet phone service company. There, the company makes a regular phone connection to Alice’s telephone, puts Bob’s voice packets together, and “plays back” Bob’s voice for Alice to hear. In the other direction, Alice’s voice gets turned into packets, sent back to Bob over the Internet, and turned back into sound by Bob’s telephone adaptor. The system is fast enough that (in theory at least) both Bob and Alice can’t tell that they aren’t on a traditional wired telephone. And Bob can call anyone with a phone, not only people who use Internet telephones.
Why is it Cheaper?
It’s cheaper because the Internet phone company doesn’t provide any wires to your home like a traditional phone company. They don’t provide the electricity to run your telephone, as a traditional phone company does. So called “voice over IP” messages look like any other Internet traffic, and get handled by your regular Internet service provider, which will still charge you. The Internet phone company only has to provide the equipment needed to translate digitized voice packets to and from the regular phone network. Some of them give you the special telephone adaptor, and some ask you to buy one.
In addition, since this is not traditional telephone service, you do not pay traditional telephone taxes. These taxes can add 30% or more to the cost of your regular phone bill. Some regular telephone companies are lobbying Congress and advertising to the public in an effort to change this.
What’s Good About Internet Telephony?
Several things are really whiz-bang cool about this technology:
1. Internet telephony companies can offer you the same kind of add-on
services, like voice mail, that traditional phone companies do. Because
they don’t have as much equipment involved (and there is a lot of
competition) the price is cheaper.
2. They can do things like attach voice messages to emails, so you can
“check your answering machine” using email.
3. You can move your Internet phone anywhere. You can even take your phone
on vacation. If your hotel provides a DSL or cable connection, your Internet
phone will work.
4. You can often choose the area code you want. If you have customers
in Boston, you can set up a phone number that is a local call for them
to use. There’s no requirement that a phone with a Boston area code
actually be located in Boston. You can be anywhere your provider offers
service.
What Are the Drawbacks?
1. You pay the freight. Voice over IP requires a cable-modem or DSL Internet
connection. This costs you extra. It’s not provided by the Internet
phone-service company. If you don’t have a high-speed connection,
or if your high-speed connection isn’t fast enough, then you cannot
use this service.
2. If your computer equipment or your cable/DSL modem goes out, it’s
your problem. You have to call your ISP. Don’t count on using your
Internet phone, because it will also stop working.
3. Your Internet telephone will probably not work if your electrical power
goes out, unless you have a generator. Remember, there are no dedicated
phone wires that can bring power to your telephone.
4. The telephone service might be degraded if you try to make a phone
call while you are downloading a big file or surfing the Web. The phone
shares the same connection as your computer.
5. Emergency service – calling 911 – can be a significant problem.
Traditional phones have a wired connection to the 911 system. In many
towns and cities, as soon as you dial 911, emergency services will come
to your door – even if you never talk to a dispatcher. As soon as
the digits 9-1-1 are dialed from your phone, emergency workers will have
your location and can be on the way if you cannot complete the call. Internet
phones aren’t part of the regular telephone network, so they aren’t
part of the regular 911 system either.
What if I Need to Make an Emergency Call?
Your Internet phone provider will ask you to register for emergency service, and you must do this before you need to use it. If you later call 911, the provider will route the call to a regional 911 center based on where you registered. When the regional center gets the call, you have to tell them exactly where you are located, so they can forward your call to the authorities. This is similar to what happens when you call 911 from a cell phone.
Think about this carefully. This means that if you have an emergency and you are unable to speak, you probably will not get timely help using 911 on an Internet phone. If this is a concern for you, don’t abandon your traditional land-line phone.
The Bottom Line
There’s a lot to be said for voice-over-IP service. In large organizations it has already provided significant cost savings, and retail services promise to do the same for you and me. If you can afford the necessary Internet connection, and you can deal with the limitations, this can be an economical way to get a second phone line or a home office line. And if you appreciate having the latest gadgetry, well, having an IP phone is just plain cool.
Please note: Any trademarks and trade names of others mentioned in this message are the property of their owners, and not Stoney Hill Associates, LLC. We respect the intellectual property of others. The information provided is believed to be reliable, but we cannot guarantee that the procedures and information given here will work correctly for your specific situation.
If you would like help with a computer or software problem you face, contact us. Send an email to request@stoneyhillassociates.com.
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