VoIP Telephony Part 2: VoIP Integration with Standard Phones and Cell Networks

VoIP Telephony Part 2 of 3

Many Internet telephony service providers (ITSP) are integrating their services into your current phone lines. VoIP is still widely used in two main ways: 1) Through a desktop computer, and 2) Through standard telephones patched through your Broadband connection. Now there is a third way, your cell phone.

Currently, a company called Jajah has service to allow customers to set up VoIP calls from their cell phones. They have announced that it will support Apple’s iPhone when it hits the market this summer. The folks over at DiVitas Networks are currently developing a way for cell phones to detect a WiFi connections and seamlessly switch from a cell network, and vice versa. This can help reduce cell phone usage costs.

VoIP telephone lines are becoming more and more popular with small and large corporations. Companies, such as NationwideLD, are trying to take advantage of its popularity by offering telephone services that can come out cheaper than the traditional land-based telephone companies. VoIP technology is an inexpensive alternative for long distance calls. That can save a lot of money for a business that needs to make a lot of calls to business associates in different parts of the world. Different extensions can be set up, much like a traditional phone line, and companies can even keep their current/original phone numbers. The same goes for residential VoIP use.

I’m sure everyone is familiar with cable and DSL companies offering telephone service in packages, especially cable companies that offer cable TV and internet. I’ve thought about getting one of these packages myself, but I’ve stopped myself short of getting everything in one bundled package. The reason?

Well, I’ve had cable TV and cable Internet shut down on me. Whether it be a system upgrade by the cable/ISP provider, or a power out, there is downtime and the consumer has no power over it. Imagine having a phone line through an Internet company and one of these outages happens or if electricity is down. No Internet service, no phone. Not a situation you would want to be in, in case of an emergency.

There are also concerns with 911 calls. A 911 call is usually connected to the nearest call center, but through VoIP, it’s hard to determine. Though a feature called “e911” does exist, and can direct you to the nearest call center, a lot of the VoIP companies don’t offer it, yet.

There are many other downsides to using a VoIP phone line, and I’ll cover that in the conclusion of my three-part blog on VoIP telephony. Regardless, though, VoIP companies are working towards solutions to all these issues in order to gain more subscribers in a growing lucrative market. The next wave of communication is on the horizon. Cell phones companies will have to deal with the new ITSP upstarts trying to take their customers. When the price of communication gets cheaper, I have a feeling “free minutes” on cell phones will be a thing of the past, and roaming charges will seem as primitive as the old “brick phones” used in the early 90s.

VoIP Telephony Part 1: VoIP Telephone and Developments

VoIP Telephony Part 1 of 3:

Last year when I was in the Bahamas, I saw some people using an online telephone company called Skype to call loved ones back here at home. The phone call is connected through the internet, and for mere pennies per minute, you can use a microphone hooked up to your desktop, or other IP telephone accessories, and get cheap telephone calls through VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology and programs. Now I know that Skype has a single payment for unlimited calls for a year, but other companies may have competitive pricing. You can look it up for yourself.

I didn’t know what VoIP was, or anything related to the matter, all I knew was that there was a way of calling home without the roaming charges that came with using my cell phone out of the country. The VoIP calls home to my family were clear, cheap, and easy to make. After discovering that making phone calls over the Internet was possible (and a whole lot cheaper), I freely called home during the last few days I was out of the country.

Wikipedia explains that “Voice over Internet Protocol, also called VoIP, IP Telephony, Internet telephony, Broadband telephony, Broadband Phone, and Voice over Broadband is the routing of voice conversations over the Internet or through any other IP-based network. If you’ve used Ventrilo, or built-in voice chats on online video games (i.e. Counter-strike Source, Battlefield 2), then you’ve used a form of VoIP. VoIP telephony is a bit different. With a gaming VoIP, you need a server to host your conversations, and your computer. There are companies, like Vonage, that will charge you for services, but you won’t need your computer to make the call. These companies are known as Internet telephony service provider (ITSP). In the subscription bundle, you should receive an analog telephone adapter (ATA), which connects your router to your analog phone. The ATA acts as the middleman to connect your phone to the ITSP through your broadband connection. You can be assigned a number, keep your old number, or even a new one with a different area code.

The beauty of VoIP telephony is that you can, for instance, have a number local to New York while living in LA. This allows people you know in New York to make a “local call” to you, and vice versa. If you have an IP Telephone, pretty much like a cell phone, you can walk around with that phone number. The phone is connected to an assigned IP address, so it’s the same as using the phone at home. Hence, that local New York number you had is with you everywhere you go, as long as you have your IP telephone. For example, if you travel to Europe, you can be reached through your IP Telephone and the person calling you from New York will connect to you as if you were in New York.

There are companies, like ViaTalk, that offer traditional telephone features in their service, which include e911 caller ID, voicemail, and fax service. The possibilities are endless for features. Call forwarding from a VoIP line to your standard cell phone is an option that’s coming into its own, thanks to FirstHandTech. This can come in handy for business execs, or sales staff, that are out of their offices on a regular basis. Whoever’s answering the phone for them back at the office can patch the call directly to their cell phone with FirstHand Technologies.

Can there be a possibility a corporate synergy between ITSP companies and phone companies in the future? The Internet and telephones merging together is a product of the Great Communication Age we currently live in. One can only wonder what else lies ahead in the future. Come back next week and I’ll fill you in on some pretty cool VoIP telephony ideas in the works.