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Pros And Cons Of Getting VOIP Right Now |
by:
Ron King |
You havetelephone, right? You havecomputer, right? You want to save money, right? BAM, you areVOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) candidate.
It is inevitable that VOIP will replace traditional telephone service at some point. The only question is when should you jump in?
VOIP is quickly becoming more reliable and receiving wider acceptance. In fact, phone companies are already taking advantage oftechnology to provide cheaper long distance rates. Like any emerging technology, however, there are kinks insystem that are still being worked out.
Advantages
VOIP has many advantages over regular phone service. One primary advantage is its low cost. If you havefast Internet connection (DSL or cable), you can make PC-to-PC phone calls anywhere inworld FREE. PC-to-phone connections usually havecharge, but probably still cheaper than regular phone service.
You can sign up withVOIP service provider formonthly fee and get unlimited calls withinspecified geographic area. For example, some VOIP services inUnited States allow connections anywhere in North America for no extra charge. International calls are charged atmodest rate.
Another advantage is its portability. You can make and receive phone calls wherever there isbroadband connection by simply signing in to your VOIP account. This makes VOIP as convenient as e-mail. When you're traveling, you simply packheadset or Internet phone; then you can talk to family or colleagues for next to nothing.
Phone-to-phone VOIP is also portable. Internet phones are small and light enough to take anywhere. When you sign up withVOIP service provider,Internet phone or adaptor used by that service is assignedunique number. This 'phone number' remains valid, even if your VOIP service is in Los Angeles and you're connected toInternet in London. When plugged intobroadband connection, anywhere inworld, you can make and receive calls as though you were at home .
Features like call forwarding, call waiting, voicemail, caller ID and threeway-calling, are included with Internet telephone at no extra charge. While you're talking onphone, you can send pictures and documents atsame time.
Disadvantages
There arefew glitches that still interfere withtechnology's broad acceptance bypublic. Lack of continuous service during power outages and emergency calling aretwo biggest hurdles.
Conventional phone service continues bycurrent supplied throughphone lineduringblackout. This is not possible with Internet phones. Whenpower goes, there goes VOIP service. Battery backups and power generators that provide electricity arecurrent solutions to this problem.
A major concern involves emergency nineoneone calls. Formost part, VOIP services aren't useful in emergencies. Traditional phone equipment can tracelocations of calls. Emergency calls are diverted tonearest call center whereoperator can identify your location, inevent you can't talk. With VOIP, there is no way currently to determine where Internet calls are originating. There isemerging standard called enineoneone however, which is attempting to solve this limitation.
VOIP also has sound quality and reliability problems. Data sent acrossInternet usually arrives at its destination scrambled. E-mail and documents can be reassembled incorrect order when it arrives. Voice data also arrives scrambled, but it's more complicated because ofreal-time nature of VOIP. Some data packets may have to be dropped when they do not arrive in time, in order to make voice connections withleast delay. This can cause brief silences inaudio stream.
Distance and speed ofconnection determineamount of data lost. Some networks receive more traffic and thus are more likely to cause audio dropouts. One way to provide high quality audio connections is to create dedicated data paths.
Withincredible amount of work dedicated to VOIP, these disadvantages will no doubt be resolved withininnext two years. It is expected that by then VOIP will have widespread consumer acceptance.
Aboutauthor:
Ron King isfull-time researcher, writer, and web developer. Visit http://www.voip-solutions-now.comto learn more about this subject.
Copyright twozerozerofive Ron King. This article may be reprinted ifresource box is left intact.
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