You only need four pieces of equipment and they are your computer, Internet connection, the proper software, and a USB phone or headset. The last one is most important. A USB headset is a headset with a microphone that hooks into your computer’s USB port, and a USB pone is a phone just like we normally use to talk on that plugs into your computer’s USB port.

A USB headset is more expensive than a USB phone. Many Americans that choose between the two as a way of communication usually will choose the USB phone. A USB phone is less expensive and more what we are use to. When it comes to communicating, whether we use a landline or a computer, we still want the phone that we are accustomed to. USB phones vary in price depending on what features you want on your phone. If you have a complex phone, it can cost more than just a basic USB phone.

With a USB phone, it is very easy to make a phone call. Just plug the phone into your USB port. On some computers, there are USB ports in the front of the computer. Install the proper software and off you go, chatting to whoever you want to chat with anywhere in the world. providing you know how to speak their language. If you have a problem with getting connected, it can be cleared up pretty quickly.

With a VoIP phone system being the next big thing in communication, you may think it doesn’t matter about which provider you use. You think they are all the same. Nothing could be further from the truth. It also makes a difference which brand of phone you purchase.

You want to make sure your USB phone is attractive and comfortable or you won’t use it. If you think it is ugly, you will never hook it up. When shopping for a phone, find one you know you will use before you ever leave the store, so you don’t waste your money on something that will never be taken out of the package.

Deciding on a VoIP phone may not be an easy decision but choosing the right phone can make all the difference. Weather you choose a VoIP phone system or go back to paying too much for phone service the choice is yours. VoIP phone services are growing in popularity because they are easier than chatting. When chatting you have to sit there and type what you want to say. If you are a slow typist, that can take a while. That is why so many people prefer a VoIP phone system.

There are literally thousands of VoIP providers and they all have tons of features. In the end you will decide which one to choose but before you do you should choose what to look for in a VoIP provider.

Price should be the top concern. With so many providers out there, some are competing to give the lowest price for the best package. But, that doesn’t mean that is the best way to go. They may have put together a package with a bunch of features you don’t even need or want. You may be able to come out cheaper by going to another provider and just getting the features you want. Remember you get what you pay for. If you want more features and clarity you will have to pay the price.

Another main consideration is features. Most of the VoIP providers have basically the same features but some try to stand out above the crowd and offer more than the rest. Some offer them in a package and some allow you to choose your package. It all depends on what you want as to how much you will pay for features.

Voice quality is a big issue. I don’t know about you but I like being able to hear and understand what the person I am talking to is saying. So, if you are like me and like clarity, be prepared to pay a little more to get it. Otherwise, if you would rather have more features and not that much clarity you may get a cheaper deal.

The reputation of the provider is also very important when you are looking for a VoIP provider. You must choose a company that has been in the communication field for a number of years. Don’t just choose just any company that pops up in the search engine. Check them out and see if they are what they say they are.

When you begin looking for a VoIP provider, the internet is the best place to look. You can go to websites that are called comparison sites and there they have several of the companies and some of their basic packages and prices listed so that you can do a side by side comparison right there on the site and you don’t have to keep jumping from site to site. This will save you time.

There is no shortage of VoIP providers. Choosing the one that is best for you and the price you want can be a task. You should take some time when you are comparing VoIP calling service options. Never settle for anything but what you want for the price you want. Becoming a part of the growing technology group can be a big step. Do your homework. Don’t just jump in blindly.

VoIP is becoming the method of telecommunications of choice for many businesses, whether they’re big multi-international corporations or work-at-home set ups. The reason for this is VoIP has many diverse features and capabilities that will effectively serve large companies, but is simple and affordable enough to be used by smaller businesses.

VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol and is a system of telecommunication where voice is transmitted over the Internet. In this respect, VoIP is great for small businesses because no matter how far away your customers are or how long they stay on the phone asking about your products or services, you pay only a certain fee for the use of VoIP, making big savings on both local and international calls. Now, you can make inquiries, call clients, network and follow up suppliers, without worry of racking up a large phone bill.

If you’re worried that VoIP might be too technologically advanced for a small-scale start-up company, be assured that VoIP’s platform has been improved to work as a user-friendly software, and has been developed to work well with non-techies as well. Also, your VoIP provider should be able to install the entire system with no hassles for you, and also offer 24-hour customer care.

Having VoIP means having an additional phone line in your office, offering many features that you might have to pay additional fees for on a normal phone line, such as call waiting, caller ID, call forwarding, voice mail, call restriction, malicious call trace, intercom dialing, and automatic redial. Of course, VoIP is not merely an extra phone; it features many other benefits that you won’t find on your regular telephone. As Internet is integrated into the service, you’ll be able to customize your phone book with your address book in your email server, integrate VoIP into your Microsoft Outlook, and make video calls, using your computer monitor as a video screen.

This is definitely another valuable benefit of VoIP for small businesses is real time teleconferencing, with some hosts offering four-way conferencing between clients, with accompanying call logs and automatic transcriptions. Also, during your online real-time conference, you can send and receive large files and view them immediately, which makes it easier and faster to close deals and complete negotiations. When talking to more than one person, you can also choose which person you are talking to will receive your files. Such possibilities were unthinkable before VoIP.

Presently, many countries, not just the US, Hong Kong, and selected advanced countries in Europe, are subscribing to VoIP services. The use of big and small business VoIP is steadily growing in several Eastern European countries, South America and Asia.

For example, Voip.com offers different prices for monthly and yearly packages. The unlimited monthly package is $19.95 per month, offering unlimited free calls to anywhere in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, low rates on international calls, mostly less than 2 cents per minute, a free phone adapter and softphone, which connects to your computer, and all the different VoIP features. If you subscribe to Voip.com’s unlimited yearly package, you get all of the above at a cheaper rate that will turn out as low as $16.58 a month. Now, if you don’t make as much calls to justify these unlimited rates, you can also sign up for their 200-minutes-per-month plan, priced at $9.95 a month, with 3.9 cents added for each additional minutes.

Meanwhile, Packet8’s Residential VoIP services are a bit on the pricey side, but understandably – their Freedom Unlimited Global charges you $29.99 a month to make unlimited calls to anywhere in the US and in forty countries worldwide, without per-minute charging per country. It also has the nifty Freedom Choice 500, which gives you 500 minutes of outgoing calls for $14.99 a month and unlimited incoming calls.

Now, these plans more or less offer the same benefits and features, although there are variants per company. Most packages will get you premium features such as call waiting, caller ID, three-way conferencing, call forwarding, last call return, call blocking, voice mail and message notification, at no extra cost. Vonage adds to these features, the Do Not Disturb function and other customizable call blocking, call hunting, Bandwidth Saver, and Vonage Me to its unlimited residential plan, which goes for $24.99, allowing free calls to select foreign countries. Vonage’s unlimited plan for small businesses is much more expensive at $44.99 a month, with slightly more advanced features and a dedicated line for sending and receiving faxes.

Business plans tend to be more expensive, but they do offer better benefits due to the demand of the workplace. Bandwidth.com’s Basic plan is as low as $34.99 a month, allowing for web and video conferencing and call holding and transferring. The more advanced plans, for a higher charge, includes benefits as unifying voicemail to email, customer portal and access to mobile phones.

Look up the different packages carefully, you don’t want to be paying for “additional services” that you won’t be using anyway. Whichever provider or plan to decide on, VoIP will turn out a lot cheaper than what you pay on your current phone bill.

There are three major VoIP providers. They are Vonage, Broadvoice and AT&T CallVantage. Let’s explore each of them and see what they have to offer.

Vonage

The basic package offers 500 anytime minutes anywhere in the U.S., Canada, and Pureto Rico. Also included are voicemail, caller ID, call waiting, call forwarding, 3-way calling, free in network calling, mobility, call transfer, *69, repeat dialing and more. There is no annual contract and they also offer a premium program, and a business program

Broadvoice

The basic package has unlimited calling in state for a flat rate, you choose your area code and number depending on availability and the price also includes some basic features like voicemail, call waiting, call forwarding, caller ID, call transfer, they also offer call blocking , priority calling, and call manager services. They also have three other services that include unlimited world, unlimited world plus and they offer a business plan.

AT&T CallVantage

Local plans include Limited local calls and low rates on long distance calls. This plan includes conference calls, voicemail call logs, 911 calls, and fax and modem support. They also have a service plan program and a CallVantage 2-line plan.

There is no single plan that will offer everything you may need or want. You may have to make some sacrifices to get the plan you want at the price you want. So, when it comes to which one to choose, the choice is up to you. Do you want more minutes or do you want more long distance time. Would you like more clarity or do you want a cheaper price?

In this article, I have talked about the three most popular VoIP providers. There are more out there, just got to the internet and for search VoIP providers. Thousands of companies will be displayed for you to compare. They are all different and you are the only one that knows what you need for your home or business. So, take the time and compare VoIP providers and find the one that is right for you.

Being able to talk with people over the computer, without it sounding like you are talking to a robot, and being able to talk instead of type is a big difference in communicating with our friends and families and even in business. When there is a case when you are in one office and are having a call with the other office, now that is possible and can be done quick and easy. Just plug in and reach out and touch someone. Once you compare VoIP providers it really is a must have opportunity.

VoIP had its beginnings in 1996 and was featured in the magazine, Computer Telephony Integration. Although it was first named Vocaltec, it was the same VoIP service that we have now. Maybe a little more sophisticated but basically the same. The main thing that is necessary to be able to use a voice over internet protocol phone service is high speed internet.

One thing that makes VoIP solutions so desirable is the price. Unlimited long distance calling for a fee that is much more affordable than regular telephone service is a great feature. Especially for people who have a lot of friends or relatives that live in another state or town.

For one price you get caller I.D., call waiting, call forwarding, 3-way calling, and various other items that you have to pay extra for with a regular telephone service. A home page with many options is available with most of the VoIP services, also called internet telephone.

Prices are very affordable. Some companies are charging $19.95 for unlimited calling and offer one month free. You can go to the site you would like to use and put in the area code of the city you live in to see if it is available. Don’t worry if it is not available at one place because it will be at another.

Vonage is one of the companies that offer internet telephone services. Their unlimited calling plan starts at $24.99. However they do not have numbers in a lot of areas. Some sections of the country have been waiting on their area code to become available for over 2 years.

Another company is VOIP.com. Their rates start at $19.95 a month for unlimited calls. Included with the plan are all the extras such as caller I.D., call waiting, etc. The VoIP phone is taking over a lot of the local phone companies business primarily due to their great rates.

What’s the one drawback to having this type of telephone? If you lose your internet connection or electricity for a period of time, you do not have phone service. However with practically everyone that has a cell phone today, you will not be cut off completely until the service is restored, unless it would be an extreme emergency.

If you are interested in learning more about this type of telephone service, you can go online and type in VoIP and you will get a long list of providers. A detailed explanation of exactly what you have to do to hook up this service and register with a provider will be explained as well. All you have to do is choose which one you want to go with.

According to Cisco’s exam blueprint, the major topics on this new exam will be Voice over IP (VoIP) and Quality of Service (QoS). This exam change is an excellent move on Cisco’s part, since VoIP is one of the fastest-growing network technologies today, and implementing VoIP demands the ability to implement QoS!

Among the QoS topics on the exam will be NBAR, ToS, IP Precedence, DSCP, traffic policing, and traffic shaping. Some of these topics may be familiar to you if you studied for the BCRAN exam, but I feel it’s a safe bet that there will be much more detail on the ONT exam as compared to the BCRAN exam. Wireless LANs (WLANs) are also on the Cisco exam blueprint for ONT, and again I’d expect a lot more detail on that topic than you would have seen on the BCRAN exam.

Cisco’s obviously raising the bar for the new CCNP exams, and that’s a good thing for both you and for Cisco. The CCNP will be harder to get in 2007, but it will also become more valuable – and when you invest time and money into a certification, you want the vendor to protect your investment. Besides, to work with Cisco networks today and in the future, you’ll need to learn VoIP and Qos, so you might as well get the certification while you’re at it!

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage, home of over 100 free certification exam tutorials, including CCNA certification training articles. His exclusive CCNA study guide is also available!

Visit his blog and sign up for Cisco Certification Central, a daily newsletter packed with CCNA, Network+, Security+, A+, and CCNP certification exam practice questions! A free 7-part course, “How To Pass The CCNA”, is also available, and you can attend an in-person or online Cisco CCNA training boot camp with The Bryant Advantage!

I think it comes down to three reasons:

1. No barriers to entry for competition
2. No sustainable competitive advantage (some would argue there is a competitive disadvantage)
3. Not enough attention to details that matter to customers.

Let’s face it: consumer VoIP is a commodity business. Anybody can license the technology to get into the business, and putting up a few VoIP servers in colocation space with Internet access, buying VoIP gateway services from Level 3, is a game anybody can play. To get into it you have to believe you have an angle that nobody else has (unlikely), or that you can market it better than anybody else. Most folks who think they are going to run the next big VoIP service aren’t marketing experts at all…they are just technologists who think it is cool that they can bypass the telcos for phone service. The problem is that everyone else can do it, too.

More…

“An expert has released a proof-of-concept program to show how easy it would be for criminals to eavesdrop on the VoIP-based phone calls of any company using the technology.

Called SIPtap, the software is able to monitor multiple Voice-over-IP (VoIP) call streams, listening in and recording them for remote inspection as .wav files. All that the criminal would need would be to infect a single PC inside the network with a Trojan incorporating these functions, although the hack would work at ISP level as well.”

“End-users and network engineers may not consider the security ramifications of a hacker or any other user using a tool to not only capture but play back VoIP conversations. Higher-end VoIP systems may offer ways to encrypt the data, but lower-end products often do not. You’ll want to consider this before you purchase a solution. Second, VoIP traffic is usually most vulnerable on the LAN since Internet WAN traffic is typically routed through VPNs.”

Although there might be a lot of excitement around SIPTap and the ability to hack VoIP conversations, the problem of unsecured VoIP networks is something our engineers have been addressing for several years with clients. I’m not sure what it is about new technologies, but it seems like people get so pumped up on the benefits that they forget about the security implications (think back to wireless).

So it’s not the SIPTap threat that is the worry, but rather being certain that your networks are adequately secure and conversations encrypted as they leave the network. In good fashion, I have assembled a list of resources for you. Also, if you are really interested in VoIP, Network Performance Daily is doing a series on the soup to nuts on the subject.