Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a revolutionary method of telephone communication. VoIP allows a user to digitally send his or her voice to a recipient over an Internet connection. If you already have broadband, you are ready to go

During the World Wide Web boom of the 1990s, Internet telephony was developed by software producers to allow users to send voice signals to each other. Two people could engage in voice conversation by connecting a microphone and speakers or a headset to their PCs. The delay between speaking and hearing on a dial-up connection was time-consuming and annoying; but if you wanted to save money, it was the way to go.

Some developers recognized that speech over the Internet could be possible if it could hand off its voice signals to the telephone system itself, allowing a PC user to talk to someone who isn�t logged on to the Internet at all. The user could then bypass distance charges. No matter where the recipient answered the phone, the call itself was local because it originated from the global network. However, the dial-up world at the time did not permit adequate call quality.

The advent of broadband technology changed everything. It was originally meant for the transfer of large data at higher speeds. Transmitting multimedia data suddenly became a viable activity, especially when servers became more efficient at buffering the transmissions. Buffering stores data in advance of sending it to the receiver in order for the recipient to experience fewer delays. These improvements inspired developers to make the Internet one gigantic conversation service.

The gamers were able to speak to one another using their microphones with speakers and/or headsets while playing bandwidth-hogging game sessions. If they could do it, why couldn't everybody else? They could, and many did. As long as everybody arranged to meet online, they could talk with each other with clear signal and little delay.

This was great, but not everyone spends every waking hour on their computer; so came the idea to let people use their telephones with the Internet to make calls. Telephones have alert signals�they ring and the user doesn't have to be on the computer in order to use them.

Most standard telephone services depend on circuit switching, in which a telephone call opens a series of switches between caller and recipient. This circuit must remain open until the end of the call. This became expensive because it required renting an entire string of switches for the duration of the call. Many long distance providers now use VoIP technology to lower the prices of long distance calls.

The Internet uses packet switching, in which data are transferred only when necessary, therefore resulting in higher efficiency. The sending computer divides the original message into many small packets, each with an address that tells the network device where to send it. The packets work their way to the addressee and are assembled by the receiving computer using instructions within the packets. Very, very cool.

There are three ways to implement VoIP communication. First, two parties connect a microphone and a set of speakers or a headset to their PCs and connect to each other through special software. Skype at www.skype.com is the most noted, and it's free

Second, both parties use a special device known as an IP or VoIP telephone that looks like a regular telephone but connects to a router or a broadband modem instead of a phone outlet in the home. Cisco's VoIP phones, including the 7970G model, are designed for business use only. Grandstread has the BudgeTone 100 Series in black and white. The Teledex IP250D is a two-line VoIP phone with hands-free capability.

I chose the third method, in which one or both parties use a standard telephone set to make and receive calls, with the Internet being the go-between. Vonage provides a free phone adapter. To rewire your home for Vonage, you first need to isolate your inside phone wiring from the lines that come into your house from the phone company. This is necessary to avoid damage to equipment. Vonage gives you very clear directions on how to do it:

To connect to Vonage plug your DSL/Modem into the Vonage phone adapter. Then plug your phone adapter into any telephone jack using a standard telephone cord. Finally, plug regular phones into the other jacks in your house. Telephone jacks are wired in parallel, so when you plug your phone adapter into any working jack, it will spread the signal to the other jacks in your home.

There are so many things I like about Vonage. I like their tech support but not the long wait. I like the free month of service you receive for going through their �Refer a Friend� program. They give you 5 virtual phone numbers. The only additional charges are a 3% Federal Excise Tax, which applies to all customers except NJ residents who pay 6%, and a Regulatory Recovery Fee of just $1.50. I was so tired of paying additional charges on my phone bill that kicked it up to a whopping $58.15 a month. The additional charges were Federal Tax, State Tax, PA Gross Receipts Tax, National Carrier Charge, Local Number Portability, FCC Subscriber Line Charge, Montgomery County 911 Surcharge, PA Telecom Relay Service Fund, Federal Universal Service Fund, and other surcharges. Nuts.

I also like the way Vonage VoIP works with my Airport Extreme Base Station and Phone Valet. I love saving $18.20 a month in extra surcharges. I pay $27.24 (including tax) per month for unlimited calls to the United States and Canada plus 911 calling, voicemail, caller ID, call waiting, call forwarding, three-way calling, virtual numbers, caller ID blocking, and local number portability. You can call other continents for 3� a minute.

What I don't like about Vonage VoIP is the activation fee of $29.99 and paying two phone companies for a month while waiting for my telephone number transfer. However, the free adapter and the free month of service offset the expense. I have not experienced voice quality degradation and I am saving lots of money with Vonage.

There are still some downsides of using VoIP. Call quality can degrade more easily than with standard calls due to network congestion or brief signal interruptions. I have not experienced this.

Some VoIP services offer to switch your existing phone number; others do not, in which case you would have to notify everybody about your phone number change. If local number portability is important to you, select a service that provides it.

Because VoIP telephones depend on electricity, they will be out of service during a power outage. The actual telephone may not need electricity but the broadband modem, VoIP adapter, and router all require it. You'll need to have either a cell phone or a standard phone line available in case of a power outage.

Another very important consideration is connecting to a 911 emergency telephone service. The current 911 emergency telephone system does not function through VoIP. You must determine which VoIP will connect a 911 call to local emergency services. I had to wait several weeks after applying with my VoIP service before my 911 emergency services became available. I happen to have a cell phone in addition to VoIP, so I feel covered in an emergency.

There are other VoIP services, like AT&T CallVantage (www.att.com), BroadVoice (www.broadvoice.com), and Packet8 (www.packet8.net).

Attribution Information:

Copyright 2005 Maria O. Arguello. This article may be reprinted by any Macintosh User Group in their newsletter or publication distributed on paper or online, with credit given to the author and original publishing user group (Maria O. Arguello, MLMUG). Commercial or other publication prohibited unless the author grants specific permission.

The MLMUG Journal, in PDF format, may be downloaded below. Click on the "past" link below.

More articles by this and other authors are available below. Click on the "Software, hardware, and game reviews" link.