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VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) is simply transmitting Voice over the internet or other networks.

VOIP comes in different forms like strictly computer to computer communication, Computer to Internet Phone or Phone to Phone. Computer to computer voice transmission is fairly common these days, most people don’t think twice about it. For example, Windows Live messenger now allows you to have voice conversations with your contacts. Ventrillo is a widely used program among internet users, especially among players of Massive Multiplayer Online RPG’s like World Of Warcraft. It is very simple: join a channel and you can hear and speak to everyone in that channel, all you need is a microphone and speakers.

In terms of recieving and making calls with your computer to actual telephone numbers the most popular program is probably Skype, which is used by millions of users a year. It can be used on Windows, Macs, Linux and even on mobile devices like the IPhone, devices with Windows Mobile or Nokia Nst-4. Especially handy if you need to make a lot of long distance calls, Skype allows users to have a regular local phone number from a variety of distant countries, so you will pay the same rates as if you were using a local phone number. You can also make calls between two computers using Skype. You can also purchase Skype phones connected to your network via Wifi. There are a few difficulties with using this service however. For starters, if your computer is not turned on or if you lose your internet access you cannot recieve calls and wont know people are calling you. Also you can’t call emergency numbers like 911 if you are in trouble so you can’t safely rely on it as your only phone. The pro’s outweigh the con’s though and it is a great technology to use.

Then there are VOIP home phone providers, just like normal service providers they charge for phone service. Your phones will look just like normal just instead of being connected to the phone lines your phones will be connected to your router by Ethernet or wireless. One of the first Voip providers in the U.S, Canada and the U.K is Vonage. Vonage is currently offering unlimited local and long distance calling for $25 a month. Some of the other major VOIP service providers are:Lingo, Broadvoice, VOIP.com, Viatalk and many others. VOIP phones cannot use traditional 911 services because they cannot tell where you are calling from but many offer e911 to route 911 calls to the appropriate jurisdiction. In many cases this feature has to be activated for an additional price. Another concern with VOIP is that you must have a certain internet speed for it to work effectively, you also need to be constantly connected to the internet so if you are still using dialup then forget it.

Voice Over Internet Protocol is a important emerging technology that has been gathering steam for some years now, in the future many believe that the majority of phone calls will be over IP based Networks.

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