VoIP Guide

What is VoIP?

VoIP is an acronym for Voice Over IP, or in more common terms a phone service over the Internet. If you have a reasonable quality Internet connection you can get your phone service delivered to you through your Internet connection instead, or as well as, from your local phone company.

Whilst not always the case, we have found the faster your internet connection the better the quality of the calls. Broadband will be better than dial-up in most instances.

Why use VoIP?

To save money. VoIP service providers usually offer lower rates than the traditional phone companies particularly for long distance and international phone calls. As the longest part of the call routing is via the Internet International call costs can be avoided. This therefore just leaves the local part of the call cost to be met and, depending upon the provider and the deal they have in place with the telecommunications providers, these fees can be low or in some instances even free.

If you talk to another user direct via the Internet, ie a VoIP to VoIP call, the cost can be free.

What are the con's?

Call quality can vary considerably. Prices vary from operator to operator. Sometimes VoIP providers do not offer emergency services, phone directory listings and other similar services. Quality continues to improve and, depending upon the profile of your calling habits, could represent a viable alternative to the traditional phone serice.

Can I replace my traditional phone service with a VoIP service?

Maybe. If you access your Internet connection via dial-up or an ADSL connection you require your phone line to access the Internet. It is therefore not possible to replace your phoneline with VoIP but you can use it as an additional service. If you subscribe to a cable or wireless internet service you may be able to use VoIP as your main phone service.

How do I access a VoIP service?

As a minimum you will require a computer together with a speaker and microphone. A headset may provide more comfort on calls and a VoIP Handset could provide the convenience of being able to dial using a traditional telephone.

Who can provide me with a VoIP service?

VoIP Service Providers can be selected based on the services and calling plans that they provide. The features they offer can greatly differ based on the price of the calling plan that you choose. Rates vary between providers and their pricing ranges from per minute charges to flat monthly bills. Choosing the right calling plan should be based on your monthly telephone usage and company budget. The list shows current available VoIP Service Providers

VoIP to VoIP phone

Depending on what you want to get out of VoIP, you might need to sign up with a provider that charges a monthly fee. If however, all you want to be able to do is make calls to other VoIP users, then you will easily find a provider that does not charge anything, that suits you needs. Users of some VoIP services can call each other direct over the Internet. In this instance call costs are usually free. Some VoIP service providers act as a directory service, enabling VoIP users to call one another without necessarily knowing their IP address (although IP based dialling is also possible).

Protocols

There are a few different VoIP protocols in use, with SIP and H.323 being the most common. Some applications, such as the very popular Skype system uses its own proprietary protocol.

Inward dialing

VoIP is only useful to some extent if the people calling you have VoIP as well. Unless you have a phone number on the PSTN, which forwards calls to your VoIP telephone - in other words; people calling the 'real' phone number, will get through to your VoIP phone - this is known as direct inward dialling. Many of the paid service providers offer this as part of the service, and some of the free providers offer it as an paid extra - all which is indicated in the DID column of the tables.

VoIP Providers

Skype
Free calls to other users?	Protocol	Share Networks?	Inward dialling?	Voice Mail?	Over 1 million users. Own incoming number available in a number of countries at 30 Euro each per year. Voice mail available free with incoming number or 10 Euro per year. Calls from a very competitive 1.30 Euro per minute. Free calls are free. Care with UK non geographic 0870 0845 numbers which can cost as high as 19 Euro per minute. Accounts can be opened for free for VoIP to VoIP calls.
Yes	Proprietry	No	Denmark Finland France Hong Kong Norway Poland Sweden UK USA	Yes

 

Callserve
Free calls to other users?	Protocol	Share Networks?	Inward dialling?	Voice Mail?	Early VoIP provider with own proprietry software phone that can be downloaded and installed for free. UK based provider. Requires minimum of GBP10.00 credit to open an account. Calls cost from 1.5p per minute.
No	Proprietry	No	No	No

 

Sipgate
Free calls to other users?	Protocol	Share Networks?	Inward dialling?	Voice Mail?	Inward dailling numbers for most exchanges accross the UK available and 0845 and 0870 numbers. Voicemail under testing at present. Call cost from 1.19p per minute.
Yes	SIP	Yes	Austria Germany UK	Yes

 

Sipphone
Free calls to other users?	Protocol	Share Networks?	Inward dialling?	Voice Mail?	Incoming numbers US$5.88 per month. 5 free minutes calling to anyone in 30 countries per day. Wide variety of inward dialing numbers accross the USA, just 0870 numbers for the UK.
Yes	SIP	Yes	UK USA	No

 

Voipfone
Free calls to other users?	Protocol	Share Networks?	Inward dialling?	Voice Mail?	Broad range of additional services including SMS & Fax. Geographic numbers available accross the UK. UK call costs from 1.1p per minute.
Yes	SIP	No	UK USA	No