While it seems like everybody and their brother is pitching VOIP phone systems
these days, how do you determine what is best for you? Here are some things to
consider when choosing a VOIP carrier. You need to look at the problem you
are attempting to solve and then do not go overboard in your quest.
Tips For Finding The Best Home VOIP Phone Solution
By Jon Arnold
Everywhere you turn these days, you are bombarded with some company
claiming how superior their VOIP solution is for home use. You go into Best
Buy and they are promoting one VOIP service, you go into Circuit City, they
are promoting another one, then you get VOIP offers with your cable TV bill,
your credit card statements, and even with your bank statement! How do you
wade through all this marketing hype to find the truth about which VOIP service
is best for you?
Although to the tech-savvy consumer it is obvious, it is not obvious to all as
to one of the very first things you need to have a good VOIP phone service at
home, and that is a solid and reliable high-speed Internet connection. The
VOIP carriers don't even mention that but rather they assume that you already
have that and that the high-speed Internet service you have is solid and reliable.
There is your first problem, which may disqualify you from having anything more
than total frustration if you try to switch to VOIP.
VOIP actually stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol, which means that you
are making and receiving telephone calls from your high-speed Internet
connection. This cannot be done using a dial-up connection, which makes
almost no sense at all anyway. If your best option for high-speed Internet is
satellite, you should also hang up thoughts of using VOIP since satellite can
barely accommodate high-speed data, let alone voice communications. If
you currently have satellite for your high-speed connection, you already know
what I mean - don't even think about it for VOIP.
So let's say you don't use dial-up or satellite. Take a hard look at your
high-speed Internet connection and evaluate it. Is it rock solid? Is it
reliable? Keep in mind that this is going to be the core and foundation of your
VOIP service, and if your high-speed connection is flaky or just barely marginal
in terms of "high speed", your VOIP experience is going to be poor in best
case. And this is NOT the fault of the VOIP provider you choose, since they
have less than zero control over the quality of your Internet connection.
Beyond that, look at price and features. Don't pay a higher price because there
are a load of features available that you will never use. The basic features of
VOIP are unlimited calling within the continental US, voice mail, and call
waiting. Do you really NEED more features than that? If so, you should take a
long hard look at your requirements and determine how much extra you will be
paying for those extra services, especially comparing against how often you will
use them. More often than not, you will find that those additional services are
not worth the extra that you will pay for them.
Like anything else, evaluate what you are spending your money on. Are you
implementing VOIP to save money, or are you implementing technology for the
sake of technology? When you consider that your traditional telephone line from
the phone company is costing you about $25 per month just for dial tone, and
that a good VOIP service can be obtained for under $17 per month for dial
tone and all the long distance calls you care to make, your decision about VOIP
starts to become quite clear. Try it, and you may discover that this is something
you should have implemented a long time ago!
For more insights and additional information about Home VOIP Solutions as
well as reading our Editor's Choice picks for VOIP systems, please visit our web
site at http://www.voipinsideinfo.com
these days, how do you determine what is best for you? Here are some things to
consider when choosing a VOIP carrier. You need to look at the problem you
are attempting to solve and then do not go overboard in your quest.
Tips For Finding The Best Home VOIP Phone Solution
By Jon Arnold
Everywhere you turn these days, you are bombarded with some company
claiming how superior their VOIP solution is for home use. You go into Best
Buy and they are promoting one VOIP service, you go into Circuit City, they
are promoting another one, then you get VOIP offers with your cable TV bill,
your credit card statements, and even with your bank statement! How do you
wade through all this marketing hype to find the truth about which VOIP service
is best for you?
Although to the tech-savvy consumer it is obvious, it is not obvious to all as
to one of the very first things you need to have a good VOIP phone service at
home, and that is a solid and reliable high-speed Internet connection. The
VOIP carriers don't even mention that but rather they assume that you already
have that and that the high-speed Internet service you have is solid and reliable.
There is your first problem, which may disqualify you from having anything more
than total frustration if you try to switch to VOIP.
VOIP actually stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol, which means that you
are making and receiving telephone calls from your high-speed Internet
connection. This cannot be done using a dial-up connection, which makes
almost no sense at all anyway. If your best option for high-speed Internet is
satellite, you should also hang up thoughts of using VOIP since satellite can
barely accommodate high-speed data, let alone voice communications. If
you currently have satellite for your high-speed connection, you already know
what I mean - don't even think about it for VOIP.
So let's say you don't use dial-up or satellite. Take a hard look at your
high-speed Internet connection and evaluate it. Is it rock solid? Is it
reliable? Keep in mind that this is going to be the core and foundation of your
VOIP service, and if your high-speed connection is flaky or just barely marginal
in terms of "high speed", your VOIP experience is going to be poor in best
case. And this is NOT the fault of the VOIP provider you choose, since they
have less than zero control over the quality of your Internet connection.
Beyond that, look at price and features. Don't pay a higher price because there
are a load of features available that you will never use. The basic features of
VOIP are unlimited calling within the continental US, voice mail, and call
waiting. Do you really NEED more features than that? If so, you should take a
long hard look at your requirements and determine how much extra you will be
paying for those extra services, especially comparing against how often you will
use them. More often than not, you will find that those additional services are
not worth the extra that you will pay for them.
Like anything else, evaluate what you are spending your money on. Are you
implementing VOIP to save money, or are you implementing technology for the
sake of technology? When you consider that your traditional telephone line from
the phone company is costing you about $25 per month just for dial tone, and
that a good VOIP service can be obtained for under $17 per month for dial
tone and all the long distance calls you care to make, your decision about VOIP
starts to become quite clear. Try it, and you may discover that this is something
you should have implemented a long time ago!
For more insights and additional information about Home VOIP Solutions as
well as reading our Editor's Choice picks for VOIP systems, please visit our web
site at http://www.voipinsideinfo.com
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