Find out everything you need to know about VOIP
HOME articles Advantages of VoIP A Comparison of Different VOIP Companies Internet phone call hardware Skype – Making Calls from your PC, for free! Internet phone calls – what may go wrong? Can spies eavesdrop on your phone calls over the Internet? Internet phone calls – brings people together What are Internet phone calls? Chatting with strangers – over the Internet Further Articles Wireless Articles: 10 Steps to Install a PCI Wireless Card 5 Reasons Why You Need a Wireless Network 5 Things You Must Do Before You Buy Any Wireless Equipment Ad-hoc or Access Point. Network Structures Explained Bluetooth - Personal Wireless Confused Yet - Wireless Jargon Connecting to a Wired Network - Wireless Access Points Could You Already Have Wireless and Not Realise It Create Always-On Networks with a Wireless Router Dealing with Security Threats - Wireless Encryption Fighting with Windows - Getting Wireless Set Up How Do Wireless Networks Work Ports and Cards - How to Tell What You Need RFID - Wireless Shopping Sharing an Internet Connection over a Wireless Network Sharing Your Files and Folders Wirelessly Taking it Long-Distance - Wireless Extension Points The Future of Wireless Wardriving and the Wireless Pirates What Else Can You Do Over a Wireless Network What is Wireless Networking What to Look For - Range, Speed and Standards Wireless Alphabet Soup - What's the Difference Anyway Wireless Everywhere - Talking Your Laptop for a Walk Wireless Troubleshooting - 5 Things to Try	Advantages of VoIP What is VoIP? The advancement of the Internet has inevitably given birth to the VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) which is the transmission of voice traffic over Internet Protocol (IP) based networks. This is accomplished by converting analog audio signals to digital data that can then be transmitted over the network. Initially, IP was built for data networking but the success and explosive growth of the internet has resulted in its adoption to voice networking as well. The emergence of VoIP has resulted to changes in the way people communicate as conventional PSTN phone lines are no longer the only medium for voice communication. Cost Reduction Among the benefits of utilizing VoIP is undoubtedly its cost reduction to both personal and corporate users. The key purpose for VoIP usage is to provide voice communication to users anywhere in the world at minimum or no cost through the World Wide Web. By making calls through the internet, users are effectively bypassing phone companies and their relatively higher charges. Users equipped with VoIP software and standard hardware like sound cards and headsets will find themselves ready to make that long distance or international call, in some cases even for free. Most PCs sold today are equipped with hardware that facilitates internet telephony anyway. The result of this is convenience at a very low price. Over the years, technology breakthrough in VoIP has tremendously narrowed the differences in voice quality between VoIP and public phone networks. Facilitating multimedia and teleconferencing VoIP also paves the way for multimedia and multi-service applications. Through VoIP, it is possible to integrate voice and data applications seamlessly in a converged network. This means, users can share information such as files or presentations during multimedia teleconferencing over the internet. Users can also conduct meetings or presentations virtually anywhere and anytime without having to physically be there. Corporations with a huge presence over a distributed geographic area will find VoIP remarkably effective in terms of increasing productivity in the workplace through the ability to disseminate information promptly and accurately. Applications such as Microsoft NetMeeting permits users to exchange files, view presentations as well as white-boarding through the use of its built-in data-conferencing services. Better enterprise management In a corporate environment, the converged network of voice, data and multimedia allow the consolidation of management and operations of these areas into an enterprise. Inevitably, staff costs will be reduced and points of failure narrowed to a single point of accountability for any support issues. This would include all network services, or anything that can be connected to the (Local Area Network) LAN and transmitted via IP, or VoIP in the case of voice services.