rradina
join:2000-08-08
Chesterfield, MO
| reply to RyanB18
Voice over IP or VOIP is about using an IP-based connection to transmit data packets that represent the sound of your voice. The concept of making a phone call to another person is the same. The difference is that instead of using your local telephone provider's infrastructure (at least for your end of the conversation) and, if a long distance call, a long distance carriers network, you use the Internet.
Vonage offers a service that allows you to plug a box into your broadband modem and plug your phone into the box.* You'll immediately be able to call anyone, anywhere in the world regardless of whether or not they also have VOIP or traditional phone service.
This might be different than original views which generally regarded VOIP using the Internet as a point-to-point connection between two people who wanted to conduct a conversation free of LD fees using their sound cards, microphones and existing dialup or broadband connection.
Vonage and other recent providers, have taken this concept to the next level. While you certainly can call another Vonage subscriber and never enter the public phone system, Vonage has partnered with various competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) to connect your broadband-sponsored VOIP phone to the rest of the public telephone network. This is not unlike the cellular phone networks which are also connected to the public telephone network.
If you don't call another Vonage subscriber, the service works by routing your call over the Internet. The call enters the public telephone system as close as possible to the actual destination call. By the time your call enters the public network, it's usually a local interconnect instead of a long distance interconnect. That's why they can offer unlimited LD for $39/month. There's no difference in cost to Vonage for you to make a call across the street or across the country because the call rides the Internet instead of a LD carrier's more expensive network.
* - If you want to surf and make calls at the same time, you'll need to purchase an inexpensive router that allows multiple PCs and the Vonage device to share the same broadband connection. NOTE: Some DSL services are not capable of using such a device. For instance, AOL DSL broadband makes its connection via PPOE and special software loaded on the PC. This type of connection may not work with a broadband router. You could put a second NIC card in your PC and with Windows ME/2000/XP, enable internet connection sharing. Vonage would work with this but it isn't as easy as setting up a broadband router on a cable or normal DSL connection. |
