Saturday, May 10, 2008

VoIP Phone Service

The projection of incredible growth in the telecommunications domain is likely to unfold in the upcoming years. With each passing day, the popularity of the latest internet telephony solutions is gaining momentum over the pre-existing PSTN systems. Not only this, the advanced IP solutions with end-to-end media-rich collaborative applications are delivering a unified communication to the users. Voice, images, video and text are now being transferred over broadband internet connections. Users are experiencing the VoIP phone service over the internet in much the same way as e-mails.

The best thing about the VoIP phone service is that it provides a competitive edge with efficient management of internal operations. Furthermore, these services increase the productivity of calls; the long distance as well as international call charges also gets reduced. As a matter of fact, services from a provider can reduce the monthly telephone bills by as much as 40-60 percent. For availing the maximum benefits, potential users must choose the 'best' providers.

A VoIP service would enable the business users to connect with others (employees or clients) anytime and any where across the globe. In business VoIP services, the calls are routed over the internet. There are three ways of transmitting such calls over the internet. Users could go for IP phones, or PC to PC communication or ATAs. The ATA or analog telephone adapter is the most popular technique of transmitting voice over the internet. The ATA technique allows the users to avail these services using their fixed lines as well as mobile phones and without much trouble.

Unlike pre-existing PSTN services, the VoIP phone services can facilitate the tasks that may seem almost impossible to achieve using traditional phones.

1. With these high-end services, user can make long distance as well as international calls at significantly lower rates. They can do away with roaming charges.

2. The users can enjoy the benefit of scalability, as these services are location independent. As a matter of fact, a stable internet connection and services of the providers are all that is needed for making a call.

3. VoIP internet phone services can also be integrated with other services that are available over the internet such as video conversation, instant messaging, or data file exchange in parallel with conversation, audio conferencing and managing of address books.

4. With such services, the users can get connected with emergency call 911, quite easily.

To conclude it can be said that the VoIP phone services are getting popular among individuals as well as corporate users. While opting for the services, users must keep a check on two prime considerations i.e. cost efficiency and availability of value added services.

VoIP Reviews

On browsing the Internet one would come across endless pages of VoIP reviews by its various users and providers. This in itself points out the growing popularity of voice over Internet protocol in the current age among industries and residentials alike. Not just this, but a careful analysis of any VoIP review shows that most of its users are satisfied with VoIP telephony services. However, there are also a number of them who have faced or are currently facing certain problems related to their previous or existing service provider.

Therefore, it is of utmost importance to discuss and carefully review each service provider before opting for any of them. VoIP service providers can broadly be categorised into 4 categories, namely: tier 1, tier 2, tier 3 and ILD (international long distance) operators. VoIP resellers and wholesale carrier service providers can take services from any of them, depending upon their scale of business and number of clients.

Ideally, only wholesalers and resellers with a large network and clientage are entertained by Tier 1 and 2 operators, whereas Tier 3 level operators' clients normally include medium or small level wholesalers and resellers. Once this has been determined, the next logical step is to compare the rates provided by different providers. With rising competition, competitive rates are being provided by VoIP service providers.

The most important criteria for judging a telephony service is the voice quality and clarity. Without crystal clear voice quality, the end users won't be satisfied, even if minimal rates are being charged for the service. VoIP reviews comparison reveals that most of the users are willing to pay more if the quality of service is better. This is also due to the fact that higher rates of VoIP services is still lower than what a customer would pay for the traditional public switch telephony network services. Therefore, quality becomes an important selection criterion. A VoIP service provider with multiple switches and POP's is bound to provide good quality call transmission.

After sale service, as in the case of industrial goods, is also extremely essential for any IT based services. Best VoIP service reviews are given to those service providers who offer 24/7 technical support to their clients. For wholesalers and resellers, getting help desk service is a great boon since they don't have to handle the back-end processes themselves. Any problem with the telephony service can be easily addressed at that very instant if the service provider offers support through MSN chat and email. Not just this, but some of the VoIP providers also offer initial professional training about the basic technicalities of VoIP services; this is to ensure that the wholesalers and resellers can effectively manage their businesses.