Wednesday, October 24, 2012

What's The Big Thing With Internet Telephony?

By Saul Saresi


The demand for Internet Telephony systems in businesses right across the world is higher than it has ever been, and continues to grow and an alarming rate as yet more people become aware of the systems' benefits.

Because internet telephone systems are still very much in their infancy, the technology surrounding them is constantly evolving. In the very near future all system glitches will have been completely ironed out and internet telephone systems will be commonplace in the majority of businesses.

So as I mentioned, the stand out difference in internet telephone systems is the flexibility it offers aside from the obvious advantages of reduced call costs and drastically improved call quality. Flexibility which offers a number of options for making calls.

The most common way to use them is through an ATA (Analogue Telephone Adaptor) device. An ATA is an analogue-to-digital device which converts the signal from your traditional analogue phone into digital data which can then be broadcast over the internet.

ATA devices are simple to use and supplied for free by a number of internet telephone service providers. In order to install the ATA you simply un-plug the cord of your standard analogue phone from the wall and plug it into the ATA. Voila, you're ready to make cheap calls.

IP phones look very similar to standard phones - with a cradle, handset and buttons - but are in fact specialised internet phones with RJ-45 Ethernet connectors in place of standard RJ-11 phone connectors. Internet phones are also very easy to install, needing simply to be plugged directly into your router.

Computer-to-computer internet calling offers a completely free way of making calls, regardless of the distance. Most internet telephony companies offer the necessary software free of charge and the only equipment required aside from a standard computer and internet connection is a microphone, making this method accessible to almost anyone.

So there you have it. Voip systems offer a flexibility and potential that standard phone systems simply cannot match, however, the flaws still prevalent in Voip systems mean that standard phone systems will still be around for some time to come. But when the time does come - which it inevitably will - when the bugs have been fixed and voip systems are as reliable as standard phone systems are now, businesses and households alike will jump on the Voip bandwagon eager to take advantage of the cheaper costs and improved quality, and then, as unfortunate as it may seem, analogue phone systems will be forgotten, and confined to the bowels of history.




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