How many of you use VoIP (Voice over IP) for residential use? I think there are options that allow a person to get a telephone number as well but I am wondering if you first need to get a regular phone number?.
Anyways has anyone used it yet?
by the response of your post i think its safe to assume not too many use that as their primary phone.. i bet most of them dont even know what voip is .. ;) .. but anywayz just thought if i come forward may be others will follow.. well you are right and wrong my friend.. there are a couple of things you can do with voip.. Yes there are services now that give you a regular phone number like a PSTN one. the only difference being that all the calls go to them first whenever someone calls you and then they redirect it to you through their gateways.. now ofcourse this all is invisible to the end users so they need not to worry.. common misconception that you have to get a regular phone number to get this service.. that is not completely correct.. if you got cable modem coming in then you are already ready for it and you dont need anything else.. on the contrary if you have dsl then chances are you already have a number.. now i know in NJ Bell owns the last mile and they are not generous enuff to keep your line open just for DSL if you dont get their basic service atelast.. (rip offs) .. hence i am stuck with their basic service and a number ofcourse..
voip service providers only need internet connection at home be it be any way you choose.. they send you what is called a DTA which you hook up with your router and hook a regular phone to it.. voila.. you are all set for making calls.. easy aint it.. :) what kinda performance you get outta it depends on the company you choose.. not to mention the features you get with it.. :) i have been using one for quite some time now and cant really say i dont like it.. since its still in its inception phase dont expect too much right out of it.. theres gotta be suckers like us who are willing to get it in bad shape and form just so the technology can evolve.. and the fact that i get unlimited calls to us and canada anytime all the time dont hurt either.. ;) i would give bell the boot if they will let me keep the dsl only.. which by the way is possible courtesy of fiber optics but they are just not willing to do it.. :(
any other questions.. shoot at will.. i will try to answer them.. :) have a good day..
BTW, FYI...
If you use MSN, Skype, Net2Phone etc you're already using VoIP. U're jst not using a telephone handset.
Yankee I hear you cant make 911 calls from the service?
hmcq as i said b4.. its one of the feature that is currently being provided only by one provider.. but yes you can make 911 calls if you go with them and you cant if you dont.. a little work around i thought of was to find out the local police dept number and save it on the speed dial list.. pretty much the same thing since 911 calls are routed to the nearest pd too..
The company I work for sells VoIP service. It's pretty cool but like others stated, still in its inception phase.
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*Originally posted by Munni: *
The company I work for sells VoIP service. It's pretty cool but like others stated, still in its inception phase.
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if you dont mind me asking.. what company is does and what do you do in that company Munni ?? you can tell which way the company is going just by talking to employees.. may be i will switch my carrier.. :)
^bump... gonna try one of these services and see how it works out.
Everyone is saying its the wave of the near future, as costs are low, especially for international dialing. Apparently its a big hit in countries like Japan and Brazil.
I am using the VoIP system now with all our business/customer calls. (I dont work for the VoIP side, I work on another product.) I cant really tell the difference had I been using a regular line (except when it dials it sounds like you are using a rotary phone), and the only problems we are facing is dialing 800 numbers for some reason. I rarely hear a scratchy sound, so I personally would recommend VoIP, as I am a daily user of the service.
And that is my honest appraisal. I sell tires/rims, not VoIP, so I am not trying to push the product. smile
it has started to spread here in pakistan also, there are quite a few companies offering VoIP services, one of my friend is in this business here in khi
and u'll wonder in Gujranwala/Gujrat number of VoIP users (talking about home users) is quite larger than khi/lhr. and yes they are offering u US numbers, UK numbers, 0800 ones and others too here in pak, and they can route ur call on local PSTN number too
the only thing slowing down the process is PTCL/PTA (the Govt) and low bandwidth availability
but its on raise
Munni what VoIP service do they use?
And does this mean I can get free tires and rims :)... you know theres a lot of potential in selling high end tires.
Check da recent Packet magazine, which has covered VoIP extensively. U’ll find diagrams how da system works with visual diagrams. They have also highlighted da future use of VoIP.
U can subscribe 2 it free of charge here
Check da recent Packet magazine, which has covered VoIP extensively. U'll find diagrams how da system works with visual diagrams. They have also highlighted da future use of VoIP.
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*Originally posted by hmcq: *
Munni what VoIP service do they use?
And does this mean I can get free tires and rims :)... you know theres a lot of potential in selling high end tires.
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hmcq, I dont know the first thing about VoIP, I will PM you their site and you can check them out if you like.
I havent seen the potential yet in selling tires. grin
Even I cant get a discount yet on the tires. cwy hehe.
I started with vonage today and so far it has worked quite well for me, though I havent really made a lot of phone calls yet.
hmcq and yankee, can you guys tell me exactly what type of service you are getting, is it strictly voip, meaning attaching a regular phone to a device they provide which attaches to the internet connection, or is it ip telephony using ip phones, also if i can get some websites of service providers.
shehzada i dont know what do u mean by strictly voip !!! but these services do provide u with what they call 'ata’s.. its a little device as you said connects b/t your internet connection and telephone and lets u make regular calls.. here are a couple of links you asked for :
http://www.vonage.com
http://www.packet8.com
btw i have packet8 service and have to say for the price i am paying i am more than happy .. 
.. any other questions shoot at will ..
yeah i just checked out vonage, thanks for the links tho, this is just voip and the technology has been around for a while and its pretty simple to implement for a provider point of view, those guys are making ton of money with relatively low cost infrastructure. this thing is gona explode in next 2 years, hope we canadians get it soon too.
I have vonage and i have been using it for the last week so far. It is strictly VoIP, and they send you a motorola router that you connect to your internet connection whose mac address is set up for your number by them. I have found it to be great service and the quality is just as good my regular phone without all the hassles of getting charged for every min and lousy service. It does mean you need to have a high speed internet connection though.
what are international rates like withthese guys