VoIP Services – A Glimpse
VoIP or voice over internet protocol is a latest technology to reorganise the phone systems of the world. The technology provides the phone services through the internet packet switching. It has the capability to replace the traditional telephony that works on the circuit switching. It converts the voice signal to a digital signal. The digital signal is then compressed into internet protocol packets to be transmitted over the internet. This reduces the transmission time and accommodates more than one call in the space, used by a single call in the traditional telephone system.
The VoIP in conjunction with the high speed internet connection mediates worldwide communication. It also utilises an adapter or a special IP phone and VoIP software for phone-to-phone and PC-to Phone call respectively.
Over the past few years, a rapid increase in the number of the VoIP service providers in the UK has been witnessed. All of them proclaim to provide the seamless services with the cheapest local, long distance or international VoIP phone rates. You can save up to 90 to 95 percent on the international calls. A right voice over IP service for the business as well as residential need and calling pattern can save you a significant amount every month. If used for the business purpose, it saves the money spent on separate networks for phone and data, salaries of employees and other large setup charges.
If we look at the future prospect of the service, it is certain to some degree that the calls between the same VoIP systems or providers will be free of cost, and the users will benefit from the charge-free communication even for hours.
There is a long list of smaller and larger voice over IP services around the United Kingdom. They are offering the same customer service and quality levels with monthly packages, including cheapest VoIP call rates and unlimited calls. In such a competitive environment, many of the service providers are offering free VoIP calls to remote areas and are capturing a significant market share.
Many companies such as Speedflow communication, MyWebCalls.com, On4, Speak2phone, Tpad.com, Babble and Your choice VoIP offer services for the residential and SOHO (small business) market. Many other companies such as AQL, Net2phoen, Pipemedia ltd, Vonage, Sipgate, Telappliant provide phone to phone, pc to phone and PC to PC calls at very cheap rates. All these companies have bridged the internet with the public switched telephone networks to achieve flawless services.
The common VoIP services include monthly call packages, prepaid and post paid service, incoming VoIP numbers, routing, number porting service, current number integration and other telephone solutions. The dominant features of a cost effective VoIP service include unlimited calling, lowest international call rates, free email support, sms sending, online panels, phone book service, caller ID display, caller ID control, multiple numbers, multi party calling, missed call handler, missed call alerts, call history, call forwarding, call transfer, IP PBX compatibility and portability.
There is a long list of services in the UK, where each one is in the hunt of catching the customers through the cheapest but high quality services.