Voice over IP (VoIP) was created in order to provide access to voice communication all around the world. This solves the problem of talking to someone halfway around the world. Because it’s very expensive to make long-distance international calls, VoIP is good alternative to paying large phone bills. Many benefits accrue once you begin using VoIP.
First you save a lot of money. If you are not using VoIP then you must be using Packet-Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). PSTN requires you to pay for each minute that you are on the phone and international phone calls are more expensive than domestic calls. Because VoIP uses the Internet, the only price you pay is your monthly Internet bill. You will need a broadband Internet with a decent to high speed. It is best to get an Internet package with a fixed price amount so that you can use VoIP as much as you want without the cost changing. Compared to a PSTN line, VoIP can save you up to 90% on international calls.
Secondly, more than two people can speak at a time with VoIP. You can set up conference calls with a whole team of people and communicate with them in real-time. Because data packets are compressed during transmission, more data can be handled over the carrier and more calls can be handled on one line.
VoIP requires cheap user hardware and software. The only additional hardware required besides a computer and Internet connection is a sound card, speakers, and a microphone. You do not need a telephone set or underlying equipment. There are also many software packages that you can download from the Internet to use for this purpose such as Skype.
It is also equipped with several features that make you talking experience sophisticated and fun. You are better equipped for call management and you can make calls anywhere in the world to any location in the globe. There is also Caller ID, Contact Lists, and Voicemail. When you use VoIP you can do more than just talk to people anywhere in the world-you can also send them images, video, and text files. You can speak to someone while showing yourself to them on a web cam.
VoIP is a more efficient use of bandwidth. Because 50% of conversation is actually silence, VoIP fills the empty silent spaces by not giving bandwidth to a person when they are not talking. VoIP reduces redundancy in speech patterns and gives the bandwidth to other consumers who are talking. VoIP has a flexible underlying network which makes is possible for organizations to make use of other technologies like ATM and Ethernet. It can also be used over wireless networks like Wi-Fi. VoIP systems are becoming more standardized and require less equipment so it is more fault tolerant. It can support many types of communication.
If you are using VoIP for an organization, you can still access your office or home from VoIP. Your home can be converted into a segment of the office where you can remotely use voice and fax services of VoIP. VoIP is virtually portable which is a very popular trend as of lately.
Source: Polo