How to Get More From your Voip Phone With Non-voip Friends
- Date: 2006-11-28 - Word Count: 577
Share This!
Having a VOIP phone is absolutely good news. No more worrying about how long you've been talking to grandma or Aunt Louise at the other end of the country, knowing that your long distance bill at the end of the month may require a second mortgage. As a bit of background, a VOIP phone allows you to make and receive calls via your high-speed Internet connection, where a majority of households already have a high-speed Internet connection anyway, and this is just making additional use of it. VOIP phone service works exactly like a traditional phone, except that with most VOIP services, the price includes "unlimited" long distance minutes within the continental US. And all this for a price that is frequently lower than just the cost of getting a plain old dial tone from the phone company.
Oh, that "unlimited" thing? It's not really unlimited. Most VOIP services will start to question you when you exceed about 3000 to 4000 long distance minutes in a month, thinking that maybe you are using it for business or perhaps even using an auto-dialer with it. But even so, unless you are a convicted talkaholic, that is more than enough minutes per month for most residential users. I mean, that is almost 2 hours of talk time every day for the entire month.
The biggest problem with VOIP, about 99% of the time, is not the VOIP service, but a crummy high-speed connection. Cable Internet is generally pretty good because it does not have a distance limitation, but DSL can get incredibly poor if your home is too far away from the DSL provider, like more than about 2.5 to 3 miles.
Ok, let's say that you have good VOIP service and a good reliable high-speed Internet connection, how can you make better use of your VOIP service? One way that very few customers are aware of is via the use of Virtual Numbers. Some VOIP vendors provide as many virtual numbers as you want for a couple dollars a month. Others like SunRocket provide a virtual number for free with the service. Let's look at how these work to your benefit.
Say you live in Chicago, so your VOIP phone has a local Chicago number. Now say your sister lives in Seattle and your grandma lives in Houston. You can call them for free with your unlimited VOIP service, but if they call you, since they do not have VOIP phone service, they are paying long distance charges.
So you get two virtual numbers from your VOIP vendor, which gives you a Seattle number and a Houston number. Yes, you get phone numbers that are LOCAL to Seattle and Houston, but when someone calls that number, the call rings at your VOIP phone at your house in Chicago. So now your sister in Seattle can call a local Seattle phone number (your virtual number) and your grandma in Houston can call a local Houston number, and in both cases the call will ring up your VOIP phone in Chicago. Is that cool or what?
Check with your VOIP vendor to see what the cost of a virtual number is from them, and then determine if it is worth the cost based on the long distance charges that your long distance non-VOIP friends would incur. You're already making use of the latest technology with your VOIP phone service, so now just make use of all the functionality that it can offer you to your benefit.
Oh, that "unlimited" thing? It's not really unlimited. Most VOIP services will start to question you when you exceed about 3000 to 4000 long distance minutes in a month, thinking that maybe you are using it for business or perhaps even using an auto-dialer with it. But even so, unless you are a convicted talkaholic, that is more than enough minutes per month for most residential users. I mean, that is almost 2 hours of talk time every day for the entire month.
The biggest problem with VOIP, about 99% of the time, is not the VOIP service, but a crummy high-speed connection. Cable Internet is generally pretty good because it does not have a distance limitation, but DSL can get incredibly poor if your home is too far away from the DSL provider, like more than about 2.5 to 3 miles.
Ok, let's say that you have good VOIP service and a good reliable high-speed Internet connection, how can you make better use of your VOIP service? One way that very few customers are aware of is via the use of Virtual Numbers. Some VOIP vendors provide as many virtual numbers as you want for a couple dollars a month. Others like SunRocket provide a virtual number for free with the service. Let's look at how these work to your benefit.
Say you live in Chicago, so your VOIP phone has a local Chicago number. Now say your sister lives in Seattle and your grandma lives in Houston. You can call them for free with your unlimited VOIP service, but if they call you, since they do not have VOIP phone service, they are paying long distance charges.
So you get two virtual numbers from your VOIP vendor, which gives you a Seattle number and a Houston number. Yes, you get phone numbers that are LOCAL to Seattle and Houston, but when someone calls that number, the call rings at your VOIP phone at your house in Chicago. So now your sister in Seattle can call a local Seattle phone number (your virtual number) and your grandma in Houston can call a local Houston number, and in both cases the call will ring up your VOIP phone in Chicago. Is that cool or what?
Check with your VOIP vendor to see what the cost of a virtual number is from them, and then determine if it is worth the cost based on the long distance charges that your long distance non-VOIP friends would incur. You're already making use of the latest technology with your VOIP phone service, so now just make use of all the functionality that it can offer you to your benefit.
Related Tags: big screen tv, home theatre, home theatre system
Jon is a computer engineer who maintains many websites to pass along his knowledge, experience, information, and findings. You can read more about Home Treadmills at his web site at http://treadmill-insider.com/
Your Article Search Directory : Find in ArticlesRecent articles in this category:
- Ringtones for Cell Phones 101
A ringtone is a sound file that is used on acellular or mobile phone. This smart idea was deve - Sony Reader PRS-505 Review - Is it Worth Your Money?
The Sony Reader 505 has become an attractively affordable ebook reader since the Sony Reader P - Prototyping knowledge: about an .STL file and how to save it?
Following are guidelines for exporting from typical CAD modelers:Most CAD systems, File Save a - Logitech Digital Video Security System
Since the dawn of time people have always been afraid of others coming into their cave, it's a - The History of GPS Technology
Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Sty - The Future of VOIP Technology
Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Sty - 10 Things You Need to Know About NY VOIP
Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Sty - Video Cameras
Today, video cameras are extremely affordable, very easy to use and offer high quality video a - Making Data Administration a Part of Your Small Business
At some point it will happen to every company no matter how big orsmall they are. System failu - How to Choose a New York VOIP Service Provider
New Yorkers know a good thing when they see it, and VOIP technology iscurrently taking the Emp
Most viewed articles in this category:
- Bluesnarfing
IntroductionBluetooth a short range wireless communication technology developed for use at home, off - Visibility Eto Erp and Six Sigma Profiled in Quality Digest
According to Stephen Carson, executive vice president for Visibility Corp., "Many project-based manu - Four Trends for Distributors: Facing the Forces of Change
The four definitive trends listed in the National Association of Wholesalers-Distributors' publicati - Gateway Laptop Review
You may consider the M255-E if you are thinking about purchasing a Gateway laptop. At first glance, - Ipod Buying Guide &Tips - Ipod, Nano, Shuffle
Buying Ipod is just like buying a piece of enjoy-ment. The first criteria is to buy something you w - Texas Cement Choose Batchmaster for Process Manufacturing Erp
BatchMaster Software, Inc. (www.batchmaster.com), a leading provider of ERP (enterprise resource pla - Industrial CRM Must be Preceded by Change Management
Entitled Smart Practices That Pay: Leveraging Information to Achieve Industrial Selling Results, thi - Canada's Cosmaceutical Wins With Batchmaster ERP
Cosmaceutical Research Lab, already the largest contract manufacturer for cosmetic products in weste - Science is the Real God
Every religion in the world claims that its particular God is almighty. However, there is nothing in - Still wondering what VoIP is about?
So what is VoIP? Internet telephony is a rapidly-growing phenomenon that shows no sign of slo