Working With VoIP

Revolutionizing the way we communicate, VoIP has certainly been a commendable innovation of 21st century. Owing to this cutting-edge solution, people are gravitating away from the now obsolete standard phone service. Fuelled by an exceptional performance and matchless cost effectiveness, more and more individuals are choosing VoIP service over the traditional phone networks. Helping them in this endeavor are countless VoIP reviews available on the web.

Inducing a transformation in the way people live, work and communicate, Internet and computer technology has spawned new methods for making life easier for everyone. VoIP or Voice over Internet Protocol is one such converged technology, which has been a cornerstone of the communication revolution. If we were to describe this technology in simple words, then it would primarily refer to the transmission of telephone call over an Internet based network, rather than, traditional telephone network. Primitively used for data transmission only, its exponential success and further technological advancement has prompted the service providers to use it for both, data as well as voice transmission. Nevertheless, there are certain prerequisites, which are indispensable for setting up a Voice over IP network. A computer, an IP phone, a high speed broadband line, a microphone and last but not the least an uninterrupted power source sums up the complete inventory required for this network.

The operation of a VoIP network can be understood as a regular phone connected to an adapter, which in turn, is connected a high speed broadband line. This analog telephone adapter performs the simple function of converting analog signals into digital, a form suitable for transmission over the ADSL network. When the originator calls a number on Voice over Internet Protocol, the phone places a log on request on routing server, which further looks for the destination IP number and on successfully matching, establishes the connection. However, to relish the benefits of this revolutionary technology in totality, one should take care to employ best quality instruments and the most reliable service providers. They can look for these on Internet, where there are numerous VoIP reviews, ready to assist them in their efforts. This service is lauded for countless vantages that it offers in comparison to regular phone service, which includes cutting on inflated monthly bills and dramatically slashing the cost of ownership for user. Besides, call quality of superlative levels is a given, owing to which everyone, ranging from a home user to a big enterprise is opting for VoIP services.

Choosing a VOIP Provider

If VOIP is going to be brought to regular users in their homes, we can't rely on the traditional phone companies to do it for us. They have a huge stake in maintaining the status quo and would generally like to keep people using the outdated PSTN system. The future is in the hands of innovative phone companies like MagicJack and netTALK which give people an easy way to set up and use VOIP in their own homes. In this article, we look at the major difference between these two providers and which one is recommended.

MagicJack
We've found MagicJack to be an extremely usable VOIP phone system for a regular home user. The concept is simple. A small device (presumably the "magic" jack) plugs into the USB port on your computer. This device has another port which acts as a phone jack. So you simply plug in your phone - that's the extent of the hardware set up.

On the software side, you install a piece of software on your laptop which identifies and sets up all the required data for the system to work. After that, you can just use your phone to make calls to the US and Canada for free! The system works pretty well. The only downside is that you need your computer to be on all the time which is a major irritant for a lot of people and also consumes quite a bit of power.

netTALK
netTALK is a service similar to MagicJack with one big difference - you don't need a running computer. Like MagicJack, netTALK also supplies a nifty little device which your phone plugs into. However, it can get the Internet connection directly from your router (which many people also use to supply their home Wi-Fi.) This router is always on since it hardly uses any power and so it means that whether your computer is switched on or not, you can make and receive free calls to the US and Canada with even less hassle than MagicJack.

Of course, you can also use it with your computer just like you do with MagicJack. The upside is that you can carry the device with you and connect it to any computer or router in the world with an Internet connection and you're good to go.

On cursory examination, it looks like netTALK trumps MagicJack in this one huge area. And for me, that's a pretty big advantage!