VOIP in various forms has been available for some time now. However, it has not had the impact on the standard telephone market that was expected when it first came on the scene. The reason for this is that Voip (Voice over Internet Protocol) means different things to different users.
Free calls to friends and family is one Voip application. But that only works if all parties use the same system. Skype is the dominant system in this area.
When calls are free however, quality of the call is often less than that expected from a regular land line
Cheaper Calls to regular telephones is another area that a Voip system can be used, along with additional phone numbers and calls routed to the user wherever they can find a fast internet connection.
Here, better equipment, faster broadband links and a reliable Voip service are required as the quality of the call is often more important - the person on the other end of the call may be unaware that they are talking over an internet phone.
Many Office Phone Systems now employ a Voip system within the office as well as via broadband links to sub-offices and people working from home. Calls ariving at the main switchboard can be routed to extensions in other offices or homes transparently to the caller.
For the Home User there are voip services that provide an extra line over their broadband connection, and discounted calls to standard phones. Often these services are avaliable for a flat fee including the additional number and a monthly call allowance.
The cheapest entry into VOIP involves using the computer with some free software and a headset for making calls, however, call quality suffers using cheaper headsets and when the computer is tied up with some other function.
Better sound quality and ease of use is provided by USB headsets and phones that connect to the computer and still require software to be run in order to make and receive calls.
A complete solution, freeing the computer from the phone function completely involves a Voip Phone or phone adapter with a Network connection. These allow calls to be made and received over a broadband link without the computer even being switched on - although the broadband connection must be via a Router not a modem.
Problems with Call Quality may be partialy solved by using a Router that supports VOIP QOS (Quality of Service), these assign a priority to data flowing in and out of the broadband connection. Voip needs to be given a higher priority than most other traffic so that call quality does not suffer when (for example) a download begins or email is collected during the call.
If it is not possible to specify the voip ports as High Priority, then an alternative is to specify other known ports such as http (web page access) and ftp as Medium or Low priority. Although this will result in a performance drop for these services, it will mean that calls can be made even though a lengthy download is in progress.
In an office environment, if several voip lines are required, a dedicated broadband connection 'just for voip' guarantees local bandwidth for the calls and still saves money on the cost of additional lines/numbers depending on the number required.
Unfortunately, providing enough local bandwidth is not enough to guarantee high call quality. When using broadband links to a voip provider, the bandwidth available between the broadband and Voip suppliers has just as much effect on call quality and is why (at the lower end of the scale) 100% call quality is not always possible.