Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP, is one of today's hottest and most confusing new technologies. Because of all the confusion and complexity, Teleco has written this page to inform and educate you. We hope you find it helpful.
VoIP consists of 2 major technologies....

Making Calls Over the Internet

This is the most common use of VoIP. It is also called VoIP lines or trunks. If you have a high speed internet connection, like cable modem, DSL, or T1, you can use your high speed connection to make phone calls on the internet. There are many companies like Vonage, Lingo, and VoiceWing (Verizon) that offer VoIP lines. Cable companies also offer VoIP lines, but only if you have their cable modem service. So, to boil it down, instead of getting your dial tone from Verizon over the traditional phone network, you get your dial done from your internet company. Any phone system made (even an old one) can take advantage of VoIP lines. You do not need an IP based (IP PBX) or even IP compatible phone system.

The advantage of VoIP lines are:

Lower Bills. Usually you pay a flat monthly rate and all your calls in the USA and Canada are free
You can take your number with you. If you move around the corner or across the country with VoIP you can keep your existing phone number even if you move to a different area code.
Multiple area codes. You can get phone numbers from different area codes or even overseas numbers.
Portability. You can move the VoIP router with you and take your service easily with you. You can even set it up to use your laptop and a WiFi connections to make calls from anywhere you can get high speed internet access.
Features. VoIP lines come with Caller ID, Call Forwarding, and lots of other great features.
The problems with VoIP lines are:

Quality is not as good as traditional phone service, but it's close and getting better all the time.
Set up can be very challenging.
Depending on how fast your internet connection is, it may be possible to make several calls at the same time over the internet. However, the more calls you make at once the slower your internet connection will be and the poorer the sound quality of your calls will be.
Faxes, modem, and alarm systems don't work well over VoIP lines. Sometimes they won't work at all.
If you need a lot of lines, the cost of the high speed internet connection may outweigh the savings.
There are some minor technical issue using VoIP lines and Automated Attendants and Voice Mail systems.
If your internet access goes down, all your phone lines go down too.
VoIP lines normally don't work if the power does out, but you can set up back up batteries.
Right now the Government does not tax VoIP service. If that changes VoIP may not be price effective anymore.
Connection Remote Workers or Remote Offices....Voice over IP Stations.

This is the 2nd major use of VoIP. You can "connect" to your office phone system from anywhere there is a high speed internet connection. Using a special VoIP telephone or a Laptop "soft phone" you can work from home or a hotel and it's just like being in your office. You have access to all your phone system features including the intercom, paging, all outside lines, voice mail, and even your extension can ring on your VoIP phone. Best of all, you don't lose the use of your computer. 1 high speed internet connection can run your VoIP phone and your PC at the same time.

With this same technology, you can link multiple office together into one seamless phone system. You can even share lines or the one voice mail system. You can even run your entire phone system over your office LAN or WAN without separate voice wiring (often called Pure IP or IP Based telephone systems), though that is very expensive and complicated and is best suited for very large companies with full time IT staffs.

Voice over IP is very exciting and more and more people are using it everyday. You need an expert to help you understand if VoIP is right for you. The experts at http://www.teleco4.com can help people in the New York and New Jersey area migrate to VoIP and sell and service NEC and Toshiba business telephone systems.



About the Author
Over 10 years in the telephone system and network services field. An expert in both telephony hardware and services.