Open Journalism For All - News, Documentaries And Information Services

Strangely the Samsung E840 has not been particularly successful in terms of sales, which is a pity as it is a very nice little phone. Like other comparable mobile phones from Samsung the visual design is very contemporary and would appeal to a broad range of users.The E840 from Samsung is a sleek and stylish mobile phone. With this phone Samsung have produced something which is pretty well featured for the price.

The Samsung E840 is has bluetooth, so it will work with with the vast majority of mobile accessories like wireless headsets. The E840 is compatible with 2G GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 . A 2 MP, 1600×1200 pixels, video(CIF) camera is integrated into the E840 camera. A WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML (NetFront 3.4), browser allows this mobile handset to be used for mobile Internet access. The E840 has Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3 ring tones enabled along with a vibrating tone . The battery cell usage the E840 is 4:30 talk time and 360 hrs reserve time. The battery fitted to the E840 is a Standard battery, Li-Ion 690 mAh,. In terms of colours this phone is available in, Ice Silver, Candy Pink, Topaz Gold and Noble Blue. The E840 weighs in at 99 g,. The E840 is very compact. In terms of the the display the mobile phone is fitted with a 2.2 inch screen, which is an average display taking into consideration the alternatives for the money. The display type on this mobile phone is a TFT, 256K colors. Additionally the E840 has:

Although this is quite a recent model, the Samsung E840 faces some stiff competition. This means it is possible to find some great deals on this mobile handset.

There are countless special deals available on the internet to possible mobile handset users. For example by using a mobile phone comparison site you may see a free line rental mobile phone.

The Nokia 6280 is available has been a very popular slider mobile handset since its first appearance. For the money the Nokia 6280 is reasonably well featured. The functional design of this handset is average but practical.

The screen is a TFT, 256K colors. The Nokia 6280 comes equipped with bluetooth, making compatibility with the majority of up to date mobile accessories very convenient. The Nokia 6280 is equipped with Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3 ring tones including a vibrating tone. The Nokia 6280 is that is fitted to a Li-Ion 970 mAh (BP-6M), battery. Regarding the all important battery cell life the Nokia 6280 has 200 hrs standby time and 5:00 talk time. For a handset in this class, in terms of weight, the Nokia 6280 scores well against the competition at 115 g. The Nokia 6280 is available in, Carbon Black and Graphite grey. The 6280 supports 2G GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900 and 3G UMTS 2100. This mobile phone has a 2 MP, 1600×1200 pixels, VGA video, flash; secondary video call VGA camera. For mobile Internet users as WAP 2.0/xHTML browser is included. The 6280 also has:

If you are interested in a great bargain, buy online where there are plenty of good deals to select from. Buying online can save you a significant amount of money, believe it or not, it is possible to get a Nokia 6280 with 12 months free line rental , which, in theory should not cost anything to run.

If you haven’t been on a trip to the moon or have been lost in the deep dark depths of the amazon rain forest, then you MUST have come across the term VoIP? VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol and it is the ability to transmit voice over the Internet to either a receiving computer or telephone.

VoIP uses what is referred to as the Packet Switching Network. Standard landline telephones use the Circuit Switching Network. The entire landline telephone system uses what is known as PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network).

Are you confused? Here is a simple explanation. The main difference between Packet Switching (the system used by VoIP) and Circuit Switching (the standard telephone system), is that Packet Switching makes use of sending (data) or Packets over the Internet while Circuit Switching uses electrical circuits to enable telephones to make a connection. If you can picture the old switchboard operators, wearing headsets frantically trying to connect the right caller with the correct receiver then this is what Circuit Switching is like. Packet Switching is used to transfer data at high speeds all around the Internet.

Packet Switching converts audio formats into small byte sized data packets and transmits them at high speed over the Internet. It then reassembles them on the other person’s phone or computer in real time.

A simple form of VoIP is used with many free Instant Messaging programs. Instant Messaging programs have been utilizing the science of VoIP technology for years. A computer user can download an Instant Messaging program, connect their computer speakers and a microphone, and make a free long distance (or international) call to another pc user. Many Instant Messaging programs are incorporating VoIP services. You can use Yahoo Messenger, AOL, Skype, ICQ, MSN, and Google to make pc-to-pc free phone calls.

Believe it or not, VoIP technology is NOT relatively new it has been around for a while now; it is just becoming more and more popular as day to day computer users are discovering how easy it is to use. In the late 1990’s, programs were springing up across the Internet offering some form of free VoIP technology. Most of those are either no longer existent or now charge a standard monthly service fee for the use of their product. But one thing remains certain, VoIP is producing higher standards of quality every day, and it has certainly proved that it is a viable force for telecommunication needs for the future.

Many telephone companies are expanding to allow for monthly VoIP services. Companies such as Sprint, Verizon, and AOL are all offering VoIP plans.

VoIP is also prized for its ability to integrate many forms of telecommunication applications into one package. VoIP can handle data, audio, video, E-Mail, and web based applications simultaneously. Just imagine - with your voice enabled Instant Messaging program, you can hook up a web cam and use video, while you are speaking with your buddy on your microphone and listening to them with your speakers, and you can type back and forth with your chat program. You could also write an email while you are doing all of these other tasks at the same time.

This makes VoIP extremely viable to businesses. It is also a cost effective choice of telephone service. The potential for VoIP’S use is nearly limitless.

VoIP telephone service providers are becoming more popular as well. Many people are now starting to realise the benefits available to them by switching to VoIP. First, VoIP costs significantly less than the standard telephone service, and this is a great attraction for bringing in new customers. Many VoIP service plans will let you make unlimited long distance calls or provide you with a plan for very inexpensive rates.

Many of the paid for features that are often included with traditional PSTN land line telephone services are often included free of charge with VoIP services. These include features such as Call Waiting, Call Forwarding, Call Block, Three-Way- Calling, Voice Mail, and more.

Here is another great benefit to VoIP services which is proving very popular with customers. Many VoIP service providers will let you keep your existing phone number, or at the very least, will allow you to select a new area code. This option has great appeal to many people. Just think, now you can select an area code for the same town where most of your friends or family live. By choosing this area code, not only are you still getting a great deal with your VoIP services, but now your family and friends will save money whenever they call. For them, all calls to you will be billed as a local and not a long distance call.

VoIP has proved that it is a viable force in the field of telecommunications, we can be sure that VoIP is here to stay.

For more information, news and resources about VoIP, Skype and Internet telephones, please visit How VoIP Works.

Ever since the birth of the internet, entrepreneurs with an eye
to the future have predicted that voice communications –
telephone services — would eventually be merged with internet
services. With the widespread adoption of VoIP, that day has
come, and it is causing a revolution in the telephone industry.

In simple terms, a VoIP service allows you to use your broadband
(high-speed) connection to place telephone calls over the
Internet. It is not difficult to see how this is rocking the
telecom industry to the core.

It’s all about cost

Two things have made traditional telephone service providers so
powerful. Their monopoly over local telephone services, and
their traditional stranglehold on lucrative and usually
over-priced “long distance” services. Both of these captive
markets have been seriously eroded over the last few years, as
the reality of VoIP has started to sink in. In anticipation of
the revolution that is now upon us, most aspects of telephone
service have gradually been opened up to competition. Most of us
now have a choice of providers for both local and long distance
telephone service. And the biggest reason for the new
competitive environment is the recognition that the widespread
adoption of VoIP is inevitable.

The development of VoIP

VoIP has been developing slowly over the last ten years or so.
Early implementations allowed computer users to talk to each
other through their computers. This was only feasible if you had
a voice-enabled computer, a reliable and stable internet
connection, and a software program installed on your computer
that made it all work.

The advantage of this computer-to-computer communication was
that you could completely bypass the traditional telephone
system and talk to anyone in the world free of charge — as long
as they had a similar setup to yours. But the disadvantages of
communicating this way were also obvious. You could only
communicate this way using your computer. You were completely
dependent on often unstable dial-up internet connections. And
the person at the other end of the conversation had to also be
“online” with a voice-enabled computer.

Today’s VoIP has solved these problems

Today’s versions of VoIP have left these problems in the past.
Two things were required to make VoIP technology feasible on a
large scale basis, and both of these things have now been
realized.

First, broadband internet service has been widely adopted. This
makes it possible to have stable internet connections that are
“always on”. Second, the industry has developed a simple,
inexpensive method of integrating the IP network (the internet)
with the traditional telephone system. This allows a user of
VoIP to use his or her own telephone to call anyone else in the
world who has a traditional telephone connection.

This is where we are today. As traditional telecom companies
like AT&T, Bell, Qwest, and SBC develop their own
implementations of VoIP technology the way has been opened up
for a myriad of choices for consumers. Today’s VoIP allows
anyone with a broadband internet connection to place calls to
anyone with an ordinary telephone connection, anywhere in the
world.

How you save money with VoIP

The major advantages of VoIP are lower cost, and greater
flexibility with no significant decrease in voice quality.

First, a VoIP subscriber does not need a traditional phone line.
Instead, you are assigned a phone number by your VoIP provider.
Prices for these numbers can be as low as $9 usd per month.

Second, most VoIP subscribers will purchase a “bundle” of
services that includes unlimited incoming calls and unlimited
long distance calls to anyone within a defined geographic area.
For instance, VoIP unlimited calling plans to anyone in the USA
or Canada start at around $20 per month.

Third, most VoIP service providers offer free bundled features
that most traditional telephone companies charge for. These
include free voicemail, call forwarding, caller ID, call
waiting, call waiting ID, 3 way calling, speed dialing, and many
more of the services that the traditional companies are
constantly trying to sell you.

Greater flexibility and portability

Another significant advantage is the flexibility and portability
of VoIP phone service. With VoIP your personal telephone number
is programmed into the converter that acts as a bridge between
your internet connection and your regular telephone.

This has several important advantages. As already mentioned you
do not need an actual land line. Instead your telephone number
is assigned to your converter (not to your geographic land
line). So you can take your converter with you anywhere in the
world, plug it into any available broadband connection, and
immediately start using your regular number to make and receive
calls.

This flexibility also lets you choose a number in an area code
where most of your long distance calls originate. For instance,
if many of your friends, family, business associates or
customers are calling from a specific city that traditionally
involved a long distance call for them, you could choose a
number in that area code and immediately turn all their calls to
you into local (free) calls for them.

The advantages of VoIP are many, and the savings can be very
significant. So it is no wonder that VoIP has become the hottest
telecom technology of the decade. Informed consumers and
businesses around the world are adopting this technology at a
phenomenal rate.

118118 is a British provider of directory assistance facilities, helping folk to get phone line data amongst additional practical info.

118118 make use of ‘The Number UK Ltd’ to supply directory enquiry information - the Number is a subsidiary of United States Business InfoNXX - the very largest independent directory enquiry provider on the planet.

Directory enquiries before now was connected to through ringing 192 (Britain), even so, the marketplace was relaxed in ‘02 and in August ‘03 192 shut up shop.

As well as offering a directory enquiry resource, 118118 also offer a resource by which you may ask 118 118’s employees a question, including’ What is the tallest construction in Tokelau’ and they then can supply the answer to your question, by mobile, or, if you prefer, via a text message (exceedingly effective whilst you’re at quizzes!)

118118 introduced a number of remarkable advertising campaigns over the past few year, making 2 men who have droopy ‘taches, well known for promoting 118118’s service. The blokes have have appeared in several loony roles, including a caricature of ‘The A-team’. 118 are, now, a super influential piece of the 118118 brand across the United Kingdom, and are readily recognizable.

VoIP or Voice Over Internet Protocol has been simmering for the past few years. This year the market has heated up. Many large businesses have jumped on the VoIP bandwagon and have realized savings of 50-percent or more off their phone bills. VoIP providers are competing to add to or replace large PBX systems for the corporations and add web conferencing capabilities plus wireless VoIP (wVoIP) over LAN’s as well.

Hospitals and other large, fragmented workforces are discovering the value of using wireless VoIP phones to converse with one another quickly and efficiently while in different wings, floors or buildings of a large facility. This kind of wireless VoIP setup can have huge cost savings over cell phones and is more efficient that using pagers.

While business VoIP has caught on in the corporate landscape, residential VoIP is still trying to take hold. This is largely because of a couple of current disadvantages of VoIP. First, not all current VoIP systems have power backups. When the power goes out in a residence, the landline is still operational. Since VoIP works over a high-speed Internet connection, which requires power, if the power goes down, so does the VoIP connection. This will be of concern to many concerned about emergency situations. The good news is that many VoIP hardware providers are starting to deliver systems with power backup to address just this issue.

The second drawback of residential VoIP is that not all current VoIP service providers offer full, 24-7 emergency 911 service. After hour calls in Florida, may be mistakenly rerouted to Idaho for instance. This is also about to change. The Federal Communications Commission has mandated that all phone service providers offer e911 service as standard. According to the FCC, “All interconnected VoIP providers must automatically provide E9-1-1 services to all customers as a standard, mandatory feature without customers having to specifically request this service. VoIP providers may not allow their customers the option to “opt-out” of E9-1-1 service.”

Clearly, though, residential VoIP is heading towards direct competition with the local phone companies’ coveted landlines. A couple of years ago at a meeting in SBC’s Publishing division, one of the executive managers cried, “Landlines, we need to stop losing landlines!” This was in response to cell phone companies taking away market share from the local Baby Bells. Now that VoIP is on the radar, the executive management teams for the local and long-distance phone companies must be huddling in their back offices, trying to figure out how they will stop the bleeding in the years to come.

With VoIP costing far less that traditional local and long-distance phone service and overcoming the last of the residential hurdles, one can be sure that consumers will soon be taking notice. Many will also start wearing t-shirt like “VoIP VIP” and “Got VoIP?” to herald in the new era in telecommunications.

Copyright © 2005 VoIP Service Providers3

VoIP Service Providers - Marvin Bellnick writes for VoIP Service Providers, a company dedicated to publishing the latest happenings in the Voice Over IP industry.

“As business people we manufacture shin pads, or we distribute cat food, or we evangelize, but should we be considering VoIP? Will it make us more money, or save us time?” -Dennis Schooley

So what’s all this VoIP hype anyway? I mean we all know that our voice can be delivered to the four corners of the globe over telephone lines. (Actually, I missed that part of second grade math where they taught us that a ball has corners, but everybody says it, so I’ll accept it). Alex G. Bell, the second most famous resident of Brantford, Ontario, right after Wayne Gretzky of course, led us down the voice transmission path.

We’re also fully aware of the Internet. Otherwise where would we get our sports scores, weather reports, horoscopes, and genealogy fixes. So why do we care about the real-time transmission of our voice, in telephone quality, using Internet protocol (VoIP)?

Presumably the whole concept was created to deliver some benefit to us techno-ignorant dwellers of the house of the masses. As business people we manufacture shin pads, or we distribute cat food, or we evangelize, but should we be considering VoIP? Will it make us money, or save us time? Will it make us more efficient as a Manufacturer, Distributor, or Evangelist? If the answer to those questions is no, then we shouldn’t even think about it. So let’s explore those questions. After all, it’s all about results.

Geoffrey Moore introduced the concept that a product must cross the chasm of market acceptance in the ‘Technology Adoption Life Cycle’ in his book Crossing the Chasm. In his next book, Inside the Tornado, Moore talks about the tornado of market acceptance that lies like a siren beyond the chasm. It appears that VoIP is clawing up the far wall of the chasm, but we don’t know for sure whether it will find that toe hold to crawl out, and catch the swirling tornado winds of fortune. All indicators are that it’s going to happen. Dorothy and the Tin Man are holding their breath.

Perhaps the most significant indicator is that the ‘business-prevention specialists’, a title I usually reserve for lawyers, but in this case is applied affectionately to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), have begun the task of investigating what should be regulated in the world of VoIP. The FCC has already delivered a ruling on a VoIP product offered by AT&T. That fact in itself should make us all take notice that there must be something good coming, or they wouldn’t be showing up at the dance to make sure the band isn’t too loud.

Larry Stocker, of Schooley Mitchell Telecom Consultants in Kansas City says, ‘if my clients’ interest in VoIP is any indicator, then I think there will be a big increase in the provision of the service. We have quadrupled our number of assignments in the last six months alone, for clients that wish to select the right VoIP service, at the right price, from the right supplier. That seems to be a good indicator of market acceptance.

Another good indicator would be the number of suppliers, including the tier-one Telco’s that have entered the fray to provide VoIP in their own particular flavor. That fact should cause us pause. It should cause us to challenge the original premise that ‘talking over the Internet will be free’, and that there will be no long distance cost any more. If that were the case, would all of these big companies - the renowned leaders in the telecom world - be scrambling to get to market to provide the service? Maybe it’s just their way of giving back to society. I’m more inclined to think there are huge profits at stake.

And now you say, ‘but I’ve already got the Internet, why isn’t it free’. Well first of all, you’ll need some kind of device that delivers ‘telephone quality’ over the Internet. Remember, I said ‘real time’. Those $20 microphones just don’t do it. In addition, have you ever tried to put someone on hold on the Internet, or call forward, or take a voice message you know, the things that businesses do everyday.

Presumably that’s what all these suppliers are running the relay for to sell you that ’stuff’ at the end of the race. Whether they sell it to you outright, or whether you rent it from them for a monthly service fee isn’t the point. The point is that there is a cost to get access, as well as proper business applications. Included in the cost, which will be recovered through charges to you, are signaling, routing, protocol, and interface technologies. Oops, that’s not layman’s talk.

Presumably that’s what all these suppliers are running the relay for to sell you that ’stuff’ at the end of the race.

In addition to the access ’stuff’ as a layman would say, there has to be access to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), or I would never be able to call my mother. VoIP calls have to terminate on everyday telephone sets because I’m pretty sure my mom doesn’t have a VoIP set up at her house. She doesn’t have a bankcard, won’t stay in a hotel that doesn’t have ‘real keys’, and still loves her dial phone (definitely in Moore’s technology buying group called Skeptics or Laggards). There is no way I’ll be talking to her over her Internet connection she doesn’t have one, and never will. So this VoIP thing will have to access the normal phone system. That’s where the FCC and CRTC step in. Their position is that if the PSTN will be accessed, then access fees will have to be paid by the providers. And up goes the cost.

In his book, Implementing Voice Over IP, Bhumip Khasnabish, says “The goals of VoIP implementation are to achieve (a) significant savings in network maintenance and operations costs and (b) rapid rollout of new services.”

O.K., so it’s not free but there should be ’significant savings’ if that holds true. Assuming those savings will be passed on, it should make me more money through cost reduction. Presumably these ‘new services’ will be designed to save me time, make me more efficient, or provide easier access to my target markets. Just think if one step can be eliminated in the manufacture of shin pads, if distribution channels for cat food are more streamlined, or the Evangelist can find more heathens to convert.

Bill Webster, another Schooley Mitchell consultant in Calgary, Alberta says, “the key is to assess the reliability and quality of service. If the quality is what you need, and by the way, it’s improving every day, then a cost-benefit analysis is required comparing your current access to VoIP. Often times VoIP is the winner. As new services with VoIP become available over time, that win will be even more evident for the regular business person.”

So there you have it. Should you or shouldn’t you, as the title queries? It seems that the answer is akin to; should I or shouldn’t I, when Alexander Graham introduced the telephone concept in the first place. I’m pretty sure that everyone, at least those that are alive today, eventually got one. Bell had to deal with laggards too.

It seems that this is the way the market will develop if the supply and regulatory indicators hold true. VoIP is not out of the chasm yet, but when this many suppliers enter the arena, then functionality is driven up to deliver the ‘better mouse trap’, price is driven down through competitive alternatives, reliability (the bugs are worked out) is driven up by the same forces, and you have emergence.

It seems that if you take Webster’s advice and prepare the proper cost-benefit analysis, you’re likely going to be getting your kite ready for the VoIP tornado.

Copyright Schooley Mitchell Telecom Consultants 2004

Dennis Schooley is the Founder of Schooley Mitchell Telecom Consultants, a Professional Services Franchise Company. He writes for publication, as well as for http://schooleymitchell.blogging,com and http://franchises.blogging.com, in the subject areas of Franchising, and Technology for the Layman. http://www.schooleymitchell.com, 888-311-6477, dschooley@schooleymitchell.com.

VoIP stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol and is the process of placing a voice call over the Internet using Internet Protocol (IP) Packets. Packets are bits of data that are passed, or routed, from node to node, until they are received by the final digital device (node). The final Node then turns the packet of information back into an analog voice stream that can be heard over a regular telephone.

While both types of phone service, VoIP and Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS), rely on switching the telephone call through the quickest connection. The POTS telephone call creates a static, dedicated connection, traveling over the same exact route in both directions. This connection stays open until the callers break the connection. The packet switched phone call over the VoIP system actually contains the complete destination address of where it is going, and each packet can take different routes and different amounts of time to reach their destination.

To make a VoIP telephone call, the user has to have two things, a high-speed Internet connection (256kbs or higher) and a broadband telephone adapter. The telephone adapter plugs into the users existing system, either directly into the modem, or into a router. Many of the new broadband phone adapters have a router built into them, so that the user just plugs it directly into their high-speed modem and they can then plug their computer or router into the broadband phone adapter.

In most situations, it is best to have the router built into the broadband phone adaptor, so that if the user is making a telephone call and on the computer at the same time, the router knows to give most of the bandwidth to the phone call, thereby reduce lag time and the frequency of dropped calls. While the new VoIP phone systems are a hundred times better that the ones seen just two or three years ago, they can still drop calls when confronted with a slowdown in the network between the caller and the person receiving the call.

So, while the new VoIP can save the average user a lot of money, VoIP telephone service is still only practical for home and small business users, since the stability isn’t there that is required by large business ventures. Anyone who is thinking of switching to VoIP should remember that anytime their Internet service goes down, so does their phone service.

For more information on VoIP phone service is available at http://computer.howstuffworks.com/ip-telephony.htm and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VOIP_Phones.

To see a complete list of VoIP Phone companies and what they charge for service in the United States, visit http://www.calling-plans.com/broadband-phone.html.

Greg Anliker
http://www.calling-plans.com

VoIP, or Voice Over Internet Protocol, is an enigma for many
businesses. There are many flavors of VoIP and many pros and cons that you need to be aware of when considering which service to choose. One goal of this article is to help you decipher through the technospeak so that you can make an informed decision that will save you time and money.

The first thing you need to know about VoIP Service is that it
can replace your local phone company. Whether you have just one
POTS (plain old telephone service) line or a voice T1 (24 bundled dedicated lines), a VoIP solution is meant to replace your phone company. Instead of using your local phone company’s voice connection, VoIP will digitize your voice signal and send it over an internet connection.

In order for your voice to transmit digitally through the
internet, you need to be sure you have enough bandwidth to
facilitate the communication link. A minimum of a DSL line is
required, but most larger companies will want a T1 line - a
dedicated link directly to the internet that is guaranteed to be
up over 99.999% of the time. Since you will be entrusting all of
your business voice communication to this new technology, your
connection to the internet becomes the critical link and you
don’t want to risk a company-wide phone outage to save a few
hundred dollars on your bandwidth connection. To help with this
DS3-Bandwidth.com has developed software that will allow you to
generate a T1 or DS3 price in just seconds.

Once you have your high-speed internet connection taken care of,
it’s time to select a VoIP Service Provider - the company that
will actually route your digitized voice signal to a real
telephone on the other end. In essence, your VoIP Carrier will
become your long distance carrier. The service providers
Business-VoIP-Solution.com work with offer unlimited telephone
calls to the United States and Canada, all for one fixed price.
That’s a good place to start your search. For companies who
average more than $40 in local and long distance usage per
employee, VoIP is well worth the initial investment.

There are likewise other hidden benefits of VoIP Service, the
main benefit being the reduced bandwidth required to conduct a
regular telephone conversation. Since a VoIP transmission only
requires 32KB of bandwidth, you can fix up to 24 ‘VoIP lines’ on
a data T1, and still have 768KB left over for dedicated
high-speed internet access! This means that you can migrate your
entire phone system on to your existing T1 and still have half of the bandwidth allocated for data.

Other benefit of VoIP lies in the prioritization of the digitized voice signals that are generated when you speak. In the event no one is talking, the VoIP line does not transmit any data. This allows your T1 line to dynamically allocate bandwidth as it is needed, instead of permanently blocking out an entire channel of data.

Lastly, the MAJOR benefit of VoIP telephone systems is that they
come with a very rich feature set. Some common features include:
Unlimited Minutes, Local Number Porting (LNP), Personalized
Voicemail, Unlimited In-Network Calling, Caller ID, Caller ID
Blocking, Call Waiting, Call Waiting ID, Call Forwarding, 3-way
Conferencing, Call Return *69 activates, Online Management &
Billing, Choose Your Own Area Code, *70 Call Waiting Disable,
*78/*79 Do Not Disturb, *77/*87 Anonymous Call Blocking,
Distinctive Ringing for Virtual Numbers, Virtual Phone Numbers
all over the world, Enhanced 911, and Toll Free Services. You
just can’t get all that service with regular phone service
without paying extra fees and surcharges. These features are
standard with most business VoIP plans!

Michael is the owner of FreedomFire
Communications….including Business-VoIP-Solution and
DS3-Bandwidth.com. Michael also authors Broadband Nation where you’re always welcome to drop in and catch up on the latest BroadBand news, tips, and insights.

Security is an obvious concern when it comes to any sort of
technology, but even more so with any technology that is run
through the Internet. Because VoIP runs through
the Internet any information can be intercepted by anyone at any
time. Because many things go through phone line, private
information can wind up in the hands of the wrong person.
Obviously, nothing is a one hundred percent guarantee because as
fast as technology is made to keep information from getting in
the wrong hands, the wrong hands are working to figure out how
to break through those systems. Luckily, VoIP security is
becoming more and more well rounded all the time and soon it’ll
be so well done that even the best of the best won’t be back to
get their hands on personal information.

One of the ways that most VoIP providers secure their customers
personal information is through the tunneling and encryption
process. These techniques keep hackers and those will ill intent
from capturing information packets as they pass through the
internet. Most VoIP providers use Layer 2 tunneling and an
encryption method called Secure Sockets Layer or SSL to keep
anyone from getting into the information they shouldn’t have.
The security of VoIP will undoubtedly change and become more
sophisticated as technology allows and consumers demand more
security and more privacy. For some time to come VoIP security
will remain a huge concern, just because it’s widely known that
all information that passes over the internet could potentially
fall into the hands of someone with ill intent.

Don’t let VoIP security issues keep you from getting VoIP
services. The benefits of VoIP far outweigh the security risks.
The bottom line is that you are more at risk every time you get
online sending emails and paying bills than you will be every
time you use your VoIP services. So, the features and
convenience are well worth the small security risk associated
with the internet access associated with it!