Voice Over Internet Protocol

Recently I had a 40 minute phone consultation with a client of mine who was in another country. That one phone call ended costing more than the rest of my phone bill for the month.

I'll admit, if I was thinking right I could have used some various long distances services to keep the cost down a bit. That bill was a real shocker!

That got me thinking about even less expensive ways to make phone calls... like via the internet.

Up until recently, there were few ways to use the internet to place telephone calls. Unfortunately many of these solutions were awkward and the results weren't the best. There would be delays and bad connections.

The people using the old methods weren't complaining much because they were able to dial long distance calls for free.

Enter The Big Competition

Recent court rulings have opened the way for companies (big and small) to offer long distance calls via the internet without the fear of lawsuits.

Now most of the bigger conventional long distance carriers are getting into the act. In addition to AT+T, other big competitors are also getting involved such as Time Warner, Sprint and MCI.

Better Than Ever

One good thing about the big corporations getting involved is that they are now pouring their research dollars into it. They see the inevitable future and unless they want to be part of it, they are going to be left behind.

Because of this extra research, the internet based phone services are much better than ever before. In fact, they are basically indistinguishable from normal long distance services.

The only difference to be seen?

There is a special router box connected to the customers cable modems. It is very similar in size to the cable modems already necessary.

Basically when you pick up the phone, it uses the cable modem line to place the call. The call gets routed to a local phone routing station near where the call is going to, and the call is made. This is all done automatically with no extra work involved on your part.

To see a couple of online interviews involving this major development in long distance calling you can check out this page.

In addition to the online videos and there is the transcripts which demonstrate the upcoming technology.

Additional Benefits

As if saving money wasn't enough, there are other benefits of Internet phone calls.

Because the calls are being placed over the computer, there is more functions available to you when you are using the service. Some of these functions include:

• Log into to your phone account from anywhere on the internet to see who's called you and who called without leaving a message
• Have the service automatically send your answering machine messages to you via email
• Remotely forward your calls to another phone until you get home

Eager To Get Started?

You don't necessarily have to wait for the big companies to roll their services into your town.

There are free versions available right now that can accomplish some of the same things.

For example the Skype allows you to place internet calls for free.

A drawback to this program is that the other person must also have Skype installed and running on their computer. You can think of it as internet messaging gone to the next level.

This particular program is put out by the makers of KaZaA so I am not sure how much I would trust it to be spyware free.

It is something you should look into more deeply before using the Skype program.

The programs that eventually make their way to you won't require the other person to do anything special. You will need to have the special equipment on your end but that's it.

The Caveats

Unless you happen to be in the test area of some of these companies, don't expect to be running out and signing on immediately. They are still working on getting everything in place but it is definitely coming to you at some point.

The prediction is that within a few years, this will be the standard way of placing long distance calls.

You will of course need a high speed internet connection. For those of you without one, that will have to be in place for you first.

Bottom Line

How much you will save depends upon your usage and what plans they come up with. The good news is that competition will keep many of these big names under control a bit.

With the potential for hundreds of millions of people about to be using this technology, the entrepreneurial side of me starts to get thinking. What opportunities are available for someone wanting to get in at the beginning stages of this major technological trend about to happen?...

Maybe ebooks or informative sites with affiliate links for the equipment perhaps...?

Something to think about. It is a situation that I will be watching with interest.