VoIP Explained

VoIP services are available in four main configurations. A dedicated VoIP router allows you to connect a standard telephone directly to a cable or DSL modem. A USB adapter plugs into your computer and has a telephone plug that lets you connect a conventional telephone. A "softphone" or software-based VoIP telephone service lets you use the microphone and speakers of your computer to make voice calls over the computer's Internet connection. Dedicated VoIP phones look like cell phones but use a wireless Internet connection instead of the cell phone network to make calls.

VoIP services can be accessed wherever there is an Internet connection. You can move the telephone, adapter or software anywhere, and the service will still work. Since they are not tied to a physical location, a service can have any area code the user would like. Companies can have telephone numbers allowing customers to reach them with local calls even if the customers are located in distant cities. Individuals can request remote area codes that allow friends and family to reach them with a local call.

Since the VoIP service relies on software and the Internet, it is subject to threats similar to other Internet services such as email or e-commerce. Viruses can infect the software and hackers can try to obtain your personal data or use your VoIP account. Emergency services called with 911 over VoIP present a special problem since the VoIP service has no location. The emergency service will sometimes not know the origin of the call and will not know where to send the emergency vehicles.

Conventional telephone service is highly reliable because the power to complete the call is supplied through the telephone wire, the call is connected over a fixed link and it is routed through the telephone company's private network. VoIP requires outside power supplies to routers, computers, adapters and other equipment. The call is sent via data packets through various paths over the open Internet. Power failures, Internet overloading, delays in the Internet or at the broadband connections and technical glitches at Internet servers all affect the reliability and call quality of the VoIP service.