8
years ago (2009), Australia had already more than 300 VoIP providers, most of
which have offices in the country’s major cities and large urban districts. These
days, regardless of where you live, you will have a good number of choices for
the VoIP services you want.
Most
of these companies offer options of getting the needed hardware from them (to
avoid problems) or the choice of bringing your own that you had bought from
some retail stores or competing providers. This is over and above the many
plans they have for you.
How does it work?
It
had been since the 70s that the technology had been developed and it was only
20 years later that the computer novelty of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)
became a household service. How it works is simple.
Every
time you make a call, your voice is converted into a stream of data. Instead of
sending this over the phone network, the data stream is made to travel over
your broadband Internet connection.
The
data packet is labeled with its destination address (the person you are
calling) and moves through the Internet the same way a web page or file will
download.
Re-assembled data
When
they get to their destination, the packets are re-assembled and converted back
into sound waves (the voice you hear). When this process happens simultaneously
in two directions, you have a phone conversation.
If
the person you are calling is also using a VoIP service provider, your call
will remain in the Internet during its whole journey. If you are dialing a
conventional phone, the call is carried as far as possible over the Internet
before being handed back to the relevant phone network.
Mostly,
the VoIP services usually come with an allocated landline phone number that allows
other people to call you. Here, the call is routed to the nearest handover
point (this is the point of presence or POP). Then, this will travel over to
the Internet to your VoIP phone or computer.
Costs
With
VoIP, low costs are your biggest benefit. Because VoIP service providers avoid
carrier phone networks, their charges for calls are very low. If you are
calling from the same VoIP service, most likely the call is free.
On
VoIP, local and national calls are not time-based, but are usually offered for
a single per-call charge. This is possible because the call is carried over the
Internet to the local area of the person called before it is handed over to the
phone network. (The phone carrier treats it as a local call.)
International
calls are typically charged in increments of cents per minute (which is still
very cheap). Some VoIP providers Queensland even offer “eat-all-you-can” international
calling plans in some countries.
Features
Aside
from the cheap charges, many VoIP providers have other features that are
essentially very advantageous. The reason is that VoIP calls are essentially a
stream of data and can be stored in so many different ways.
Some
of these include email alerts if there’s a message, caller ID, caller blocking,
call diversion and even 3-way calling (mini conferencing). Some free VoIP
options include Skype, Google Talk and Mobile VoIP.
VoIPproviders Queensland are truly revolutionizing the phone industry these days.
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