There are both good and bad things about VoIP.  Most of the time, it is an excellent tool for accomplishing the tasks that you want and need to do.  In fact, it may just be the phone of the future in the next decade, but for that to happen, the need for high speed internet access must be met by all that desire it.

As you are considering VoIP, you must pay attention to the needs that you have in it.  There is much to consider both with advantages and disadvantages.

The Advantages

It is always good to start with the positives, and VoIP technology does offer many of them.  This is especially true if you already have your service set up in the way of already having a broadband connection and having the necessary equipment (microphone, headset, and/or router.)  If you have this, then you are already set to be benefited by all that can be offered to you.

No Land Line:  One of the first benefits that you get by having VoIP is the need to remove your land line telephone service.  Don’t worry, there’s no need to dig up the yard here.  Simply disconnecting from expensive long distance is one of the best benefits that VoIP will offer to you.  Without the need for a traditional landline, you are able to stop paying for it, too!

Unlimited Communication:  Some of the better VoIP service providers allow you to communicate with people around the world for as long as you want, with little cost.  For example, if you were to purchase a flat rate service for VoIP, you would be able to connect to your friend in Japan that has it and talk to them over the internet for literally hours on end without the fear of cost.

This is a benefit that people have been seeking simply because of how devastating it can be to not pick up the phone and call a loved one because it is too expensive to do so.  Now, you can easily do so without the worry of cost with a flat rate service.

Multiple Connections:  Most VoIP service providers allow you to communicate to others as you see fit.  But, what if you want to talk to several people all at one time?  This is called 3way calling on traditional land lines and it can be a costly investment which is why most people don’t even bother to get it added to their phone lines.

With VoIP, you can connect and talk to many people, as many as you want, without having to pay this additional fee.  That can leave you with just the benefits that you are looking for in VoIP.

No Broadband Cost:  With some of the better VoIP service providers, you’ll be able to stop paying for your broadband service because it will be part of your VoIP connection.  This means that you can lower your costs of connecting to the internet significantly just by using VoIP technology.

You will need to find out if you can actually get this benefit by asking your VoIP service provider if your broadband service is included in your VoIP package.

Low Cost:  Even with the most expensive VoIP service providers, you still get the benefits of having a low cost when you use VoIP technology over long distance technology.  The costs are lower because there are less people and companies involved in your transaction. 

Since your connection is traveling through the internet, it doesn’t need to go through landlines, which continuously need to be repaired, maintained and new lines need to be put in.  Instead, the internet’s big network allows you to connect to it without much cost, other than the cost of the broadband service you have.

The cost to make a traditional call from your computer to a traditional land line is still quite inexpensive in the realm of traditional long distance calls.

No Cost:  In some cases, there is no cost to using VoIP technology.  You will be able to connect to the internet with your broadband technology and talk to someone else that has VoIP using your computer without cost.  Computer to computer conversations may be at no cost to you, by some VoIP service providers.

Let’s say that you live in California and you want to call your good friend in France.  When you do so over the internet using your VoIP technology that you both must have and make this connection over the use of your computer, you don’t have to pay for the interaction.  In this regard, your conversation, even overseas, is free.

Take It With You:  When you use VoIP as you travel, you literally can pick it up and take your connection, and your low long distance rates, to a minimum.  That’s because most VoIP service providers provide you with the ability to make VoIP portable with you.

For example, if you are traveling, you may have had to pick up the phone and call your spouse with high, very high, costs.  Have you noticed the in room charges for long distance like this?

But, when you use VoIP technology, this doesn’t happen.  You can use your same VoIP plan that you are using to connect to others while you are traveling.  To do this, you do need to have a broadband connection.  That isn’t as much of a problem as you may think with coffee houses and airports (even shopping malls for that matter) offering “hot spots” or internet connectivity.

To make this happen, you will need to use your headset or you will need to have a VoIP specialized phone that allows you to do this, which may come as part of your service package.  Just sign into your service and then you can instantly make your call.

When you use VoIP to travel with, you don’t have to worry about your cell phone minutes or even have to worry about the roaming charges you may be prone to if you use your mobile phone.  There’s no need to worry about cell phone coverage or long distance fees when you use VoIP in this manner.

Portable With You: Almost the same as using VoIP while you travel is the benefit of being able to use VoIP for all of your portability needs.  You can use VoIP technology to allow you to make phone to phone VoIP calls from virtually anywhere that there is a connection to the broadband internet.

For example, if you are in Rome and you want to call someone either next door or around the world, you can do so using your VoIP service, even if it is based out of your home in the United States.  Your VoIP service provider will give you a VoIP phone number that will follow you around the world, wherever you decide to go.

By doing this, you can make calls anywhere, no matter where you are, using your VoIP service.  All you would have to do is to plug your VoIP service into any broadband service provider.  Of course, it would have to be a VoIP capable phone that you are using.

Light Phones:  Along with this traveling and portability that VoIP can provide to you, we should mention that the portable phones that you will use to make this happen are just like cell phones.  They are light, easy to use and they allow you to make VoIP calls, which may even be free.  What’s not to love about them?

Free Features:  Another benefit to using VoIP is that you get all of your favorite features in using traditional calling without cost.

This includes things like call waiting, caller identification, call forwarding, three way calls, and voicemail and so on.  You can use these services without any type of problem too.  It is part of the ease that VoIP makes making calls. 

Many traditional phone lines make you pay for these services either as an additional service or as a cost per use feature.  In either case, the costs can be high and are not necessarily all that worthwhile with a traditional phone line.  But, with VoIP, it’s free.

Send Data: With VoIP, you can also communicate through data without a cost to it.  For example, you can send data from one business to the next business, without an additional cost in doing so.  You can send photos to your family and friends, send messages to your family, using text services, and even download and send pictures too.  There is quite a lot of benefit to doing this as the costs of doing so otherwise, such as with a fax or having to use postage even, are much higher.

As you can see, there are many different benefits to using VoIP technology.  You’ll easily be able to plug into this service and get the most out of it.  If you are interested in any of these things, like being able to talk free, to travel and talk without roaming charges or even just to be able to send pictures without having to pay an arm and a leg for them, then VoIP is definitely something you should consider.

The Disadvantages

Being fair to you, it is important to provide you with a look at some of the problems that come from using VoIP technology.  While many of these problems were first brought out with great concern, there have been new advances that can help you to overcome some of the worry that you have over them.

Powers Needed:  One of the largest problems that face those that are switching to VoIP technology is the need for electricity.  While you home is currently up and running with it, you don’t think about it.  But, what happens when the power goes out?

Should the power go out on you when you have VoIP service, you may lose your connection to the internet which means that you may lose your ability to pick up the phone and all others.  In a time of crisis, this is an important service that you need to have.

Some VoIP service providers are allowing you to have or are even providing themselves, some type of power backup.  If the power were to cut off, you would have the ability to use the backup if it was necessary to do so.  But, not all providers offer this ability.

In order to overcome this problem, you do need to invest in a backup or you need to insure that your VoIP provider is offering it to you.

No White Pages:  Another of the disadvantages of VoIP stem from the inability of being able to use white page directory.  For example, because you are not using a traditional landline, your telephone number may not be able to be used in a white page listing.

You also may not have access to white page listings when you need to look up someone’s phone number, such as when you are calling 411 for information.  On the other hand, you should be able to do this when you are just searching for information from your computer terminal anyway.

This is also something that is changing with more and more companies that offer VoIP offering white page directory service to you.

Find out what your VoIP service provider has to offer you in this regard.

VoIP And 911

One of the largest concerns regarding VoIP is that it may not connect to local 911 services.  This is actually one of the largest and most important considerations that you have.  But, in recent months, new technology has helped to bridge the gap at least somewhat.

Here’s the problem.  When you pick up the phone to call 911, you need help.  If you can not access 911 for your public safety and emergency preparedness needs, you can be placed in trouble and the FCC has been working on resolving this problem for some time.

When VoIP technology first came onto the market, consumers began contacting the FCC in the United States in an effort to complain about not being able to dial 911 and get their local police, fire or rescue services fast enough to their home.  This inability to contact emergency services has left people in a public safety problem that’s critical in regards to the potential risks.

The Federal Communication Commission has studied and has come back with new requirements for VoIP technology.  It has imposed the new Enhanced 911, which is also called E911.

With older technology for VoIP, you could have picked up the phone and dialed 911, but you may or may not have been able to get in touch with the right agencies.  But, even if you did, there was no way for those governmental protection agencies to help you unless you could give your physical address.

Because the 911 technology of old did allow for this ability to tell the emergency services where you were and even gave them your call back number, they could get to you faster, saving lives.

With Enhanced 911, this is installed again.  The FCC has instituted laws that require that those that have interconnected VoIP services (which is what you would be using) will need to use the Public Switched Telephone Network (called PSTN) to provide your information.  This network must include wireless networks, too.

This means that if you are to originate or terminate a call, it must be used on this network in order to insure that individuals can still gain access to emergency services.  The Enhanced 911 makes sure of this by automatically providing your call back number as well as your location information, in most cases, to emergency personnel.

Understanding Interconnected VoIP Service And Public Safety

Interconnected service is a term that the government uses to describe VoIP.  When it was first made available, VoIP did not take into consideration such public service problems, but today this has changed.

With a standard telephone service, the phone number that you have is associated with your address.  This means that your phone and your location are locked in, making it easy for emergency workers to know where you are located in case of emergency.

But, with VoIP, this is not necessary possible in that regard.  VoIP services allow you to take your phone with you, no matter where you go.  While this is a huge benefit for the VoIP user, it still presents a problem in that you could be any place that there is a broadband connection.

That means that there is not one set location for your phone number to be connected with your location.

Within the last few months, VoIP technology has been adjusted, so to speak, to insure that the person that dials 911 can be able to take advantage of public safety services.  Even still, there are things you need to know as the consumer using VoIP.

Traditional Phone:  You pick up the phone to call 911 because you hear someone breaking into your home. As soon as your call is picked up, the emergency worker on the other end already knows your location and the phone number you are calling from.  This is because the Public Safety Answering Point (the location in which your call is received which is generally assigned to one particular area) has the ability to track your call.

With VoIP:  Calling your emergency personnel using VoIP is different.  Unlike what was described above, VoIP service has some challenges that you, the consumer needs to realize. 

Some of the problems that users can anticipate and may have a problem with, according to the FCC include these problems when you dial 911:

1. Your VoIP service may not connect to the PSAP (your local emergency dispatch system.)
   
   
2. Your VoIP service may call the administration line of your PSAP instead of calling the emergency connection number.  This number may not be staffed with personnel to aid you.  Or, trained 911 dispatchers may not be available.
   
   
3. You may get through to the emergency service provider, but it may not provide them with your location information or your phone number information.
   
   
4. You may need to provide your location and other vital information to the emergency provider if you are using VoIP services.  If your location changes, you’ll need to update them on this change, too.  This is the information they’ll need to find you.
   
   
5. VoIP may not work during a power outage.  If there is no internet connection, or that internet connection fails for some reason (even if it gets overloaded while you are using it) you lose your ability to connect to VoIP services and therefore to the emergency workers.
   
   
6. In an effort to stop these problems, there have been a number of updates and requirements put in place for VoIP service providers.
   
   
7. 911 services must be provided as part of the standard service of VoIP.  It becomes a mandatory feature, not something that you may not have or have to request to have.  You can’t opt out of 911 coverage either.
   
   
8. Before you can get your VoIP service, the FCC has made the requirement of providing your physical address of where the primary service will be used.  This will help emergency teams to find your primary location.  VoIP providers must also insure some easy way that you can report your current location if it should change from this location.
   
   
9. Your VoIP service provider must provide information about where you are.  All 911 calls must be sent to the right location with emergency service providers in your local area.  This includes all callback numbers and your location.
   
   
10. If there are any limitations on you using 911 with your VoIP service, the provider must provide this information to you before you sign up for the service.  That means presenting all risk that you have for not being able to connect effectively to 911 for any reason must be disclosed.  You must also sign off saying that you understand the risks of using VoIP service as your only means of communicating with emergency services in your local area.

Understanding How This Affects You

What does all of this mean to you, the subscriber to VoIP who may one day need to call on emergency services?  There are actually many things that you’ll need to realize and do if you are to keep yourself safe and still take advantage of what VoIP can offer to you.

First and foremost, you should make sure to provide your physical address to your provider of your service, so that they can communicate this when it becomes necessary.  Keep your address updated too.  If you leave and take VoIP with you for a weekend trip, report this to your VoIP provider.

You should also understand just what your limitations are regarding VoIP.  You need to realize that others using your phone also need this information.  This includes the babysitter and your kids, too.

You’ll need to install and maintain a back up power supply so that your VoIP service can run when there is a power failure.  Find out if your VoIP provider offers any type of benefit like this.  If you have a mobile/cell phone, this can act as a back up, but only if you keep it fully charged so that it can be available in an emergency.

With an understanding of some of the limits that VoIP presents to you, you can actually get an understanding of what you need to do in order to get the advantages of VoIP without becoming overwhelmed with the various problems that can arise.

For those that are considering VoIP, understanding the advantages and disadvantages of VoIP is essential.  If you are unsure of what it can provide you, or you are concerned about one of the disadvantages, contact your VoIP provide to find out just what they can offer you in the way of information.

Remember too that VoIP technology is different from each provider of it.  You’ll need to see how each of these providers has interpreted the FCC rulings on VoIP and have installed safeguards for them.  The good news is that most providers have made sure to provide you with the information and tools to keep you safe and protected even in the worst of times.

Check out what the providers offer as safeguards to 911 and other problems.  See what additional benefits they may be able to offer to you, too!

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