VoIP offers
cheap long distance and international calling.
In a turbulent economy, people look for ways to lower their overall expenses. Voice over IP (VoIP) offers low prices, convenience and flexibility. In many cases you can use the service, including the phone number, anywhere that you have an Internet connection. Because you choose your own area code, friends and family living in that area code can call you without paying long-distance charges. Services that typically cost extra, such as call forwarding and voice mail, are included in most VoIP plans. Making the change to VoIP does not require much technical ability. It is a mainly a matter of choosing the best plan and plugging in a couple of wires.
Instructions
1. Get high-speed Internet service. VoIP routes calls through the Internet. Obtain the highest Internet speed that you can afford since the quality of your calls depends on the speed and data load of your connection.
2. Examine VoIP services to find out what plans and prices they offer. Some offer a free sign up. However, what you pay for the services varies by providers. Using Skype, you can call other Skype users using your computer for free. You will pay a fee to call landlines, cell phones or to make international calls. With services such as Ooma, Magicjack and Vonage, you choose a service plan and pay a monthly fee for the amount and types of calls that you plan to make. Each of the plans, excluding Skype, use a device or console.
3. Order the console. In 2010, prices range from $40 to $250 depending on service provider. Vonage includes a free console with the first year's contract. You may order consoles directly from Ooma.com, MagicJack.com or Vonage.com. Alternately, retailers such as Best Buy, Staples, Walmart, Costco and Radio Shack carry some VoIP consoles.
4. Select your service plan. Calls range in price from $5 per month for 500 minutes of calling to 70 countries to $26 monthly for unlimited calls to 60 countries. Some plans charge an additional fee for international calls.
5. Hook the console up to your computer or directly to your high speed Internet modem. Which you do depends on which VoIP provider that you choose. Magic Jack has to connect through a UBS port in your computer. Vonage and Ooma connect directly to your modem. You will bypass this step if you use Google Voice or Skype. Instead, you will visit Skype.com or Google.com to sign up and download the software to use on your computer.
6. Connect a regular household phone to your console. The console has ports that allow you to connect using the regular telephone wire.
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