Free Internet telephony, free voice-over-IP (VOIP), and free broadband phone calls are just fancy ways of saying free phone calls through the Internet. It’s a well understood fact that computers talk to each other (through web sites, email, file transfers, and the like), all over the world, regardless of their location. Now voice conversations can do the same thing, using the very same Internet as the telephone network.
To use free Internet telephony, you first need to have a high speed, or broadband Internet connection. Either DSL or cable service works just fine. Next, you need an account with a free Internet phone service provider. Today, you’ll find three main categories of free Internet telephony services. The first type of service allows you to make calls from one conventional phone to another. The second type lets you call a conventional phone from a PC. And the third type of service provides free PC-to-PC calls only.
1. Phone to Phone
With this type of service, you can make free calls from one regular phone to another. In this case “free” means no cost for calls to users of the same service, but to make it work both parties have to purchase some special hardware called an ATA (Analog Terminal Adaptor), sometimes called a broadband phone adaptor. The ATA plugs into your broadband modem and converts analog voice signals into digital ones. When your regular phone is connected to the ATA, your voice is converted to digital and sent out over the Internet.
This type of calling is ideal for friends, family, or businesses that call each other regularly. PhoneGnome (www.phonegnome.com) is one such company offering free internet calling using regular phones. You have to buy the PhoneGnome ATA ($119). You can call other PhoneGnome users for free, and regular long distance numbers at greatly reduced rates. What’s great about it though, is that the device is fully self configuring. There is no software to install. Just plug it in and it does the rest. There are no monthly fees and you can keep your same phone number.
2. PC to Phone
This category of free Internet telephony service allows you to make free calls from a PC to a traditional landline phone. To use this service, you must install some free software and then abide by a fair use policy.
For example, VoipBuster.com is one such company enticing new customers with free calls to landline phones in select destinations. To trial the service, your free calls are limited to one minute. For unlimited calling you must “top up” your account by buying a number of phone credits, say £10 (about $18). This credit deposit stays untouched as long as you are calling the free destinations.
3. PC to PC
This last category is perhaps the easiest to work with. Setup takes literally minutes and all you need to get started is the free software, and a headset, microphone and sound card. Headsets with built in mics are great for making PC phone calls.
Skype, Gizmo Project, and FWD (Free World Dialup) are a few of the more popular free Internet telephony services available. Instant Messaging (IM) services are also getting into the act and you can now talk as well as chat on Yahoo Messenger, Microsoft Messenger, and GoogleTalk.
Here’s how it works. In most cases, you can only make free calls to computer users with the same software installed. For example, Skype users can only call Skype users for free. Dialing is just a matter of clicking the person’s contact name in a list. The software does the rest.
If you want to call someone who doesn’t isn’t on the same service as you, things get a little more complicated. In an effort to hasten the spread of free internet telephony, PC telephone companies are making agreements so that their users can talk to users on different networks. For example, Gizmo Project users can now dial GooglTalk users. And if you use a service that employs open voice-over-IP standards, such as SIP, you can call other users on other SIP services using a special SIP number provided when you set up your free account.
There’s no doubt that using the Internet to call the world for free has captured the imagination of folks everywhere. And trying without risk or a big dollar commitment is easier than ever.
Leanne Tremblay is the owner of www.quickstartvoip.com. If you want to know if broadband internet phone service is right for you, then www.quickstartvoip.com is a good place to start. You’ll find reviews, articles, and tutorials for choosing, installing and using voice-over-IP phone service in the home or small business. |
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