There are three types of VOIP (Voice over Internet
Protocol) phone services available:
- Web-to-Web
- Web-to-Phone
- Phone-to-Phone
Web-to-Web VOIP Service
Web-to-web phone service has been available for a
number or years. It requires that the person making the call and the
person receiving the call have VOIP software installed on their
computers. They both must be connected to the Internet and be expecting
the call. Due to these inherent limitations, web-to-web phone service
has not gained much popularity.
Web-to-Phone VOIP Service
Web-to-phone telephone service requires that the person
making the call have VOIP software installed on their computer. The service can be used to make inexpensive outgoing
long distance telephone calls, however, calls can't be received from
conventional phones.
Phone-to-Phone VOIP Service
Phone-to-phone service is the emerging technology
that offers the most promise. It
requires that one party have a telephone adapter device that plugs into
their high-speed Internet connection or router. A conventional phone is
plugged into this adapter. Phone-to-phone VOIP service
supports both incoming and outgoing calls. The cost of both local and
long distance telephone service is much less than it would be using a
conventional land-line telephone service or cell phone service.
