VOIP Service, A Good Solution

When you are looking for affordable and quality VOIP service it is sometimes hard to know which VOIP carrier to choose. They all claim to be the best thing since sliced bread or canned beer, but how do you separate the marketing hype from reality?

The first thing you need to look at is your high speed Internet connection at home. Be fully aware that the VOIP provider has absolutely no control over the quality or reliability of your high speed Internet connection, despite the fact that any VOIP service relies heavily on the stability and reliability of that connection. If your home DSL or cable service is not rock solid, stable and reliable, you are not going to be happy with any VOIP service you get at any price, regardless of the brand name.

When comparing different VOIP service providers, you need to look at the features they offer with the service. Features is another category where VOIP providers come out on top by a wide margin over traditional telephone services. VOIP providers offer many features that regular land line phone companies either charge extra for or are not able to offer at all. Standard features include things like make unlimited calls to other users of the same VOIP provider, to make unlimited calls locally and in the domestic US, caller ID, and voicemail. They may also offer other features as well, but make sure that you are not paying extra for features that you will only use once in a blue moon.

VOIP service providers have been rolling out “Enhanced 911” or E911 where calls are sent to a 911 network which then connects to a local 911 dispatching center. With E911, emergency dispatchers are able to see the caller’s location and call back numbers. If you are considering a VOIP service that does not offer the Enhanced 911 services, run in the other direction, since this is now a requirement in the US.

VOIP service can be very cost effective for your home or small business. It uses your high speed Internet connection to make and receive phone calls. But that comes with its own set of problems. For example, remember we talked earlier about the reliability of your high speed Internet connection? That becomes even more important because if your high speed Internet connection goes down, so does your ability to make and receive phone calls. Again, this is not the VOIP provider's problem since they assume that you already have a very reliable and stable Internet connection.

If you live off the beaten track and the only high speed Internet connection available to you is satellite, don't even think about VOIP service. You are not going to be happy because with today's residential satellite technology, it is simply not fast enough to provide reliable VOIP service.

The cost effectiveness of VOIP service cannot be argued. With a traditional phone line from the local telephone company, you are paying about $25 a month just for dial tone. Now compare that to VOIP service, where for less than that, you also get unlimited long distance, voice mail, caller ID, and perhaps other features as well.

Visit this Voip-Digital Home Phone Service site for more information about the providers that are the most cost effective option for reliable VOIP service when compared against the other leading contenders.