In order to use Voice over IP (VoIP), you need hardware that is different from that used in PSTN phone lines. Those who have used services such as Skype and Google Voice for example, know that we need a computer with a microphone and speaker set. Our regular phones are wired into the Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) network and by themselves cannot hook into the Internet at all. Special VoIP phones however, are uniquely suited for this purpose and in this article, we look at how they work, what makes them different, how much they cost, and what alternatives exist.
Differences between VoIP and PSTN Phones
In the first place, a VoIP phone is designed to hook into the Internet instead of the phone jacks that we find on devices and walls. This means that it has a standard Ethernet port outlet just like your computer does. This outlet runs into either the VoIP server, or onto the general Internet network depending on the configuration of your VoIP system.
VoIP phones also have a lot of configuration options. This is important because unlike regular phone technology, VoIP isn’t standardized throughout the board. There are differing protocols, codecs and depending on your VoIP service, you may have to input details such as the VoIP proxy server. Your VoIP provider will give you all the necessary instructions for hooking the phones up.
Because VoIP is such a flexible technology, VoIP phones come with a host of features which normal ones don’t have. These features depend on the model and the price point. Conferencing, call waiting, Voicemail, recording functions, and many other functionalities separate them from the phones we’re used to.
As of now though, VoIP phones are more expensive than regular ones. This is because there are far more PSTN phone in the market, but prices have already come down drastically over the years and everyone expects them to fall even further. It’s just a matter of time.
If you don’t want to put in the investment of buying a VoIP phone, you can use your existing phones with VoIP by purchasing a device which converts the analog signals to digital for transmission over the network. These are called ATA adapters and depending on the manufacturer, each can “convert” one to three regular phones into VoIP phones.
There are a few more advanced differences between VoIP and regular phones, but these are the important ones. Bhagwad is an expert consultant on PBX Phone Systems. He also specializes in HD Voice VoIP Systems.
Bhagwad is an expert consultant on [http://www.onsip.com/]PBX VoIP Services. He also specializes in [http://www.onsip.com/onsip-team-reviews]Business Phone Reviews.
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?How-Exactly-Does-a-VoIP-Phone-Work?&id=5952698] How Exactly Does a VoIP Phone Work?