One of the most popular new acronyms, VoIP, stands for Voice over Internet Protocol. You may also hear it under the title of IP telephony, Internet telephone, broadband telephony and voice over broadband telephony. This technology is not particularly new, having roots back in 1973 when voice signals were first transmitted over the early internet, but it is getting commercial recognition recently with successful implementations in the business and leisure sectors especially with free user friendly applications such as Skype. By using a network of computers such as the internet VoIP enables users to make telephone calls, by converting the voice signal into a digital signal that travels over the internet and then changing it back to a voice signal at the other end which allows anyone and everyone with a standard phone number to use the service.



There are several different ways to implement VoIP and which one you choose should be dictated by your requirements, whether it be for business or pleasure. There is a software program you can upload onto your home or office computer and use it with a headset and microphone. Also available are adaptors used with regular analogue home phones and you can even use dedicated VoIP phones which look and act like conventional phones but have specifically designed chips to considerably improve call quality.

With VoIP technology users have the capacity to take advantage of a single broadband connection and transmit multiple calls, therefore making it easy to add another phone line to your home or get 3-way video conferences live from your office. Which brings us to our next point for the integration of VoIP; it offers features such as video conference calls, instant messaging, caller ID and call forwarding all for no cost, in contrast to standard providers who would normally charge for extra attributes such as these.

Of course all this is also capable over a WI-FI connection so you don't have to be glued to your desktop PC. In addition there is a lot of progress being made in the development of WI-FI Skype phones. Although they have existed for a while now it is only recently that they have received notoriety with commercial success as the popularity and propagation of smartphones with browsing qualities such as the 3G iPhone has grown we will see an increase in demand, the majority of which is likely to come from the business sector. With significant advances in this area communicating inexpensively on the move is becoming easier. VoIP technology combined with the current smartphone revolution is opening up another channel for dialogue and so the digital communication market is coming on leaps and bounds.