by Eileen Grace

Created on: May 28, 2009   Last Updated: June 05, 2009

VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), also sometimes called Internet phone or digital voice systems, is an alternative to the traditional POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) landline. For people using broadband Internet services other than DSL, VoIP offers several benefits compared to POTS services, as well as two major disadvantages.

Advantages:

Lower Cost

VoIP plans nearly always cost less than POTS, with prices ranging from free up depending on the company and type of service, most being in the $20 to $25 range per month. Some plans include unlimited calls within a given range, usually a continent such as North America or Europe, others include a limited number of calls and charge a small fee for each call over that limit. There generally is no differentiation between local and long distance calls within that range.

Integration with Your Computer
VoIP is Internet-based, which allows for integrating your phone service with your Internet applications. This is supported to varying degrees depending on your service provider and plan.

Good for Travelling
Your VoIP service can go with you anywhere there is broadband internet available. Depending on your service, this involves taking along your computer or your adapter and phone.

No Long-Distance Charges for People Calling You
If you get most of your calls from a particular area code, you can set up your VoIP phone number in that area code, so your friends, family and business associates don't have to deal with long-distance charges. Some plans also include a toll-free number with your account, so that people not in your area code can call you without long-distance charges as well, but these usually involve some charges to your account, making it something like a low cost collect call.

Free Features

A number of features that usually cost extra on POTS systems are bundled with many VoIP plans. Things like voice mail, call forwarding, call waiting, caller ID, call blocking, call return and do not disturb are on this list.

Disadvantages:

Emergency Calls
911 service on VoIP is not something to be relied on. Unlike POTS where the telephone company knows the physical location of your phone or cell systems where triangulation between towers and sometimes GPS can be used by emergency providers, VoIP relies on you the user providing accurate location information to route 911 calls to the correct provider. If you move or take your VoIP with you when travelling, make sure to update your VoIP account with your correct location. Also, having VoIP relies on both your power and Internet working, unlike either cell or POTS service.

Quality of Service

Quality of service depends on bandwidth available. If you have limited bandwidth available to your VoIP service, either because your service from your ISP is relatively low-bandwidth or because you are using most of the available bandwidth for other purposes, the quality of your calls will be noticeably worse than either cell or POTS calls.

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