by Chad Smith

Created on: June 14, 2007

There is a lot of confusion about this new thing called VOIP, or Voice Over Internet Protocol. As a long time user, (over a year) of the technology, I'd like to try to explain.

There are a few different ways that VOIP works. The basic idea has been around for years, but a recent shift in how it is handled has made it a direct competitor with traditional landline based telephones and even mobile phones.

Here are some basic types of VOIP:

1) Software to Software
2) Software to Hardware
3) Hardware to Hardware

Obviously, for all three types of VOIP, you will need both software and hardware - they don't work without each other. The distinction comes in the main way the user interfaces with the VOIP.

An example of Software to Software VOIP would be Voice Chat using an instant messaging program like AIM, Yahoo IM, or MSN. Your Voice is being transmitted over the Internet, and therefore it is VOIP. This type of VOIP is not what most people mean when they talk about VOIP. They are primarily referring to type 3, hardware to hardware, and sometimes to type 2, software to hardware.

The most widely known software to hardware type VOIP is Skype, which is owned by eBay. Skype is a software program that you can download and run on your computer. The software is free. In its free mode, it acts just like a type 1 (software to software) VOIP. Skype allows users to talk for free to other Skype users over the Internet. What makes Skype a type 2 VOIP is that for a fee, users can use their software to call people on landline or mobile phones. (A computer program calling a phone - thus software to hardware.) The voice is sent over the Internet to Skype which converts it to a signal that is sent out over traditional telephone networks.

And finally, type 3 VOIP, the type which is advertised on television, is hardware to hardware. The most widely known company to do this is Vonage, but others, like SunRocket, offer the same service. Now, big name cable companies and Internet service providers are getting in on the act.

How type 3 VOIP works is there is a device that either wirelessly or physically plugs into the Internet and allows users to dial up users of VOIP or traditional phones, just like they themselves were on a traditional phone. Sometimes the way this works is via a device that plugs into a home broadband network and then a traditional landline style phone (it could be wireless or not) is plugged into that device. The user then makes phone calls normally - dialing the number of they

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