VOIP telephony is also known as Voice Over Internet Protocol and effectively refers to the routing of telephone conversations over the internet or any local area network. Computers not attached to the internet can still take part in VOIP telephony if they are remotely connected and if they can place calls through their own LAN to one another using the same form of technology.

Advantages to VOIP Service

As with any piece of technology, there are good points and bad points. We will first discuss some the positive factors to VOIP telephony to further our investigation into the basic service. For starters, the cost of VOIP service is generally free or quite inexpensive. Most basic VOIP service allows for free internet phone calls between users of the same VOIP service which makes it great for corporate functionality.

Most users of VOIP telephony report a significantly lower rate in comparison to traditional telephone service providers. These cost savings are attributed to the fact that VOIP service uses a single network to carry the data. Most traditional phone service providers are using multiple networks which can be quickly crowded with voice data which then leads to the need for more networks.

VOIP technology also allows for a great degree of functionality in terms of what can be accomplished versus what was possible through a traditional phone line service. One example of this increased functionality is the notion that your calls can be automatically routed to your VOIP phone regardless of where you are in the world. The only piece of equipment you need is your phone and internet access in order to receive calls, regardless of your particular location. This is an especially positive feature for businesspeople who are always on the go.

Disadvantages to VOIP Service

There are, of course, a few disadvantages to VOIP telephony as well. One such disadvantage is the notion that this technology is still fairly new. This allows for many errors and mistakes in the network which may not have been anticipated by the VOIP service providers. Many of the technicians are not overly familiar with VOIP technology and this could lead to a longer setback time in processing known issues.

Also, there is difficulty routing VOIP telephony service through firewalls and complicated router technology. Many VOIP services need to integrate a complicated additional protocol to their service to enable access through some of these complex systems and this, of course, takes a lot of time. The caller may, therefore, experience some difficulty transferring calls to some systems because of possible signal blockage due to firewall technology.