Voip.

Just mentioning the word to yourself either brings up images of walking in a new city where the grass is greener, or it brings up fear of the unknown. Some will tread carefully around the subject, waiting to hear others opinions about a specific service and some may charge fearlessly into a service that they know little about. Which way is the right way to choose a VoIP service? I say neither.

Is there a safe way to choose a VoIP service? You bet there is, but it does take some work and careful research to make sure that you don’t get stuck with something you cannot use or worse yet, be forced into a scenario in which your telephone communications is impaired.

There are 3 general steps to choosing Broadband Phone service. They are:

1.Qualify Yourself
2.Qualify a specific Provider, and
3.Research the provider.

1.Qualify Yourself
Ask yourself “why do I want voip?” Is it because you want to save money? are you attracted to voip by all of the features that it offers? Maybe you’re sick of your local telephone company. Whatever the reason, make sure that the benefits are better than what you’re already getting now. For instance, you might want to save money on long distance with a voip provider but don’t want to give up your old phone number. In this case you would have to ask yourself whether it would be acceptable to lose your old phone number to save a few extra dollars. These days, most providers (but not all) will allow you to keep your old phone number. Do you have a secondary means of communication such as a cell phone?

When your internet connection goes down, so does your voip line. That means that if a large storm knocks out power to your house, then your internet connection will also most likely be down. Another thing to consider when qualifying yourself for voip service is that 911 service is not as robust as a land line service would be. You may have to give the dispatcher your name and address. The good news is that the larger providers are working with the dispatchers to provide 911 service that is just as robust as 911 on a land line.

Last but not least you must make sure that your your internet connection is suitable for voip. Sorry 56k’ers but dialup just isn’t gonna cut it for voip. If you do have a broadband connection, head on down to http://www.testyourvoip.com and do a quick test.

2.Qualify a Specific Provider
Your voip provider means everything when it comes to reliability and sound quality. You should choose a provider that has the features that you need (call waiting, 3 way calling, extra lines, distinctive ring, etc.). One thing to definitely look into is the 911 service that’s offered and don’t be afraid to ask lots of questions to the customer service department of the prospective provider. Number portability (if you need to keep your old number) is something else to be looked into. The rates should be competitive and don’t forget to look at international rates if you do any international calling. The most important thing to look for in a voip provider is a money back guarantee. If there is no money back guarantee, then pass on that provider; just about all voip companies have a guarantee.

3.Research the provider
Just because everything looks OK from a customer service angle, the service is cheap , and does what you need it to does not necessarily make it a good service. What does make a service good is if they have happy customers. The best way to do this would be to search the better business bureau for complaints against the company, search google with something like reviews, complaints, opinions, etc. A great place to get real world opinions on voip service is at the forums at http://broadbandreports.com.

Choosing the right voip service can be a bit of work, but it will pay off big time in the end. You’ll have service instead of headaches, clear calls instead of garbled gobbledygook.

Jason Stewart is a programmer, Unix Administrator, PBX Administrator and webmaster of http://www.voip-university.com. For more articles like this and for time and money saving voip tips go to http://www.voip-university.com

There are a lot of benefits that are offered by the major cell phone carriers today that many people don’t take advantage of - simply because they’re unaware of them. Among these is the opportunity to write online cell phone reviews, with the promise of some type of compensation, such as a free phone or specific accessory. While it may seem that these carriers are taking a financial loss in order to provide free equipment, it’s actually a rather clever way to sell their service plans. Once the participants have received their “free prize,” they’re then faced with having to acquire the necessary service plan in order to use the phone.

Cell phone carriers such as Cingular wireless, Motorola wireless, Samsung, T-Mobile wireless, Nokia, Verizon wireless, Sony Ericcson, Siemens, Sprint, AT&T and Nextel often utilize such a program in order to draw more consumers into their customer base using this common “carrot-on-a-stick” marketing tactic. For those who were looking for a new cell phone, anyway, this is an extra perk that saves them the trouble of scoping out their own cell phone deal.

On the positive side, those who participate in online cell phone reviews have the advantage of reading reviews that have been written by others, and can compare specific carriers and their service plans, as well as the phones that are being introduced by the various write-ups. Since research is a critical element in the process of determining the best type of cell phone service that you’ll need, these reviews can save a vast amount of time and offer a wealth of information that you might, otherwise, have had to spend hours - or days - unearthing.

Online Cell Phone Review Websites

• www.epinions.com - Opportunities to both read and write cell phone reviews are available on this website, in addition to similar surveys that can be inspected or taken by eligible participants. A form is provided in order to write a review, and a specific number of characters is given in order to accomplish the task. By writing a brief, concise report, your comments will be added to the database, and a star value will be assigned to the particular cell phone carrier that you’ve reviewed.
Hot Tip! Extended warranties and insurance can come in handy if your phone is lost, stolen, or damaged. Just be sure to find out the total cost.
• www.mpedia.com - This site is actually a public forum that allows you to read and write cell phone reviews once you’ve joined the group. There’s no fee attached, but you must choose a login name and password in order to become a member of the community and enjoy the benefits that it has to offer. Of the many chat rooms that are contained within this particular forum, the one for cell phone reviews is clearly marked, so it’s quite “user friendly”.
• www.cellphone-reviews.net - Although there may be a bit more navigating to do in order to write and submit a review on this site, the pathway is clearly marked, and you can choose to write your assessment of a particular phone by simply clicking on the header for the specific model. This site offers the extra perk of providing clearly written instructions on how to write a review, in case you have any questions before you begin. Once you access their web address, simply click on the “Cell Phone Reviews” tab, then click on the particular model of phone that you’d like to review and click on the “Write an Online Review” link in the middle of the page. You’ll be able to post your own comments, in addition to reading those which have already been submitted by others.
Hot Tip! Plan to pay $50 to $450 a week just for the satellite cellular phone rental; the cost depends on the type of phone you get. This cost does not include extras.
• www.discusswireless.com - This, too, is set up as a public forum, but the difference is that each chat room offers reviews for a specific brand of cell phone. By choosing a user name and password, you can click into any of the rooms and read or write reviews for any of the models that are intrinsic to that brand of cell phone. There’s no cost to register, and you’ll have the additional benefit of joining rooms that also deal with other cell phone related services, features and issues.

Brand-Specific Sites for Posting Reviews

In addition to the more generic websites that offer the chance to read or post reviews, specific carriers often afford the same opportunity. In many cases, by simply visiting a carrier’s website, links will be given that guide you to an area that allows you to post your review or read those that have been posted by other users.

How to Write Cell Phone Reviews

Once you’ve established where to go in order to submit a review, you’ll need to know the best way to present your opinion so that other readers will have a clear picture of what it is that you’re trying to impart. Here are a few things that you’ll need to keep in mind before committing your words to that cyber-page:

• Be specific about the make and model of the cell phone that’s being referenced in your review. Don’t simply use the manufacturer’s or carrier’s name - include the name and model of the particular phone that you wish to discuss.
Hot Tip! In order to save money and get the best cell phone deal, be sure to ask about any special promotions or offers that are being run by the cell phone companies at this time. Sometimes you won’t know about these specials if you don’t specifically ask for them, but they can often save you lots of money when you buy your cell phone.
• Don’t try to fill your review with a lot of technical jargon. Most people who read reviews are looking for straightforward information that they don’t have to use a dictionary in order to decipher.
• Only offer necessary information; don’t get into the habit of trying to fill up a particular amount of space with words in order to meet the required amount of characters. Most sites don’t require a minimum amount of characters, but many do have a maximum ceiling. Be brief without sacrificing critical information.
Hot Tip! T / F You can make all your phone calls anywhere in the world from your computer.
• Focus on features or services that will impact most cell phone users. In other words, if you’re discussing a cheap long distance plan, that’s fine. If, on the other hand, you’re talking about the fact that you don’t happen to like the particular color of the phone strap that you have, that’s not going to be of much help.
• Try to stick to the facts without adding a lot of emotion-based attitudes. Objectivity is really the goal, even though you’re speaking from personal experience. After all, there are all kinds of reviews, but that doesn’t mean that they’re all helpful.
Hot Tip! Like car rental, cellular phone rental can be very convenient, but it does require a reasonable amount of money or a sufficient credit line.

Whether you’re writing from personal experience or from information that you’ve gathered from others, be sure to present only the facts when you decide to write a review, and please remember that professionalism is always appreciated - and, in most cases, required.

About the Author

Samantha Goode is a freelance technology writer who loves to provide tips to consumers shopping for cheap cellular phones, cell phone ratings and cell phone reviews.

VoIP or Voice Over Internet Protocol has been simmering for the past few years. This year the market has heated up. Many large businesses have jumped on the VoIP bandwagon and have realized savings of 50-percent or more off their phone bills. VoIP providers are competing to add to or replace large PBX systems for the corporations and add web conferencing capabilities plus wireless VoIP (wVoIP) over LAN’s as well.

Hospitals and other large, fragmented workforces are discovering the value of using wireless VoIP phones to converse with one another quickly and efficiently while in different wings, floors or buildings of a large facility. This kind of wireless VoIP setup can have huge cost savings over cell phones and is more efficient that using pagers.

While business VoIP has caught on in the corporate landscape, residential VoIP is still trying to take hold. This is largely because of a couple of current disadvantages of VoIP. First, not all current VoIP systems have power backups. When the power goes out in a residence, the landline is still operational. Since VoIP works over a high-speed Internet connection, which requires power, if the power goes down, so does the VoIP connection. This will be of concern to many concerned about emergency situations. The good news is that many VoIP hardware providers are starting to deliver systems with power backup to address just this issue.

The second drawback of residential VoIP is that not all current VoIP service providers offer full, 24-7 emergency 911 service. After hour calls in Florida, may be mistakenly rerouted to Idaho for instance. This is also about to change. The Federal Communications Commission has mandated that all phone service providers offer e911 service as standard. According to the FCC, “All interconnected VoIP providers must automatically provide E9-1-1 services to all customers as a standard, mandatory feature without customers having to specifically request this service. VoIP providers may not allow their customers the option to “opt-out” of E9-1-1 service.”

Clearly, though, residential VoIP is heading towards direct competition with the local phone companies’ coveted landlines. A couple of years ago at a meeting in SBC’s Publishing division, one of the executive managers cried, “Landlines, we need to stop losing landlines!” This was in response to cell phone companies taking away market share from the local Baby Bells. Now that VoIP is on the radar, the executive management teams for the local and long-distance phone companies must be huddling in their back offices, trying to figure out how they will stop the bleeding in the years to come.

With VoIP costing far less that traditional local and long-distance phone service and overcoming the last of the residential hurdles, one can be sure that consumers will soon be taking notice. Many will also start wearing t-shirt like “VoIP VIP” and “Got VoIP?” to herald in the new era in telecommunications.

Copyright © 2005 VoIP Service Providers3

VoIP Service Providers - Marvin Bellnick writes for VoIP Service Providers, a company dedicated to publishing the latest happenings in the Voice Over IP industry.

Most Americans have cell phone plans with contracts that call for a certain number of minutes per month.

For example, your plan might include 450 minutes per month. If you go over that limit, you pay extra for the extra minutes. Use fewer than the 450 and, chances are, you lose the minutes you didn’t use.

An alternative to this kind of plan, that’s becoming increasingly popular with some Americans is a prepaid plan, often called pay-as-you-go. In this type of plan, you pay in advance for a certain number of minutes, then use them at your own pace. The advantages to this is that there are no surcharges, and you never have to worry about going over an allotted number of minutes.
The way these plans work is that you contact a service provider, and load minutes into your account. There is no contract and no big penalty if you drop out.

You could talk 500 minutes one month, and 200 the next. You will find that with some of the cell phone service providers, your unused minutes expire at the end of the month in which you purchased them. However, with others, you can roll over your the unused minutes - so long as you buy new minutes the next month.

This concept makes good sense for a lot of people. For example, there are many Americans who carry a cell phone for use only in emergencies or for short calls home. So even those plans that offer 250 minutes don’t make sense for them. There are also families who want to control how much time their kids spend on their cell phones. And if you’re on a budget, a pay-as-you-go plan will save you money as there are never those weird surcharges that can run up a $39.95 plan to more than $50.00 a month.

Most of the major carriers have new or expanded versions of prepaid plans. If you feel that one of these plans might make sense for you, contract several different companies for information as there are vast differences in pricing. For example, some carriers charge a flat fee per minute. In some cases the cost per minute goes down, the more minutes you buy.

On the other hand, there are other companies that charge much less per minute, buy levy a daily rate regardless of use. Some of these plans allow roaming and some don’t. Finally, unless you already have a handset that works with the pay-as-you-go plan you have chosen, you will probably pay more for the cell phone itself. This is because wireless companies heavily subsidize these phones, knowing that their customers will be locked into their service for 12 or even 24 months.

The major downside to prepaid plans is that you will most likely pay more per minute. For example, the Cingular GoPhone plan costs $0.25 per minute. In comparison its Nation 450 with Rollover gives you 450 anytime minutes for about $0.08 per minute (plus 5,000 nights and weekend minutes and unlimited calls to toher Cingular subscribers). Of course, requires a two-year contract and any minutes over the 450 per month will be billed at a cost of $0.45 each.

Monthly service plans are probably still the best bet for most people. But if you feel you are using your cell phone less than 300 minutes a month, or just prefer to not have a contract or a monthly bill, a prepaid plan just might be what the doctor ordered.

Here’s another good idea. Plan to vacation this year in Denver. A Denver vacation offers the best of both worlds. It has all the fun things to see and do you find only in a big, bustling city and it’s only minutes away from the spectacular scenary and vistas offered by the Rocky Mountains.

For more information on a great Denver vacation, just go to http://www.best-denver-vacation.com And while you’re there, if you didn’t make $1,057.50 last week from the comfort of your home — (Find out Why!) Go Here NOW before it’s too late

Douglas Hanna has lived in the Denver metro area for more than 30 years and has written more than 100 articles on Internet marketing and on Denver and Colordo.

Phone and voice mail systems can be pretty costly, even for
companies with a low number phones. Before investing in any
type of phone system or voice mail system, you need to
estimate how much your company is likely to expand over the
next few years and if possible how many phones you may
require. Failure to do this could cost you or your company
a lot of money in upgrade and restructuring costs further
down the road. It is better and cheaper to plan and allow
for expansion at an early stage, than wait until it is too
late.

If you plan to remain under ten phones then I would
recommend you invest in a KSU-less phone system. Basically
these look like normal phones that carry all the technology
and software needed to run a small phone system of up to
four lines and eight to twelve extensions. These systems
incorporate many of the features that full PBX phone systems
offer (though not voice mail). So be sure to check with
your supplier what features are available on these types of
phone systems. These systems are relatively cheap compared
to other types of phone systems. They are also easy to
install, so can be quickly re-located to another office or
building. This type of phone systems usually arrive as a
boxed product that is installed by you, and carries a
manufacturer’s warranty. You will have to make enquiries
with your vendor as to the level of after sales support that
is available. You may find it is much less than if you had
purchased a larger more expensive phone and voice mail
system. One major disadvantage of KSU-less phone systems,
is that they cannot integrate separate voice mail systems.
If you do choose to purchase one of these KSU-less phone
systems, then you will have to use a voice mail service that
is offered by your telephone company.

If you decide that you must have a fully featured voice mail
system, and can confidently predict your company will expand
beyond ten phones within next few short years, then you will
be better off investing in one of the fully featured KSU
phone systems on the market. These phone systems are typical
in companies with around ten to forty users. Some suppliers
may recommend installing something called a Hybrid phone
system. These systems are ideal for small to mid sized
companies of about fifty to a hundred employees, and offer
many of the features much larger PBX phone systems offer.

Below is a check list for when you are selecting a new phone
and voice mail system and supplier:

1. Try to estimate how much your company will grow in the
next three to five years. Look at how many lines and
extensions you have at the moment and decide how many your
company may require in the future.

2. Contact potential phone systems suppliers, and arrange an
appointment with them for a full demonstration. A number of
these can be sourced off the internet or through your local
business pages. This will also give them a good opportunity
to have a look at you and evaluate your potential
requirements. Remember to ask them about their experience
and if necessary ask for referrals. You could even ask to
see a phone and voice mail system they have recently
installed.

3. Make sure you decide on a rough budget for your proposed
new telephone and voice mail system. Ask around other
businesses of similar size, what amount they have invested
in their phone systems.

4. When potential suppliers provide you with a quote for
your new phone and voice mail system, go through them
carefully, ensuring they include all of the requirements
your business will need. These may include extras like; Full
voice mail capability, additional handsets, call handling
software, automated attendants, service level agreements
(SLA’s) and any other additional features.

5. Once you have decided on one or two suppliers, it is time
to get them back round. Remember, they want your business.
Bearing in mind the budget you decided earlier, make your
decision based upon not only price, but which supplier you
think can provide your company with the best service before,
during and after the installation of your new phone and
voice mail system. Any good potential supplier will be more
than happy to answer any questions you may have about the
phone system they intend to supply and install for you.

Thanks for reading

Jason Morris is co-author, search engine optimization and marketing consultant of Business Phone Systems Direct. Specialists in the supply and installation of quality business phone systems and accessories from leading manufacturers. For a free quotation on one of our range of Panasonic phone systems and for free technical advice click Panasonic Phone Systems