VoIP Companies

VoIP Service Providers

VoIP Technical Information

Vonage, SunRocket, Comcast, AT&T and others are leading the way in launching new VoIP services. Each will be offering new VoIP services throughout the country, if they are not in your market already. In many cases, VoIP providers offer unlimited calls in the US and Canada for as little as $17 per month, although the different plans vary based on location and special promotions. Vonage is likely the most common at this point, but Comcast is coming on strong and EarthLink along with the AT&T and Bellsouth are joining the game. Voice over Internet Protocol (also called VoIP and Broadband Phone) is the routing of voice conversations over the Internet or through any other IP-based network. The voice data flows over a general-purpose packet-switched network, instead of traditional dedicated, circuit-switched telephony transmission lines.
Protocols used to carry voice signals over the IP network are commonly referred to as Voice over IP or VoIP protocols. They may be viewed as commercial realizations of the experimental Network Voice Protocol (1973) invented for the ARPANET.
Voice over IP traffic might be deployed on any IP network, including ones lacking a connection to the rest of the Internet, for instance on a private building-wide LAN.
In general, phone service via VoIP costs less than equivalent service from traditional sources but similar to alternative Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) service providers. Some cost savings are due to using a single network to carry voice and data, especially where users have existing under-utilized network capacity they can use for VoIP at no additional cost. Some Internet connections are asymmetrical, i.e. the upstream data rate is significantly lower than the downstream data rate. This places a final absolute throttle to the transmitted data rate and thus voice quality. The slowest Internet connections can offer lower signal quality than regular dedicated phone networks.
VoIP to VoIP phone calls on any provider are typically free, whilst VoIP to PSTN calls generally costs the VoIP user. Free VoIP to PSTN services are rare. A notable provider is VoIP User.
Research the options Vonage, SunRocket and Comcast offer as VoIP providers, and watch for the new VoIP companies and providers to enter quickly. Verizon is offers a VoIP service as well, so there will be plenty of competition, be sure to compare the major VoIP providers and research the best price and plan to fit your needs.