VoIP Equipment -
Have You Got What It Takes To Make VoIP Calls?

You probably have heard that you can save lots of money using VoIP to make calls, but haven't tried it yet. The reason may be you are not sure what VoIP is all about or what equipment you need for it.

If this is what holds you back from taking advantage of VoIP, let me tell you that though you need not know the technology of VoIP to use it, the basic concept behind behind VoIP is not hard to understand. Neither do you need lots of fancy and costly equipment to use it. In fact you may already have all the equipment you need to start making VoIP calls right now.

VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol. Now don't let that put you off. What it simply means is that when you use VoIP to call a friend, your voice travels over internet to reach your friend. Likewise when your friend replies, that voice also comes back to you over internet.

This means that the only difference between VoIP and regular phone calls is that VoIP technology uses the internet instead of the regular phone cable lines to carry voice back and forth between the callers.

So it follows that to make VoIP calls you need equipment which allows you to send and receive voice data over the internet.

Essential VoIP Equipment

Because you are reading this you already have the most basic VoIP equipment: a computer connected with broadband internet.

Now what if you have a dial up connection? You can still make VoIP calls but the quality of sound may not be as good as it would be with a broadband connection.

Therefore if you want to enjoy VoIP to the fullest, broadband is what you need. In the past broadband used to be very costly compared to dial up internet connection. But not so now. With development in technology broadband has become very much affordable and widely available. Now there are lots of broadband VoIP providers around with different service plans. So you can easily shop around for the service option most suited to your needs.

A sound card is another piece of equipment you need on your computer for VoIP calls. If your machine is fairly new it most probably has a sound card already installed on it as well as has a mike and speakers with it.

This is all you need to start making VoIP calls - a computer with internet and sound card and mike and speakers.

Now the only thing you need is to sign up with a VoIP service provider and you are on. Depending upon what kind of calls you want to make, you have three options choose from:(1) Free VoIP Providers, (2) Pc to phone VoIP Providers or (3) Broadband Phone Providers

Additional Equipment

A mike and speakers would do very well for your normal needs but if you want to have your hands free when making a call, you can use a headphone with your computer.

And if you would like to have the convenience of using the phone handset for making VoIP calls, you can easily do that by investing in an adapter. This is a piece of equipment which connects your regular landline phone to your computer turning it into a VoIP phone with the convenience of using it as a regular phone when you want.

You can also get a special phone to use with VoIP. Called an IP phone, this looks and works like a regular phone but it connects directly with your internet connection so you don't have to keep your computer on to make and receive VoIP calls.

In the end what it all comes to is that depending upon what kind of VoIP you use, you can decide how much or less to spend on VoIP equipment.

For full-fledged broadband VoIP you may go for an IP phone if you wish but you can have the same convenience to make calls with your regular telephone by connecting it with an adapter. For pc to pc or pc to phone VoIP, you need not invest in an adapter either. A headphone or plain mike and speakers would do as well. If you have these at least, you have got all it needs to explore and enjoy the advantages of the VoIP technology.