Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP)

VOIP is the latest thing, well maybe not the latest thing, but it is a thing that more and more people are getting interested in. Even my own company is looking at moving over to a VOIP telephone network.

I’m interested in it for two reasons

1. It’s something new. I like new stuff, it’s interesting and well frankly it’s new.


2. It’s something to spend money on. I also like spending money. It’s what money is for, and spending money on something new is, well it’s the Dog’s Bollocks.

So that’s why I’m interested in VOIP.

So what’s my next step? Well I need to decide who is going to get the pleasure of my business. As far as I can see the main contenders are:

Skype  http://www.skype.com/

Seems to be the main contender with over 50 million people world wide that have downloaded the software. I also know one work colleague that uses this system to call his relatives back in Ireland.

Net2Phone http://web.net2phone.com/home_english.asp

Another system that I seem to remember testing once over a software system I used to test. I also know one person that uses this system.

Then there are many, many others including but not limited to:

http://www.vonage.co.uk/infopage/

http://www.maintel.co.uk/voip.htm

http://www.callclarity.net/

http://www.sipgate.co.uk/user/index.php

And of course you can also use applications such as MSN Messenger, which has the added bonus of being able to use Video links as well.

If you are really cunning, you can also talk via the Xbox Live service, and play Halo at the same time as you chat.

The second step is to buy the phone, which is easy and relatively cheap. The one I am interested is this Skype phone.

http://www.play.com/play247.asp?pa=srmr&page=title&r=GADG&title=615520

It just looks sexy.

So that’s the ISP, and hardware sorted, I already have the networking infrastructure in place, i.e. Broadband and a PC. All I need is some on to call…

And that’s where I get let down. I don’t know anyone in far away places. In fact I hate using the phone at the best of times. So that’s where my dream ends. I have the knowledge and money to make it a reality, but without friends and a desire to talk to them, it’s just not worth the effort.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4401136.stm