Free IP Telephony
By Richard Romando
Free IP telephone services are available to make national and international phone calls by using a computer and a mouse. To get these free services, you need a computer with an Internet connection using WiFi, broadband or a dial-up network supported by T-I, DSL, Fiber, Wireless, ATM, Cable or Frame Relay. You also need a home to share the Internet connection with multiple computers, microphones and headsets (for audio connectivity) and software to turn the computer into a telephone.
One has to initially, activate a network account to get a telephone number through which calls can be made. Calls can be made to any telephone, mobile or landline. Free IP telephony services are offered for PC-to-PC phone calls. By paying a nominal registration fee, one can use the same services to call out on mobile or landline telephone.
Free IP Telephony services include voice mail, caller ID, Internet billing, video phone, instant messaging, call forwarding, call waiting, fax to email connections, call to PSTN numbers, 3-way calling or teleconferencing and call blasting. Free service providers offer instruments such as adapters; stand alone videophones at discounted prices when a customer registers on their websites.
Most of the sites use VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) and high-speed Internet connections. The other services available are SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) communication systems that use the existing PBX connections in an organization to contact co-workers in remote locations. SIP provides mobility and better interconnection services within organizations.
Internet telephony software essentially provides free telephone calls, however does not offer the same quality of telephone services as PSTN network has.