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What VoIP Is Actually Good For

Posted by timothy on from the not-brain-surgery dept.

gManZboy writes "One of the things that's bothered me about VoIP is that other than so-so quality phone service at a cheap price, what's the big deal? I mean so you can now deliver voice mail into e-mail because it's all IP packets, does that mean I should ditch my telecom investment. Well in part 3 of Queue's special report on VoIP (here's part 1, part 2) two authors from Bell Labs help explain actually useful things you might do. Now I get it."

11 of 288 comments (clear)

  1. In use? by freitasm · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Many telcos are using VoIP in parallel with their PSTN backbones, and this is ok - most users don't even notice this behind the scenes VoIP application.

    When it comes to services to end users, except for companies like Vonage and a few similar ones there's a huge gap. For example I've subscribed to Stanaphone just to find out that my account disappeared simply because I didn't use it for a month. Well, there's no way these companies can compete with operators if they keep this kind of policies in place. Could you imagine if you're enjoying a 45 days holiday in Europe (or in New Zealand, which is really cool!), and when back home find out your phone doesn't work anymore because of this kind of policy? No POTS operator would do this...

    1. Re:In use? by tim_mathews · · Score: 5, Funny
      Could you imagine you're enjoying a 45 days holiday in Europe (or in New Zealand, which is really cool!)

      No. I'm still working on what it would be like to have free weekends.

  2. Useful outside the USA by openSoar · · Score: 5, Interesting

    We've put a VoIP unit in our place in the Carribean and it allows guests who are mostly from the US, to make (effectively) free calls back home - something that would be very expensive using the regular telephone system.

  3. VOIP is actually very good for phone calls... by loveisafist · · Score: 5, Informative

    Having used Vonage for several months I can say I am very pleased with their service and the quality of the calls. Before Vonage my only phone was a SprintPCS phone. When I got Vonage and called family/friends to tell them about a new number most of them commented how much clearer it was compared to the PCS phone I usually call them on.

    The only time I have had a 'problem' was when I was downloading some files on bittorrent AND playing FFXI Online and received a phone call. There was a slight echo audible on my end.

    I have actually convinced my father and two friends to ditch the local phone company and get VOIP. They are also very pleased with the service and money they have saved, which equals free months of phone service for me! ;)

  4. Tech support call, enhanced with VOIP by d3ity · · Score: 5, Funny

    Telco company: Hello, welcome to genericom, how may i assist you. Me: My pho....pho....ne.... is laa...a..aaaa....a..g.... Telco company: Whats that sir, I cant quite understand you. Me: My god....amn....phon...is....lagg... Telco Company: Sir, your going to have to speak more clearly...

  5. Question marks by Kinkify · · Score: 5, Funny

    does that mean I should ditch my telecom investment.

    Don't you think question marks are just the worst.

    I mean really, who actually bothers anymore.

  6. Its great... by rpdillon · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I am a Vonage customer and use it as my primary line. Not only can you get voice mails delivered to email (great when travelling), but you can, for an additional $4.99/month get a line that is local to someone that calls you a lot, so they can make toll-free (local) calls, even if you're in New York and they are in California.

    The feature I like best is that, free of charge, I have my cell phone ring anytime my home phone rings. That way, when I'm away, I still get all my home calls, and don't have to give out my cell number to everyone. This feature can be used for simultaneous ringing on any other number, or it can forward it to another number after a certain number of seconds without answer on the first line. You can turn the feature on/off and the change takes effect almost immediately.

    Most of all, all the extras that you pay for with normal phone are automatically included in the Vonage plan. I pay $25 a month for all my phone needs (that are non-cell), and that's a lot better than my old SBC/MCI pairing I used to use.

    I don't really notice bad voice quality, but I took a lot of time to set up my Vonage box *behind* my firewall, but then forwards all the ports necessary to have it manage the connection properly for voice-quality. For a more no-brainer setup, just route your connection to the Vonage box first, then to your router.

  7. Re:VoIP is great! by shrinkboy · · Score: 5, Informative

    Yes, voice packets are given priority on the network IF your ISP has DQoS implemented and enabled. This is not assumed or standard on any networks I'm familiar with, and you'd be foolish to assume ISPs rushing out to benefit third-party VoIP companies when there's a push to roll out ISP-branded VoIP... Anyway, without DQoS, it's all best-effort. As noted above, given sufficient bandwidth, you'll hadly ever get jitter unless you saturate the pipe with up/downloads that preclude sequential voice packets.

  8. Re:VOIP Dosent still qualify the requirements in T by rsrsharma · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I had the same exact problem with VoIP, except I also didn't like the fact that 911 calls didn't go to the 911 center. However, I've figured out how to get around these problems:

    1. Keep a regular landline on your current phone number, just with $0/month (no free minutes or low rates) local + long distance plan on it.
    2. Build a box with Asterisk (the OSS PBX) on it, as well as 2 FXO cards and 1 FXS card.
    3. Connect the phone line from the VoIP ATA to the first FXO card.
    4. Connect the PSTN line to the second FXO card.
    5. Configure Asterisk to use the PSTN line for incoming calls, and the VoIP line for outgoing calls. (You'll probably want your VoIP company to forward all calls to the PSTN line, I know that Vonage does this for free.)
    6. Connect another ATA (you'll have to buy it yourself) to the FXS card.
    7. Get a double-pole-double-throw relay. This basically connects one line through when there is power, and another when there isn't. Let the line from the Asterisk server go through when there is power, and the unmodified PSTN line go through when there isn't.
    8. Configure Asterisk to only use the PSTN line for 911 calls.
    9. Connect the line from the DPDT relay to the phone lines in your house/buisniness.

    So yeah, that should cover it. If you want more info, chech the Asterisk-Users list under the topic "Vonage, PSTN, 911, and hardware question". I'm planning building a system with this setup later this year.

  9. Re:It's useless... by SunPin · · Score: 5, Interesting

    You obviously weren't in the path of any hurricanes this summer. I have a gsm phone and it, along with everybody else, was effectively dead within an hour of constant 120 mph winds. It remained useless for days afterwards. The cell phone network can't deal with disasters.

    --
    Laws are for people with no friends.
  10. Re:Isn't it obvious? yes it is! by Tmack · · Score: 5, Funny
    Yeh!! and then once you have that VoIP modem line up, setup two more, since that new bandwidth can handle more lines. Then do the same over them, dial in with line-sharing multilink ppp protocol to another VoIP provider, and do it again! You should have a DS3 worth of bandwidth pumping through that already over-shared T1 in no time!!

    Tm

    /obvious

    --
    Support TBI Research: http://www.raisinhope.org