VoIP FAQs

An analog telephone adapter (ATA) provides an interface that allows you to use a standard telephone to communicate over an IP network such as the Internet. The name "analog telephone adapter" was originated by Cisco for their adaptor and other manufacturers may use slightly different acronyms, but essentially they mean the same thing.

Here we give a brief overview of the the most important VoIP or internet telephony related definitions, terms and acronyms. If you feel we should add further information please contact us.

ATA

Analogue Telephone Adapter. These devices allow you to use standard telephones for VoIP. It is basically a translater between what comes out of your analogue telephone and the digital voice over IP network.

You're at an internet café or at the airport and get an important business call--on your laptop. You're on the road and receive an urgent voice mail--in your e-mail inbox. Your business has a phone number with a New York area code--even though your office is in Texas.

IP stands for Internet protocol. IP Phones allow the user to speak over IP networks such as the Internet or a company intranet. Other common terms for IP Phones could be VoIP Phone, Internet Phone, Web Phone etc.

Conventionally, the mention of the words ‘PBX phone systems’ brings about an image of expensive equipments, miles of entangled wires, and complex connections. For a large corporation having large number of employees, managing the PBX system requires lot of expertise. A company has to maintain dedicated staff for these specific tasks. Additionally, the system has to be updated periodically to meet the ever increasing needs of the growing company. A company can avoid this constant upgrades and maintenance tasks by switching over to a hosted PBX system.

There are various basic selection strategies to choose the best VoIP service provider tailored to your needs.

Yes, but a few factors have to be kept in mind when using VoIP as your exclusive phone line.

These include:

· If you can't get a phone number in your local area, your neighbors' calls to you will be long distance for them, unless off course they are also VoIP enabled

· If your internet connection is down (power failure, server problems etc), you will lose your phone service as well

· While voice quality is almost as good as with traditional phone lines, there may be occasional glitches such as echoes and slight delays. Not unlike using cellular phones.

· If you have a DSL broadband connection, you will still need a traditional phone line into your home.

· Your phone number will not appear in the traditional phone book or directory assistance.

· Downloading a large file off the internet while on the phone can cause significant call degradation, or cut the phone call altogether. This is usually only the case with slower internet connections.

· It may be difficult for some VoIP services to seamlessly connect with the 911 dispatch center or identify the location of Internet Voice 911 callers

Depending upon your VoIP service, you might be limited only to other subscribers to the service, or you may be able to call any phone number, anywhere in the world. The call can be made to a local number, a mobile phone, to a long distance number, or an international number. You may even utilize the service to speak with more than one person at a time (conference call). The person you are calling does not need any special equipment, just a phone.

Voice over IP (VoIP) is a technology that allows voice traffic to be transmitted over a data network, such as the public internet. Using VoIP and, usually in conjunction with a broadband internet connection (cable modem or DSL), it is possible to use a wide range of equipment to make telephone calls over the net.

There are several advantages using Voice over IP (VoIP), including the availability of advanced features that standard telephone systems are not capable of and the ability to have a phone number usually associated with a particular local area anywhere in the world.

But the biggest single advantage VoIP has over standard telephone systems is cost and especially international calls using VoIP are substantially lower than making calls using traditional telephone