Today I discuss about a few basic aspects of Internet Telephony (IPT) as well as its advantages and disadvantages.

The best thing about IPT is that it is highly cost-effective. The other attractive options it offers are:

Customers have the option of flat Internet rating. Thus, they can save money by routing their long-distance calls  over the Internet.

Software solutions provided by the IPT may easily be extended and integrated with other services and applications.

Deploying new IP-telephony services requires much lower investment of time as well as money compared to the traditional PSTN (Public-Switched Telephone Network) environment.

After reading this if you feel like celebrating, then wait! Radical technological innovations are required before the IPT can even hope to match its traditional counterparts. The  quality of voice in Internet telephony is still quite inferior. Moreover, accounting and billing problems need to be sorted out.

In spite of all these hurdles, I don't think that we have long to wait before IPT catches up!

Have you ever thought how telephony would be like if Google decides to take on established wired and wireless carriers? Though the company has already rolled out a beta version of an IM/voice-over-Internet Protocol (IP) service called Google Talk, I find it more a threat to Skype than AT&T or Verizon. However, I feel that the situation can completely change. Google may go on to command complete monopoly over the market if it wishes so.

Google's vast customer base is habituated to the search company and uses it daily. Besides Google can provide any services, for which you pay a charge, for free.

If Google creates an intuitive interface and integrates Gmail and Google Talk into its existing mobile devices, millions of existing customers would be willing to try the service. This may throw the other providers completely out of the market.

So, are you listening Google?

If you are one of the customers subscribing to Internet telephony, you and others like you, who have adopted the technology are proving to be a major headache for a large sector of organized telephone providers.

Having put on its rolls more than 125 million customers, Internet giants providing  telephony services are posing stiff competition to the telephone companies (telcos). I feel the telcos need to rethink and rethink quickly their policy approaches and strategy.

Internet companies have proved to be unusually efficient in customer acquisition. This trend is disruptive to the traditional marketing mix of the telcos. The most vital strengths of marketing on the Internet is that it builds not just a customer base but a connected community. This leads to users getting hooked, thereby creating a powerful customer acquisition tool.

One thing that always went in favor of the telcos was the sound quality in their services. But that point has also been covered by the providers of Internet telephony, in the shape of better software.

Besides, I bet even you would go for the more cost-effective plan rather than worrying about for better sound-quality.

Do you want to exploit the benefits of Internet Telephony but are unsure about the software? Then the answer to your problems is Skype - a simple software that you can try out. It’ll let you make free calls to your friends all over the world. And you won't need to shell out any  money for it 'coz it’s free.

This software is quick and easy to get started with. Download, register, install, plug in your headset, speakers or USB phone and start calling your friends. Sound quality is excellent and the calls are highly secure with end-to-end encryption.

To add to its charms, this software is compatible with not only Windows, but also with Mac OS X, Linux and PDAs using Pocket PC, with a native look and feel for each platform.

So, what are you waiting for. Go and download your copy of Skype now!

If you always wanted to try Internet Telephony as a viable alternative for those costly international calls, but were not sure about the whole idea, just read on.

This whole mode of communication is made possible by a category of hardware and software that enables people to use the Internet as the transmission medium for telephone calls. For users who have free, or fixed-price Internet access, Internet telephony software essentially provides free telephone calls anywhere in the world.

However there is a flip side to this. To date, Internet telephony does not offer the same quality of telephone service as direct telephone connections. So, if you want to go for the cost-effective medium of Internet telephony, you need to be ready to compromise a bit on quality…

VoIP: cost effective and user friendly

If you are looking for a cost effective and convenient communication channel then, Voice

The call quality and ease of use for VoIP is the best compared to the traditional telecom products. And to top it all, the cost incurred in making domestic and international calls is much less than what you would normally pay. In fact, the Irish have already welcomed the technology with open arms and almost every house is equipped with this facility.

Why don't you go and check VoIP out. After all, it is something that you need.

Planning to buy a new web conferencing software? Do keep in mind some points before you make that purchase.

Price:
The price may range from free to several thousand dollars. Don't assume that a higher priced product is better. To a certain extent, you get what you pay for, but a few of the freeware products are actually stronger than some commercial products. So, find the best software that would meet all your requirements.

Operating System Support:
It is a key determining factor, especially if circumstances require you to run conferencing from an existing web server.
Compatibility with Other Environments:
If all access to your conferencing system will be made via the web, then compatibility with other environments is not an issue. But in some cases, there is a requirement that discussions be accessible by some other means. This limits your choice.
Administrative Capabilities:
If you have limited access to your web server, you'll want to choose a product that can be installed and administered easily with whatever level of access you have been granted.
Browser Support:
Some web conferencing systems rely on advanced HTML extensions such as frames or Javascript. So, before purchasing the software, be sure the software chosen is compatible with your system.
Just keep these key considerations in mind and you are sure to buy the best!

What if you have to call an urgent board meeting of all the members. No problem, you say! Right. But if all the members stay in different parts of the world? Then what would you do? Hmmm…?

It might have been a problem in the past but now the solution is just a click away! All you need to do is start a web conference. You can organize a meeting with the touch of a phone pad or the click of the mouse.

The world has become a small place now with no place for the word 'impossible'. Companies like TDS Metrocom provide web conferencing solutions to customers. These solutions help in better management and interaction with clients.

So if you want your business to surge, then web conferencing is sure to provide you a helping hand. Go ahead and get plugged!

Does your grandma stay in Singapore and you in Canada? Wanna talk to her often but, the high rate of overseas calls prevents you from doing so? Well, nothing to worry about. You just need to acquaint her with internet telephony.

With internet telephony, you can make calls over the web and enjoy unlimited local and long-distance calling for less than you would have ever thought possible.

Cousin in London, friend in Tokyo, aunt in Boston, spouse in Dubai, nobody will ever be too far with internet telephony. So, come and join the Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) revolution!

US Robotics has introduced the Internet Speakerphone which combines the facility of a headset, handset, microphone, a pair of speakers and a mouse-cum-microphone to make Internet calls using a PC.

The Internet Speakerphone looks like an ice hockey puck and can be connected to the computer through the USB port. As it functions in the capacity of both a speaker and a microphone, it can be used to make and receive Skype calls. The installation process is remarkably easy and the call quality depends on the speed of your broadband.

Though the market feels that at 50 pounds, it is slightly overpriced, I think that the product overall is worth it.

I asked one of my web conferencing expert friend to write article. Here it goes:

Web Conferencing is the technology that has been accepted by the business establishments of all types where conferencing is required. Its advantageous are not only many, but stupendous!

If you look at its utility, both cost-saving and time-saving, it has come to stay in all the circles where it matters. It has paved way for establishing an effective communication structure in any enterprise. Rather, it has become the permanent part! One has to make a careful analysis about the uses, its cost-effectiveness and the environments, before deciding about web-conferencing!

The size of the organization, the purpose of conferencing and the number of participants, roughly are the main tools of web-conferencing. Scientific planning and precision are the other factors to be considered. Conducting international on line events, is a skillful technical job. The participants need to have the basic knowledge about their role. Otherwise, the whole exercise may end in confusion.

If you are holding a web conference for the first time in your Organization, you will have to address a lot of questions to yourself and find solutions. It is desirable to put on inquiry and screen a number of vendors. Their websites will have to be carefully studied and scrutinized, their past performances need to be looked into, if necessary by demanding testimonials, and finally ask for a live demonstration, before signing up the deal! Their contact man should be in a position to answer all your questions and nothing should be left to ambiguity.

The next question to be considered, how often you require web conferencing in your Organization? Is it, once in a year requirement? Or whether it has become a part of your production and sales departments? What is best for your organization? Is it worthwhile to invest in in-house conferencing facilities or take the system on hire basis? But one thing emerges very clearly. Productivity, competitiveness and profitability have become such tough words of combat, any big organization to hold on to its ground, will need the facilities of web conferencing.

Another point to be remembered is, web conferencing is a product of technology- and the advancement of technology. At times, its astonishing and difficult to keep the track. By the time you decide about a particular system for installation, in some other part of the world, it might have become outdated. Some systems may devolve high initial costs.

In the present age of computers, you probably can not find any secure and safe option. Every other thing is prone to hacking and tracking.

If you shop or make any sort of monetary transaction on the net, your card may be hacked by the hackers and thus misused later. Now the internet telephony has also become a target of malicious activity of the hackers.

In Australia, the internet protocol telephony networks are under the threat of such danger posed by the hackers. According to Scott Ferguson net phone attacks are rare but increasing day by day. Really someone has rightly said, in this age and time, ways of destruction come before ways of construction.

So just keep a watch!

According to a research, 75 percent of respondents in Ireland have tried Voice over IP (VoIP) and 90 percent recognized VoIP as cost-effective.

According to a new research commissioned by Blueface, VoIP - using IP networks like the Internet to make phone calls - is making substantial inroads into Irish homes. It is good for a country to be equipped with the technology and better for the public to get benefited with it. Three out of four people have already tried VoIP, and most who do, stick with it.

As for Blueface, it is better than Skype, as it gives you the facility of using your own phone, as opposed to having to switch on a PC. In addition to it you can also get an Irish phone number and a 076 VoIP number to take calls from any Irish landline at local call rates.

The cheaper call rates may be the reason for the popularity of Internet telephony in Ireland. The quality of call and the ease of use have also improved in Ireland in just a few years and this led to the popularity of the Internet telephony.

Facilities packed services always attract the attention of the masses, as did happen to the masses of Ireland.

Internet telephony (IPT) is nothing but a transport of telephone calls over the Internet.
With help of this you can talk all around the world for free. The most beneficial part of IPT and driver of its evolution is that you can save money and implement its innovative services very easily.

In the future, it is possible that you will be supplied with a single infrastructure for both Internet access and Internet telephony. You will be using multiplexing data and voice that would result in better bandwidth utilization.

You may take advantage of flat Internet rating vs hierarchical PSTN rating and save money. This would be better for Europeans because there the prices of long-distance calls are higher than the US. But it is also possible that prices of the traditional and the Internet telephony will be equal with the convergence of quality services provided by them.

You may also get profit of its software-oriented nature. Software solutions may be easily extended and integrated with whiteboarding, electronic calendar.

These are just a few reasons for you to go with the Internet telephony…what are you thinking??

Now you can see Avaya, a US based company, in India. It is marketing its Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services to enterprises in India, in view of the increased usage and implementation of Internet Protocol (IP) telephony in the Indian corporate community.

So far this year, its efforts have produced fruitful results. The company already has shipped more VoIP solutions in India than conventional phone systems.

The success of Avaya in the field of market is all because of VoIP-friendly Indian legislation. According to Lawrence Byrd, Director, Avaya IP Telephony and Mobility, this transformation from landline to VoIP is occurring because the new technology has definite benefits for both the common man and businesses.

VoIP is portable, which means that calls can be placed using a 'softphone' on a laptop or pocket computer.

This technology has made communicating with people living abroad cheaper and more affordable. I think India needs to thank its lucky stars once again!!