Can someone explain VOIP to me in simple terms?

[longleaf1]

Hi Guys,

I work from home. I currently have just normal BT home broadband and calls and use the home number for the business.

Now i'm a ltd company and my contract with BT is up, i've thinking about maybe getting VOIP? Don't really understand it though and don't know whether it will be worth it.

Heres the situation, I'm hardly ever in so the majority of the time the phone is on divert to my mobile.

Can i have 2 x times broadband connections in my house? i.e. one for business and one for personal?

All very confusing! :|

 

[Xelp]

VOIP stands for Voice over IP.

In this case you can just think of the IP part meaning the internet. So essentially you're using the internet to piggy back your voice calls.

This would mean that you could get rid of your BT Phone service and setup 2 VOIP lines one for Personal and one for Business.

The choice for who will provide your incoming lines is a varied one. For a simple setup many people use Skype (one choice of VOIP) and then choose to buy skypein numbers to link to their accounts.

A more professional option would be to use a VOIP provider like Gradwell and get 2 DID numbers connected.

Having a read of Gradwell options (no affiliation) will give you an idea of what's available:
http://www.gradwell.com/phoneservices

Let us know if you still have questions

Haris

 

[KM-Tiger]

Have a read of these two:

http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=162496&highlight=voip+simple+terms

http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=170182&highlight=voip+simple+terms

There are more if you search.

 

[benjamin_c]

Take a look at Voipfone.co.uk they are good very reliable service and great prices,

 

[longleaf1]

Take a look at Voipfone.co.uk they are good very reliable service and great prices,

Thanks I'll already got my fax with them but just don't understand i'll this lot.

I'm having a read of the links provided now!

Thanks

 

[cjd]

There's some general VoIP info here:

http://www.voipfone.co.uk/What_Is_Voip.php

It's very confusing at first (and at second actually) because VoIP is simply a technology used to make telephone calls - it doesn't actually mean very much because it's possible to use it to do many things in many different ways.

For instance, if you make a call from our network to an ordinary telephone number it doesn't actually use the public Internet at all - the call goes over your broadband connection to a private connection on our network and over another private cabled connection to the telephone provider's network to finally deliver the call.

In your divert to mobile case - you don't even need a broadband connection - all the work is done in the core network - internet access is used only to set up or change the number that the divert goes to.

And so on.

The best thing to do is to call us on 0207 043 5555 and pester us with questions until you begin to work it out

 

[Experienced IT guy]

Hi Guys,

I work from home. I currently have just normal BT home broadband and calls and use the home number for the business.

I'd really look at replacing BT by 02, The saving will almost cerrtainly cover the Voip costs.

http://www.ava.co.uk/blog/2010/12/6/phone-service-providers.aspx

Voip is just another way of connecting you to the telephone network. Instead of a plug and socket, or a mobile phone, you have a software package that runs on a computer and connects either to your computer's microphone and speakers (or a usb head set) or to a dedicated (normally usb) phone. Advantages: normally cheaper than fixed line or mobile, works from where you computer is plugged into the internet. Disadvantages: has to divert to mobile or landline if your computer is not plugged in / switched on. (this may be an advantage)