CyberGuide
VoIP, Take Two
FROM: MAY-JUN 2005 ISSUE | BY ROBIN DAY
During this morning's commute, a voice on the car radio asked, "Do you VoIP?" My first instinct was to head for the nearest coffee shop, thinking I must still be a half-cup short of awake. The last time I heard anything about voice-over-Internet-protocol (VoIP), this Internet-based phone service was not quite ready for prime time, with choppy, slow transmissions reminiscent of conversations with Apollo astronauts. When I heard the same promotion on my way home, I decided it was time to take another look at VoIP.
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/ip-telephony.htm
How Stuff Works is one of my stand-by sites for explanations of all things technical, and when it comes to VoIP, they come through loud and clear. This site provides a very good explanation of VoIP, how it works and what you need to do to try it out.
www.fcc.gov/voip
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission offers a very good VoIP resource, complete with both technical and non-technical descriptions of the service and how it functions.
www.voip-calculator.com
The VoIP Calculator site provides loads of VoIP resources, including calculators to help you design your system and a series of white papers on the topic.
www.vonage.ca/index.php
A quick search on any Web search engine will yield a long list of VoIP providers, and while this is not an endorsement, Vonage is a Canadian service provider, and their site is quite informative.
Now that I am confident I am fully awake, I can honestly say that I don't VoIP yet, but I may in the near future. After all, with the money I save, I could afford that extra cup of coffee to ensure I am fully awake by the time I hit the freeway.
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Robin Day, MBA, CGA, teaches financial management at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. He is also president of Virtual Information Technologies Inc.E-mail rday@virtualit.ca.