Over the years I have had many, many disagreements and punch-ups with telephone companies and their agents. Admittedly, I am quite fanatical about Customer Service and when I pay for a product or service, I expect suppliers to try their hardest to deliver what they’ve promised.

At the risk of starting a Race War, and perhaps my own extradition, I suggest that the general standard of customer service in this country is decidedly average. A while ago it was the done thing for a company to display copies of their Mission Statement all over the place. The tone of the statement would generally indicate how much the company and staff appreciated their customers. At first I was delighted that companies would go to the trouble of producing these good-news documents. Alas, I found that in many cases they were merely paying lip-service to the concept.

Maybe my expectations are too high, but in fairness, I try my damnedest to give top-class service when I am the provider, so when I’m paying the tab, why should I settle for anything less? Anyway, rightly or wrongly, my past dealings with them have left me with a bad taste in my mouth. So when I hear of a chance to save a few quid on my phone bills, I’m there with “bells on.”

Before I started looking into VoIP, my phone conversations had been handset to handset. I have friends and family in the UK and some contacts in the US and New Zealand, and the procedure usually went something like this: - I’d dial the appropriate number, talk to whoever answered for a few minutes; they’d then pass the handset to whoever else was available and I’d ‘do the rounds’. Of course, where there was a second handset available, three-way or even 4-way conversations were possible.

One of the cute things that VoIP has enabled me to do has been to set up conference calls; recently I took part in a training seminar with over 90 people on the call. They hailed from Canada, UK, Mexico, USA, Alaska, Jordan and Germany and God knows where else.

Now I know that phone companies offer conference call facilities using just the telephone, but with VoIP, conversation is just the beginning. In my training room I can run Powerpoint presentations, use a whiteboard, swap files instantaneously and play videos. I can even share my desktop; in other words, I can open any file on my computer with the flick of a switch, it can be seen by everyone else on the call. Similarly, if they are having a problem on their computer, with their permission, I can access their machine and correct the problem for them.

If you think this technology is just a “flash in the pan”, consider this. SKYPE, one of the earliest suppliers of VoIP, was recently purchased by Ebay for a staggering $4,100,000,000.

Of course, the real challenge is in finding an economical way to gain access to this technology. A search for “VoIP” on Google will return “about 294,000,000 results”. And of course, in case Uncle Bill should miss the boat, Microsoft has its version now available. It’s called Live Meeting, and judging by the hefty price tag, seems to be targeting the corporate world.

I’d like to finish by offering a word of caution to smaller players, especially exporters who can see the potential in VoIP. The old adage about “getting what you pay for” just isn’t true in this business. Some companies have a fixed monthly charge; some base their charges on time used; some base their price on the number of people on the call.

So, for those who remember Hill St Blues; “Let’s be careful out there.”

Regards,
Tom

VoIP (Voice over internet protocol) represents the next generation of Phone services. The VoIP technology uses a high speed internet connection (such as DSL or cable) rather than a traditional phone line, for the transmission of voice signals. The use of this technology costs significantly less than the use of traditional phone lines. Think of it as having to send a document to someone by fax versus sending the same document by e-mail. Which option is cheaper? The cost of faxing a document depends on where you’re faxing it to and how many pages you’re faxing (and therefore how long you’ll use the phone line). E-mailing the document costs the same thing regardless of where you’re e-mailing it to and how many pages you’re e-mailing. The same applies to VOIP.

There are several providers currently offering VOIP phone services such as Vonage, lingo and packet8 among others. The calling plans range in price from $10 to $30 a month. Most have unlimited long distance calling and free features such as call waiting, caller ID, voicemail, etc without additional costs. The cost advantage of VOIP is such that traditional phone providers such as Verizon and AT&T have already begun to offer VOIP phone services which also cost significant less than their regular plans. Therefore, the VolP technology is set to bring lower prices and improved services to the consumer as a result of more competition.

There are generally three kinds of VOIP calling:

1)_ATA (Analog telephone adaptors): your phone is plugged into special router which is in turn connected to the internet. This router converts analog signals from your phone into digital packets of data which can then be sent through a high speed internet connection. If the person you’re calling also has VOIP, these packets of data travel exclusively through the internet all the way to the other side of the line. If you’re calling a regular phone, then a part of the journey must be made through regular phone lines. That’s why there is a cost involved. It is this kind of VOIP that providers such as Vonage, lingo, packet8 and others rely in order to provide their services. Because your “voice” travels mostly through the internet the cost of the calls is much lower, and therefore the calling plans are much cheaper.

2)_IP(internet protocol) phones: these phones look exactly like standard phones, but instead of connecting to a normal phone cable, they connect to an Ethernet cable which in turn plugs directly into your router or broadband modem. This way the conversion of your voice into digital packets of data happens inside the phone, rather than in a VOIP router.

3)_ Computer to computer: this is currently the most popular kind of VOIP calling. Computer programs such as Skype, allow you to talk to anyone anywhere in the world for free! All that is needed is a microphone and a speaker on each of the computers. Since this technology uses exclusively the internet connection to get from one end of the line to the other, there is no cost for the user. It’s like exchanging e-mails messages, except that packets of data containing voice rather than words are traveling through the internet. For a small fee, these programs also allow you to make calls to regular phones

One good feature of VOIP is that you’re not tied to a particular area code. Suppose you live in New York but most of your friends and family live in Los Angeles. You could choose to have an area code from Los Angeles added to your phone, so that all the calls that originate in LA count as local calls rather than long distance calls. That way, your friends and family pay only for a local call even though they’re calling you from across the country.

For more information about VOIP and tips on choosing a VOIP provider visit http://www.voip-basics.info

About the author:

Lucas Velloso enjoys writing about VOIP. Visit http://www.voip-basics.info where you’ll find everything you need to know about VOIP.

The N76 is not the finest example of a handset Nokia have ever made, but it remains worth considering. Compared to some of the other models for the price the N76 is quite pretty well featured. The styling of this phone is not up to the usual standards of Nokia.

The ring-tones enabled on the N76 are Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3 as well as a vibration alert . This mobile handset is bluetooth enabled so it will work with with the vast majority of mobile phone devices for example hands free sets or even a computer. The Nokia N76 is that is fitted to a Standard battery, Li-Ion 700 mAh (BL-4B) battery cell. The battery life the N76 is 2:45 talk time and 200 hrs standby charge. The N76 weighs in at 115 g. If the colour of your handset is important to you, you should be aware that this handset is available in, Red, Black and White. This mobile handset is neat and compact. Getting on to the display the handset is equipped with a 2.4 inch screen, which is a pretty average size display if you look at other phones you could get for the cost of this phone. The display type on this mobile handset is a TFT, 16M colors. The Nokia N76 is compatible with 2G GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 and 3G UMTS 2100 . A 2 MP, 1600×1200 pixels, video(QVGA), flash; secondary CIF video call camera is integrated into the N76 camera. For those that need access to the Internet on the move a WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML browser is included.To allow mobile Internet access a WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML browser is included. There are also a number of additional features included with the Nokia N76 such as:

Regardless of being a pretty new model, the Nokia N76 faces a lot of competition. It is therefore relatively easy to find some great deals on this mobile handset.

In spite of the fact that getting a good price on the N76 is relatively easy, it may take you a while. There are lots of of mobile phone vendors all offering a large number of of products from the major network providers. To help find the best deal you should think about visiting a comparison site to find the best deals on the Nokia N76 .

Launched in September 2007 the Nokia 7900 Prism has proved very popular as an easy to use Bar style phone. With the 7900 Prism Nokia have produced a handset which is reasonably well featured for a entry level handset. Nokia have done a outstanding job on the styling of this mobile phone.

The Nokia 7900 Prism is equipped with Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3 ring tones on top of which is a vibrating alert. If the colour scheme of your handset is important to you, you should be aware that the 7900 Prism is only available in Black. At 101 g in weight the 7900 Prism is nice and light for a handset in its price bracket. We found the 7900 Prism neat and compact. A Li-Ion 850 mAh (BL-6P) battery is shipped with the Nokia 7900 Prism. In terms of battery usage the Nokia 7900 Prism has 240 hrs standby time and 3:00 talk time. The 7900 Prism supports 2G GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 and 3G UMTS 850 / 2100. This mobile phone has a 2 MP, 1600×1200 pixels, video(QCIF), flash camera. A WAP 2.0/xHTML compatible browser is also included. This handset is bluetooth enabled meaning compatibility with a range of contemporary mobile phone devices very convenient. Getting on to the display the phone is supplied with a 2 inch screen, which, taking into consideration alternatives for the money is a disappointingly sized display. The screen is a OLED, 16M colors. This handset as a number of extras like:

Despite being a fairly recent model, it has already been super-ceded. This means that it is relatively easy to find some great deals on the 7900 Prism. With the number of online stores now online it has never been easier or as cost competitive to shop for a mobile phone. Shopping online will save you a lot of money, incredibly it is possible to get a mobile phone with free line rental , which should not cost you anything.