As we all are aware the most talked out thing today in the market is the Voice over IP (VoIP) technology. The reason for such popularity is because it's FREE in most PC to PC based calling and cheap when making an external call directly to a landline number anywhere in the world. Which means that, you are saving on your direct international (non-VoIP) calls everyday.

Make sure you are aware of the features to look for in a VoIP service offer before you go the purchase.

• You already have a High Speed Broadband Internet Connection: without which the call quality would suffer badly, therefore, it's very highly recommended to have a good high speed internet connection
• Get small UPS for any unforeseen power outages: incase you are in a locality where major power upgrades are going on or power cuts are a common story then, its highly advisable to get in a UPS (un-interrupted power supply) to protect un-wanted power fluctuations to your VoIP device or computer. Bad power supply can burn out the IC of the VoIP gateway and nobody would want that to happen.
• Do you still need your standard telephone line: of course, you do need your telephone line which is being used to get your satellite TV subscription and home security systems up and running as you can not integrate these services into your VoIP digital system at all.
• Local Telephone White Page Listings is another thing you need to keep with you as not necessarily every VoIP provider may offer this service to you for FREE or a price.
• Reliability of your internet connection must be there otherwise any disturbance can cut your VoIP connections making you run for the money. You may get jitters, latency, noise and communication loss. Incase you have major issues with your ISP, contact the home broadband services division and file complain against them.
• Security is another point of concern as the VoIP based software's are prone to infection from viruses, worms, corruption and hacking. Keep your personal firewall up and running all the time along with a better anti-virus program.
• More Extensions are needed: we all know it's a standard analog phone service which we are using for both voice and data transmission. An analog string uses 2 wires for transmission and receiving of a phone call. Incase you have multi phone jacks in each room and would like to connect then VoIP system to that, then, don't stretch Ethernet cables, instead get an electrician to fix the single phone line to all available jacks. Now you have the ability to use single or multiple VoIP gateways.

Apart from that basic VoIP service, additional features are provided without any additional charge. Services like the call barring, call forwarding, call waiting, called ID, phone book etc., are really necessary with any phone. Traditional phone companies would charge the subscriber for each and every service they offer.