Voice over IP is new craze in telecommunications industry and majority of people around the world are adopting this technology with much faster speed. As the time passed by , there have been many updates to the VoIP platform and the technology has advanced to SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) based VoIP connections which means, a user can connect over the IP network and can use a VoIP softphone application like Ventrilo and can talk to any other user around the world.

Ventrilo has become a great softphone to be used for VoIP based calling and is compatible with multiple platforms like the Apple MAC and the Microsoft Windows. All you need is a sound card, speaker and microphone or headsets with microphone to talk FREE to another Ventrilo user over the internet. Not only that, Ventrilo also allows multiple calls to be placed from one user, giving a much wanted telephone conferencing experience along with several other features.

How do you get Ventrilo? Well, you can download the Ventrilo software from www.Ventrilo.com and install it on your computer. It will automatically detect the sound card and within in no time you shall be able to configure and adjust your headsets.

Until now Ventrilo can only be installed on MAC and windows but the future release will be compatible with Linux operating system as well. You can buy Ventrilo software license to install the product on Solaris, FreeBSD and NetBSD systems to get more VoIP functionality and service that can be further offered to other users or clients.

As a prerequisite, make sure you have a broadband internet connection in place, through which Ventrilo would perform exceptionally well with excellent call quality as if you were talking on a landline using real telephone. The call quality is normally controlled by the Codec used in the Ventrilo system which uses least amount of bandwidth in order to place an audible call as compared to other VoIP systems which takes almost 20k for each VoIP call connection.

When does a call suffer? If the user is running a dial-up connection the call quality will suffer due to low bandwidth which might not be a good test to perform to judge Ventrilo.

Ventrilo is currently available in two versions 2.3.0 and 2.3.1 (which is platform dependent). The software license was changed by the flagship industry to serve only 8 users as a limitation. PRO version also supports up to 8 user connections based upon the new license limitation. The Pro version is mostly purchased by only big hosting companies only.

Ventrilo has become a choice for many on the internet who eagerly care to talk to there loved ones across nations for FREE and with its reputed call quality. Recently it has been found that Ventrilo is also a first choice for majority of gamers who play and talk to there own team members over Ventrilo. The bandwidth allocation for Ventrilo is low and, that's the reason for a gamer to play as well as talk to others simultaneously without much hassle which keeps them one step ahead of there rival team.

That's not all; many tactical games can be worked out through team-work over a headset rather than chatting which have become outdated. The online gaming software for instant messaging Xfire is popular amongst others which in integrated with the Ventrilo server where all users are plugged-in.