Technology has gone a long way in making life easier for people. The telephone, personal computers, laptops, the internet, cellular phones, pagers are just to name a few. Now, there is another big thing in the market, what we call 'VoIP'. VoIP is short for Voice over Internet Protocol. It is also called by different names such as Internet telephony, IP Telephony, Broadband phone, Broadband telephony and Voice over Broadband. Sounds pretty techie, right? Now, what is this technology about? Good question. This technology allows one to make voice calls with the use of broadband internet connection or any IP-based network. This allows anyone to make local, long distance and international calls without using a regular phone line. Companies that offer VoIP services are commonly referred to as providers. Two of the most popular US VoIP providers are AT&T and Vonage. With this technology, you can make calls from anywhere as long as you have broadband connectivity.

How does VoIP works? VoIP is a revolutionary technology that converts your voice into a digital signal which will then be transmitted over the Internet. Before VoIP came to existence, voice communication between two places was completely analog in nature. This would mean that you voice is now going to travel over copper wire medium. With VoIP, phone calls are being routed through a packet switch and into an IP switched networks.

To use VoIP, you will need a high speed internet connection or what is called "broadband" such as DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) or cable modem. You will also need any of these three devices: computer, adaptor or specialized phone.

If you are using VoIP with a computer, you will need software, speakers, sound card, internet connection and a microphone. Software's can be bought for a cheaper price. Some companies offer these software's for free. Using a computer is, in fact, the easiest way to use VoIP and also the most practical as there is usually no charge for any calls except the fee for your regular monthly internet service provider. Softphone is a client software that you can use to download VoIP into your computer.

There are also special VoIP phones. These phones look like the regular phones. The only difference is that this one has an RJ-45 Ethernet connector while the regular phones have RJ-11 phone connectors. Special VoIP phones directly connect to the router and they have all the necessary hardware and software needed for the call. With Wi-Fi phones, on the other hand, VoIP can be used from any Wi-Fi hot spots.

No doubt, VoIP is another big leap to the world's advancing technology. However, everything has its downside. VoIP also has limitations and inconveniences. For one, the fact that it requires internet connectivity makes it less useful because it only means that the entire phone connection will be reliant upon the speed and quality of the Internet connection it is using. However, this may not be such a big problem as VoIP systems can also use regular phone lines. Power interruption is also a problem if you are using computers or cordless phones. The worst limitation is that you can't make an emergency call with VoIP. However, it won't be long that developers will soon find a solution to these limitations.