Phone technology
Listen Before You Leap Into VoIP

High-speed Internet telephony gains momentum as an alternative to traditional phone service.

BY MIKE ANTONIAK

Unlimited local and long-distance calling anywhere in the United States and Canada for only $29.99 per month?

That’s the promise and selling point of America Online’s newly announced Internet Phone Service, the latest entry in Web-based telephony, or Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP), service.

With its launch, AOL joins a field already crowded with vendors eager for a share of the burgeoning market for Web-based telephone services. Similar services also are available through Vonage, Net2Phone, and AT&T CallVantage. Thanks to these and other companies’ marketing pushes, and the cost savings they’re offering businesses and consumers, you’ll soon be weighing whether to make the switch from a home or office landline system to Web-based phone service.

How VoIP Works

VoIP providers use the efficiencies of the Internet to move data through a broadband connection, which provides an economical alternative to traditional phone services.

In traditional landline service, a conversation is carried from point to point as electronic pulses relayed over wires or cables. VoIP has more in common with digital cellular service: The audio of a conversation is converted into packets of digital information, just like an e-mail message or data file, before it’s transmitted over the Internet.

With this technology, you can make calls from your computer or from a phone equipped with a special adapter to connect the phone to a broadband Internet connection, such as DSL or a cable modem. You can place VoIP calls to any number anywhere and make conference calls. (The flat rates don’t usually include international calls outside of Canada; there’s usually a per-minute charge for those.)

What are additional benefits of using VoIP?

• Flexibility and control. VoIP allows greater flexibility and convenience when setting and managing the phone system. You receive standard call features such as caller ID, call forwarding, and call blocking. You also can log onto your VoIP provider’s Web site to easily reroute calls to any number, check voicemail messages, or have voicemail forwarded to your e-mail inbox.
  
• Keep your phone number or get a local number anywhere. Most VoIP vendors can provide you with an option to keep your current phone number, depending on your area. Conversely, the service can give you “presence” in other markets by allowing you to set up a local phone number there, yet field those calls wherever you are, keeping your location transparent to callers.
  
• Lower phone bills. For all of these features, though, it’s the potential savings VoIP promises that many see as its key advantage. For a flat monthly fee, depending on the service vendor and plan, VoIP can significantly reduce a big expense for anyone who relies on their phone as a business tool.
  

Is VoIP for You?

The big question for real estate practitioners, though, is: Are those potential savings alone enough to warrant a move to VoIP now?

• Listen before you leap. As attractive and impressive VoIP may sound, it’s not a perfected technology yet. Like any Web-based solution, it’s prone to the same drawbacks that can frustrate Web surfers, no matter how fast your connection—mainly poor sound quality, confusing lag time in the dialogue of a conversation, or dropped calls. And, when your Internet server goes down or there’s a power blackout, you could find yourself without phone service. Ask yourself if these are risks you can take. After all, in real estate, every missed call represents a missed opportunity.
  
• Test it out. The prudent approach, short term, may be to give VoIP a test run, as a back-up, rather than replacement, for your existing phone system. Take advantage of a vendor’s trial offers or short-term contracts. Try VoIP at home. Explore the convenience of managing a Web-based phone system. Monitor the quality of the service and audio, and ask those at the receiving end how your calls sound to them.
  
• Compare bills. Do you see enough savings in VoIP to justify the move to a yet unproven technology from an already reliable one? If you decide it’s time for VoIP, read the fine print in the service contract before signing a long-term commitment. Make sure all fees are clearly defined. Determine the costs of any new equipment or adapters that may be required to use this service. Find out about the costs to expand the service with additional numbers or users.
  

Suggest a Topic

Do you have technology you’d like to learn more about or a new user twist that you’d like to share with your peers? Let me know about it by e-mailing antoniak@dtccom.net, and I’ll do my best to give it the coverage it deserves.