What Makes an Internet Phone Service Attractive?
Turn on the computer
Plug in the phone jack
Dial number for home (3,000 miles away)
Talk for 30 minutes
Cost-pennies per minute
What? Does this sound like your standard call home when travelling for business? If not, then perhaps you should check out the many features of an Internet phone service. VoIP, or Internet phone service, works by tapping into the same system that you use for your broadband connection and allows you to make calls at significantly lower costs than with a traditional phone line.
Internet phone service is great for the average family because of its many features-all offered as part of the basic package. These features include call forwarding, call waiting, caller ID, voice mail as e-mail messages and last number redial. Perhaps, the only drawbacks for a home with VoIP are that some areas have been known to have problems with 911 services working with Internet phones service only and if there is a severe storm, occasionally (though very rare) the phone/Internet connect may be disabled.
If you are a business owner, there are some additional benefits offered by VoIP that not only make it a practical choice, but a productive one as well. Some of these features will have additional charges, but will still be far less than those charged by the traditional phone companies.
- FindMe services which allow a call to be routed to a particular number or even a series of numbers.
- FollowMe which routes calls to a specific number; this can be decided on the spur of the moment and then set up via the Internet phone service providers website.
- Desk to desk calling between multiple office locations
- Customized “on hold” messages and music
- 3 way conference calls (some providers offer as many as 10 way conference calls.)
- Video conferencing
- Fax services
- The ability to have an office in one city but actually be located in another (e.g. Office is actually in Texas, but has a New York area code) giving the appearance of being a much larger business.
- 800-numbers at a reasonable cost
An Internet phone service is a great way to make the most of your communication budget-whether for your home or small business. There are a long list of services providers, so there is no doubt that you will be able to find one that will do all you need-and likely much more! |
