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[P298]Phone Service For Home

by Jon A, Jon

In the process of trying to explain to some older friends why they should consider VOIP service for their home, it struck me that I have not found a true beginner's guide or novice guide that explains what VOIP is and why it may be a good economic and financial decision. This article will address home VOIP service from the beginner's standpoint, and while not addressing each and every question or concern about VOIP, should provide enough basic information to the point where it will give you a background to know what you are looking at and whether or not it makes sense for your home.

Basic Requirement

The VOIP service provider, almost regardless of which one you choose, does NOT provide your high-speed Internet access. When you buy the VOIP service from them, they assume you already have that. You see, VOIP service uses your existing high-speed Internet service to make and receive phone calls, and the VOIP provider assumes you already have that to email, surf the web, etc.

Even if you do already have high-speed Internet access, it needs to be stable, fast, and reliable. If it is not all three of those things, you are not going to be happy with VOIP service from ANY provider. If your high-speed Internet connection is via satellite, do not consider VOIP, satellite will not work well with it.

Your Local Phone Number

In larger cities and major metropolitan areas, you can almost always get a phone number for your VOIP phone that would be considered a LOCAL phone call for people in your area who want to call you. But in many less-than-metropolitan areas, it is not possible to get a local phone number for your VOIP phone. You can still get and use VOIP service but you won't have a local phone number. For example, if you live in Podunk Idaho, you may not be able to get a phone number for your VOIP phone that is local to Podunk, but you CAN get a local number for Boise Idaho. The problem with this is that when people want to call you on your VOIP phone, they will actually be making a long distance call to reach you, since your phone number is a Boise number.

If you are just considering VOIP service for making long distance calls and really don't care that local residents will need to make a long distance call to reach your VOIP phone, then this is not an issue, but it is something to be aware of nonetheless.

Many VOIP service providers will also give you a second (and third and fourth, etc) phone number which is known as a Virtual Number. Say you live in Chicago and have a Chicago phone number for your VOIP phone. But you frequently get calls from friends in Tampa Florida and Denver Colorado. You can get virtual numbers for Tampa and Denver, so that when your friends in Tampa and Denver want to call you, they can call a phone number that is LOCAL to them (where most local calls are free) but it will still ring on your VOIP phone at your home in Chicago.

The Economics Of VOIP

Assuming you have a good stable and reliable high-speed Internet connection, this part is your basic no-brainer. For a traditional phone from the phone company with no extra features like caller ID, voice mail, call waiting, etc, you can expect to pay $25 to $30 per month, and that is just for a dial tone and local calls, with no long distance included. By contrast, your VOIP phone provides unlimited local calling, unlimited nationwide long distance calling, plus caller ID, voice mail, call waiting, and various other things depending on the provider, and it does so for around $20 per month. Our Editor's Choice top pick at our web site does all this for under $17 per month!

Putting It All Together

The last part is the phone itself. Do you need a special telephone handset? No, you can use the phone you already have. Can you use a cordless phone? Yes, that presents no problem at all. Simply take the phone jack from your existing phone (known as an RJ-11 jack) and plug it into the small box (about the size of a deck of cards) that the VOIP provider sends you when you order service, plug the other end of the box into a spare jack on your high-speed Internet connection router (known as an RJ-45 jack) and you are good to go after you activate your VOIP phone.

It may seem like high-tech rocket science but it really isn't. The economics are unbeatable and the voice quality (again, assuming you have a rock solid reliable high-speed Internet connection) is as good or better than your traditional phone. With this foundation of knowledge, you may want to check out more details and our Editor's Choice VOIP services at our web site. It could be one of the smartest financial decisions you will make this year!

More and more individuals are turning to home business start-ups and self-employment as a means of weathering these tough economic times. Countless small businesses are springing up as many highly qualified workers and professionals are laid off from the traditional work-force and are switching to new ways of earning a part-time or full-time income from the comfort of their homes.

Online fax has become one of the fastest growing aspects of these recent economic changes. As more and more of these new business owners turn to the Internet and computers to make their businesses viable, getting an online fax service has become crucial to their success, especially if those businesses depend upon faxing to bring in sales, keep in contact with clients or play a vital part in advertising.

First, you must understand online fax is simply using your email system and the Internet to send and receive all your faxes. It is known by many names - email fax, web fax, Internet fax, computer fax or even electronic fax. Your faxes are sent as email attachments, usually in TIFF or PDF format. In order to use web fax your must first sign up to an online fax service provider, who acts on your behalf as an intermediary, to handle all your faxing. You are given a local or Toll-Free fax number along with an online account (interface) where you can logon and do your faxing. Your faxes are also stored here in this online account.

One of the main reasons Internet faxing has become so popular and so vital is because it is totally portable. You can send and receive your faxes from any web device - as long as you have an Internet connection and these days that's just about everywhere you can imagine. Cell phones, laptops, netbooks, PDAs... all can be used to do your faxing. You are no longer tied down to the traditional fax machine in the office.

In today's ever increasing mobile society, one can plainly see the importance of having this portable fax service at your fingertips. For any small home business, online fax is very convenient because you don't have the costs of running an extra fax phone line or the costs of running a traditional fax machine - those ink, toner and paper expenses do add up. Besides, the cost of sending faxes via email and your computer is much cheaper than the old traditional method.

Moreover, there is the competitive factor which just can't be ignored. In this dog-eat-dog world, any business just starting up needs all the advantages it can muster; having online faxing gives you a slight advantage over companies which don't have it, especially if your business will be depending heavily upon faxing for bringing in sales or contacting clients. Having your company or business available 24/7 will also have a significant impact on your bottom line.

Now there are countless online fax service providers you can use and the average monthly charges run around $10 a month. But there are different rates and plans you can choose from so it does pay to do comparison shopping before you buy. Mainly because, this is a long-term business expense and a little homework now can mean significant savings over the long haul.

Whether you're just starting a home business or already running a small company, an online fax service should be at the top of your list if you want to modernize your business and make it run more efficiently. It will also make your home business or small company more competitive in this very competitive world. Can you or your home business afford NOT to have online fax is the real question you have to ask?

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Both Jon A & Titus Hoskins are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Jon A has sinced written about articles on various topics from Home, Sports Car and Acid Reflux. For more insights and additional information about and to read about our Editor's Choice picks, please visit our web site at. Jon A's top article generates over 40500 views. to your Favourites.

Titus Hoskins has sinced written about articles on various topics from Personal Desktop, RSS and Computers and The Internet. For more information on Internet Fax Services use this handy online Comparison Guide to get your own: Or if you want more detailed information on Internet F. Titus Hoskins's top article generates over 49500 views. to your Favourites.