VoIP Providers Pensacola FL

You’ve decided to ditch your company’s land-lines because this new thing, VoIP, is supposed to save a ton of money. James Gaskin thinks you’re a smart cookie.

“Eighty percent who don’t examine it are just wasting money,” says the author of Talk is Cheap: Switching to Internet Telephones (O'Reilly Media, 2005, $19.95).

VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, isn’t all that new, but some analysts are saying it’s now seeing the kind of growth that could give Ma Bell the willies.

In a 2006 report by New Paradigm Resources Group, the Chicago-based consulting firm estimated that VoIP will grow from nearly 9 million users now to about 24 million by the end of 2008.

And while companies like Vonage, Sunrocket, Packet8 and Skype have enjoyed the highest name-recognition among VoIP providers, other familiar names – Microsoft, Google, Yahoo! and AOL – are getting into the game.

What is VoIP?

The Federal Communications Commission defines VoIP as “a technology that allows you to make voice calls using a broadband Internet connection instead of a regular phone line.”

The FCC handily explains that certain VoIP providers may limit you to calling only people using the same service, but others open it up to anyone with a phone number – local, long distance, international and cell.

You might also be limited to making and taking calls only through your computer or a special VoIP phone, as it was early on. But some services now include VoIP adapters for use on regular phones.

Author: Alice Rhein

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