Adding VoIP to Your Home Network

Voice over Internet Protocol isn’t going anywhere. It’s here and it’s staying. It’s time to bid farewell to your traditional phone in your home and welcome VoIP phones or VoIP service to enjoy calling to friends and family in US, Canada or any destination in the world at a rate which will suit your budget.

VoIP phone service not only saves you on your calls, but lets you enjoy all value-added features, which otherwise are charged for in case of your traditional phone. Owing to these facts, people are abandoning their traditional phones and going head-over-heels for purchasing residential VoIP services. I want to outline some basic options or requirements that you will need to get started.

Soft Phone Options

A soft phone is a software program for making telephone calls over the Internet using a general purpose computer, rather than using dedicated hardware. Often a soft phone is designed to behave like a traditional telephone, sometimes appearing as an image of a phone, with a display panel and buttons with which the user can interact. A soft phone is usually used with a headset connected to the sound card of the PC, or with a USB phone.

It’s important to differentiate soft phones from services based on soft phones. Skype, Google Talk, and Vonage are Internet telephony service providers having their own soft phones that you install on your computer. Unfortunately these three major providers are not interoperable, and you can’t place a direct call between them.

Currently VoIP Supply is carrying a wide variety of Skype hardware and accessories. This includes Skype phone, wireless phones, and headsets to name a few. Check out these great deals here.

VoIP Analog Adapters

A VoIP Adapter, most commonly known as (ATAs) are used by many VoIP companies selling a Telco-alternative VoIP service, where the device is used to replace a user’s connection to a traditional telephone company. When sold in connection with a VoIP service, the ATA is often locked so it cannot be used with a competing service, and the user can only partly change its configuration. Some providers do sell devices that are not locked and can be used with any compatible provider. All of the products that VoIP Supply sells are unlocked and can be used with any provider that allows you to bring your own device to their offering.

Some of the more popular brands that we carry are Linksys and Grandstream. Inside those brands you some various types.

• Single FXS – A single FXS VoIP adapter allows you to connect one telephone. Single FXS VoIP adapters come with either one or two Ethernet ports.
• Dual FXS – A dual FXS VoIP adapter allows you to connect up to two telephones. Dual FXS VoIP adapters come with either one or two Ethernet ports.
• FXO / FXS – A FXO / FXS VoIP adapter allows you to connect a single telephone and a single POTS line. These combination adapters are typically used to provide fail-over or life-line capabilities.

VoIP Phones

Utilizing a VoIP phone can really enhance the over VoIP experience. A VoIP phone works by taking your analog voice and converting it into digital packets that are then transmitted across a network using. VoIP phones can also convert digital packets in analog voice streams. To accomplish this conversion and transfer of voice stream a VoIP phone uses specific set of VoIP protocols and voice codec’s.

Here at VoIPSupply.com we have a wide variety of ip phones to choose from. We carry all of the major brands including Polycom, Aastra, Linksys, Snom and Grandstream to name a few. All of the phones we offer are great choices for any user level.

If you need assistance choosing any of the above hardware option feel free to contact me directly.

dhartman@voipsupply.com or 1-888-398-8647 X3417.