Smart-Phone-Cards Blog

To make international calls at cheap rates, many people are using VOIP services at home where they login to their favorite messenger and start calling their international friends. This is called voice over broadband and the same technology can be extended to use your normal telephone to make international calls at low price. You no more need to have headsets and microphone to call your international friends using VOIP service. Your broadband internet connection connects your traditional telephone line to the service provider’s computer and allows you to make cheap international calls.

Benefits of voice over broadband

The greatest benefit is the savings you can make on your telephone bills. Voice over broadband allows you to make unlimited local and international calls for which the traditional telephone service provider will cost a huge sum of money. Extra services like voice mail, call wait and conference calling facilities are also provided at no extra charge. The voice over broadband is gaining popularity because you don’t have to buy additional equipments to use the service. You can use your existing broadband connection together with the traditional phone equipment to make cheap international calls.

How voice over broadband works?

To use voice over broadband without a computer, you need a phone with an adapter or a special VOIP phone. This device is connected to your broadband connection to send and receive data packets. The voice message is converted into digital packets, and it is sent to the receiving end. The receiving place converts these digital signals into voice signal and makes your message available at the other end. The same technology is used when you use computers to make international calls using special VOIP software like skype. Wherever you have internet connection, you can easily call other computers and phones using your computer.

Local and international calls with voice over broadband

There is no main difference between local and international calls when you use voice over broadband. The call rate depends on the distance between your location and the destination. Most VOIP providers allow you to make free calls between the subscribers. The VOIP software allows you to call another computer from your computer for free irrespective of the distance. This allows you to call your international friends for free as long as they have a computer connected to internet connection. Some VOIP providers offer a flat rate for all calls for a specific number of minutes.

Challenges faced by voice over broadband

As VOIP technology uses broadband connection, the voice quality depends on the available bandwidth. Network latency creates a delay in the reception of voice signals. Sometimes, the digital packets sent over the internet are lost somewhere resulting in loss of data. The reliability of VOIP service depends on the VOIP provider you choose. The provider must have a backup power source to connect your call incase of power failures. Security is the major concern while using VOIP technology. In the past, it was not possible to make emergency calls using voice over broadband because the geographical location of the caller could not be identified. Now VOIP enhanced 911 allows US citizens to make emergency calls from their VOIP phone.