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VOIP Telephony - The Benefits and Limitations

Previously we explored the history and technology that gaverise to VOIP Telephone service (*see footnotes). Today we will examinesome of the benefits and also the drawbacks of this new opportunity.

In previous articles we discovered that traditional "Landline" typephone service is set up much like a "Toll Highway". Billing startswhen the "Circuit" is opened, and continues until it is closed.Just like travelling down a Tollway, the longer you stay on, and thefarther you travel, the more "Toll Booths" you pass through. Thesetoll booths are the phone company's switches, and you get chargedfor every one that you pass through.

In contrast, VOIP phones use "Packet" switching. As the broadbandInternet connection is always open, digitized voice signals aresent to the receiver in discrete packets. The result is that no"dead air" exists on the line, as no traffic is sent when there isa lull or pause in the conversation. This allows several two-wayconversations to use the same "bandwidth", or space that previouslywas tied up by ONE call.

This has resulted in great economy for VOIP providers who in turnpass along the savings to the end user. Most top VOIP plans runaround 30 dollars a month, and the best include International callsto many countries worldwide within that base fee along with a hostof features like Voice Mail, Caller ID, Call Waiting, Three-wayCalling, Online Access, Etc.

While most major traditional carriers have an "all inclusive" plan,none that I know of include International calling, and most of their"basic" plans are double the cost of VOIP. In my experience, the mostcoveted features are also charged extra for. Add in the taxes and fees,and all of a sudden you're talking REAL money!

The other great benefit of VOIP is the ability to take your deviceanywhere and make calls just like you were at home. The best servicesare fully find-me, follow-me capable. This means that wherever youhappen to be, your phone number will find you and ring at THAT location.I use mine with a Laptop, a cheap cigarette lighter a/c converter,a wireless card, and an old "princess" phone in my truck parked outsideof hotspots all the time. That's huge. You can have your office inwhatever hotel or airport or Starbucks you happen to be in at the moment.

Having covered most of the benefits of VOIP, let's examine some ofthe drawbacks. The major one is spotty 911 service availability. Asthe device is portable, any call to 911 will result in emergencycrews being sent to the device's address of record, which is set upwhen you activate the VOIP device and service. Obviously this doesn'tdo you much good if you are in a hotel in Montana but live in Ohio.

One way around this is to change your address with your provider whenyou travel, and then change it back when you return home. Of course,this only works with domestic addresses, and you must remember to do it.

A better way is to ignore the issue entirely, and keep a very basic,cheap, no frills service plan with your local phone provider. This willstill be cheaper by far than a full blown plan. Also, you avoid the othermain issue with VOIP- Power Outages. If power goes out, or you lose yourInternet Connection, you lose your phone service. Of course, you runthat risk with today's cordless phones too, so it's always a good ideato have an old hardwired phone around the house, or at least a cellphone available.

posted by uzqqkdq @ 11:47 PM 0 comments

Why I Wear An Authentic Ravens Jersey On Monday Nights

Now I am going to tell you why I wear an authentic Ravens jersey when it's Monday Night Football.

More than ten years ago the Cleveland Browns moved from Cleveland to Baltimore and that was probably the best move the owners could possible have made.

Since the franchise became the Baltimore Ravens, they have won the trophy that all football players want to win - the SuperBowl. As a nice bonus they have also been able to sell more tickets than they ever did before, and the people in Baltimore love them.

Even me likes them and I am not even from Baltimore.

This usually doesnt happen to me, but I saw them on TV one night when they were down, but they fought back and turned the game around in a way that gave me the chills.

Since that day I have always cheered for the Baltimore Ravens and that's the reason why I'm wearing my authentic Ravens jersey when watching Monday Night Football.

Does it sound too childish?

When you put a Raven jersey on a fan, this is what happens though. You grow a foot and you feel that you are strong enough to make the Raven's starting lineup.

"If I only had got the chance, I would have showed them all..."

This is what makes football so beautiful. Men can feel like boys again and you forget about everything else until the game is over.

You are happy.

posted by uzqqkdq @ 3:31 PM 0 comments