VoIP - Does It Live Up To All Of The Hype?

Commercials. Web banners. Radio spots.If you fall into any of the below categories, then Voip
There's no doubt that you've seen them all. As Voipservice may not be the right way to go:
providers ramp up their advertising campaigns,You don't use your phone for business reasons
prospective Voip subscribers can't help but wonder ifAll of your relatives live close by, or you're out of touch
Voip all that great or a bunch of hype? With all of thewith them
vonage commercials with the catchy tunes, the bigYou rarely make long distance calls
traditional phone service carriers pushing their ownYou don't need or care for extra features like call
Voip services, and the larger than life posters andblocking, caller ID, etc.
cutouts in the electronics stores more and moreYou have a dial-up connection to the internet.
people are becoming aware of Voip.While Voip is a really great technology that can save
Behind all of the cutouts, corny music and webyou a massive amount of money each month, it's still
banners is an extremely useful service which, if yourelatively new and has it's fair share of problems.
need it, can save you a bundle of money. For manyNetwork congestion can be a problem while you're in
people, Voip truly is one of the "killer apps" of the newthe middle of an important phone call. It's a fact of life
millenium. Whether Voip really lives up to all the hypethat sometimes routers and servers on the internet
depends on who's using it. Voip is not for everyone. Ifget busy and the pipes get clogged. There is only so
you spend little time on the phone, there is no reasonmuch bandwidth that can go through and when this
to use Voip. Voip may not be for those who fear newhappens the call will break up or get dropped.
things either.What happens when your internet connection goes
If you fall into any of the categories below than youdown in the middle of an emergency? Yes, you
should at least consider trying out a voip serviceguessed it, no 911 service on your Voip line. At this time,
provider to save money:it's best to have either a standard phone or cell phone
You run a business with several branch offices inas a backup for emergencies. The FCC has released
different citiesa set of regulatory requirements for Enhanced 911
You telecommute and have to use long distance callsservices that Voip providers must adhere to so the 911
to stay in touch with your employer/contractorservice through the Voip provider will not be as much
You have relatives scattered about in different partsof a problem as network outages.
of the country or worldSo, should you jump right on the Voip bandwagon?
You find yourself making several long distance callsDon't believe the hype, only you can make that
per day or even per weekdecision for yourself. Armed with the information in this
You want lots of calling features such as call waiting,article you'll be able to decide if Voip truly is the killer
call forwarding, caller ID, call blocking and more withoutapp of the new millenium or if it's just a toy.
paying extra for each feature.