Making a telephone call is probably one of the most common things you can do provided you do run your phone bill up high. The most you will gain out this is a simple use for a few minutes each day, perhaps more and engage in a conversation with the other person on the other end of the line. Telephones and communication across a network has been around for a little over a century, as quick communication is an extremely important part of putting across a message.
With this in mind the communication industry has progressed forwards as technology has advanced. One way of making a relatively cheaper phone call is via a VoIP phone (voice over internet protocol) which simply put is internet telephony software that allows you to make calls across the net. Unlike MSN or a normal messaging chat room, this is an actual telephoning system, which can be done for free or for a low cost across continents. VoIP phones are more popular amongst who live further away from each other and can communicate better through a broadband connection.
VoIP phones normally require both parties to use a broadband internet connection, install the same internet telephony programme and […]

Full Article At: KnowHow-Now.com Articles

It's time to fire your mother.

Well, not your real mother, but that other mother who's ruled you with a copper fist for most of your life: Ma Bell.

Don't get me wrong; you can appreciate everything the Bell phone companies have done for you over the years. Life would be bleak and you wouldn't be able to work or keep up with family and friends without your telephone service.

Some of you may be old enough to remember rotary dial phones and having to get an operator to make a long distance call. Maybe you're not old enough to have been on a party line, but you may remember your parents or grandparents talking about having to share a line with their neighbors.

My, how times have changed. And now you can kick Ma out of your home and office for good. Not to switch exclusively to using a cell phone as many have (a new email is making the rounds that tells of another scientific study showing prolonged cell phone use can cause brain tumors), but because you can have VoIP!

You may not be the kind of person who embraces a new technology right away, so it doesn't have to be a sudden breakup with Ma Bell. You can keep her on for while if you're afraid to cut the fiber optic umbilical cord and unconditionally accept this new broadband telephone technology until you know how it works.

That's what I did. For a while I had two telephones on my desk: the Bell phone for incoming calls and my VoIP phone for outgoing calls - especially for long distance, since it now costs nothing.

Once you have Voice over IP you won't be able to imagine paying anything to make long distance calls in the U.S. and Canada, or paying $80 or more a month to get a few hundred minutes of long distance on a cell phone.

If you have a contract with a Bell company or reseller, you may be hesitant to buy out the contract. But do the math. Figure out how much it will cost you to buy out the contract (mine charged $20 for each unused month). Then figure out how much you'll pay if you stay with that company for the length of the contract. Subtract the cost of the buy-out and that's how much money you'll save in the long run.

You can probably cut your phone bill in half and have a clearer phone line. If you have a separate long distance company, you can fire them immediately because you'll get unlimited local and long distance with VoIP for a flat, low monthly rate.

You may worry that when there's a power or cable outage, your phone won't work. True, but you'll have a control panel that you programmed to tell your VoIP server to automatically forward your calls to your cell phone when the VoIP connection is out.

So, maybe it's time for you to join 17-million other VoIP user and say, "Sorry, Ma, we've grown up and we're moving on."

? Copyright 2006. Annette Estes. All rights reserved. Permission to reprint granted as long as entire article and tag line are included.

Annette Estes is a Certified Professional Behavioral and Values Analyst. She's a life coach specializing in helping people save money. She is an award-winning columnist and author. Her book Why Can't You See It My Way? Resolving Values Conflicts at Work and Home is in its fourth printing. Annette was a television news anchor for 15 years at WYFF-TV and WSPA-TV. One of her missions is to help others understand VoIP technology. You can subscribe to her free newsletter at http://www.BestVoipTips.com.

Making phone calls from your computer is no longer a nifty trick known only by the computer-literate minority. Most people have computers or at least access to one and even without a computer, you can now make Skype calls through a mobile phone. This new technology bridges the gap between Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and the mobile phone network.
With progress happening so fast, it is hardly surprising that you can transfer files from your computer to a friend0s whilst you are speaking on the 0phone0 (it is always a slightly strange experience talking at your computer and hearing a familiar voice radiating out). The advantage of the Google Talk or Skype file transfer service is that both offer a quick, easy, peer-to-peer service with no restriction on the file type or size.
This last point is important because with the improvement in digital camera technology, an increasing number of people have very high quality images that they would like to share. It is frustrating to have to send a number of emails to make sure you don0t exceed you account limit; even more frustrating if you exceed that limit and have your email fail to send. The YouTube generation […]

Full Article At: KnowHow-Now.com Articles