Voice over IP (VoIP) can provide substantial savings on your telephone service by allowing you to use an IP network to make phone calls instead of the traditional telephone companies’ public switched telephone network (PSTN). Many organizations today run IP networks over wireless technology, and it’s possible to run VoIP applications over Wi-Fi, too. But you need to be aware of a number of issues when planning a VoIP over wireless (often called VoW, VoFi, or wVoIP) deployment.

With the advent of WiMAX for longer range Wi-Fi communications, wireless phone companies are gearing up to offer hybrid phones that will use VoIP over Wi-Fi when a Wi-Fi network is available and switch to cellular when one is not. So VoIP over wireless encompasses different things, depending on the context. Here are some things you need to know about wVoIP.

1. Wireless VoIP Offers Advantages Over Mobile Service
A big advantage of wireless VoIP is that IP phones that work on Wi-Fi networks can be used in place of cell phones in many cases. Public 802.11 hotspots are often free or available at a low daily cost. If you’re connecting to the Wi-Fi network anyway for Web and e-mail access, there’s no additional cost to make VoIP calls other than the cost of your VoIP service, which is usually far less than the cost of cell phone service and may offer free unlimited international calling, something you don’t get with most cellular plans.

2. VoIP over Wireless LAN Has Many Uses
VoIP over a wireless LAN can provide easy internal calling for corporations, educational campuses, hospitals, hotels, government buildings, and multiple-tenant units such as dorms, with the ability to roam freely and advanced calling features such as voice mail and caller ID. Users can also use the LAN’s Internet connection and an account with a VoIP provider to make calls outside the site, including domestic long distance and international calls, often at no extra charge.

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The best thing Skype’s Internet phone service has going for it is its price: Calls are free. Usually, however, to make and receive calls, you must be attached to your PC. Now, new handsets permit you to roam around your house while connected to a Skype account. Logitech’s impressive Cordless Internet Handset is one such device.

Essentially the handset looks and operates like an ordinary cordless phone, but above its keypad is a sixline color LCD that displays all of your Skype contacts and call logs. Its base station links to your PC via USB; Logitech says that the product will offer clear calling at up to 164 feet away. I traveled just over 200 feet from the base station and still had a great connection.

Installing the phone was more difficult than it ought to have been, however. The setup software failed to start automatically, forcing me to dig through several menu layers to start the process manually. Then, after the program and drivers were activated, you need to reboot my system, to activate the newly installed driver.

Once successfully installed, the Skype-certified phone performs the various functions of Skype’s desktop application directly on your receiver. A dedicated Skype button below the phone’s keypad displays a scrollable list of your contacts, allowing you to see who is online and available to talk.

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Voice on Internet Protocol (VOIP) Phones are referred to as just Broadband Phones. The main function of a Broadband phone using VOIP is to convert voice data (analog) into digital data for transmission over the Internet. They are connected to the high speed internet through computers to enable voice communication. By this innovation VOIP Broadband Phones have turned internet into a carrier for free phone calls, by going around the normal phone companies.

VOIP Broadband phones are a product of revolutionary technology which can change the entire way people speak to each other around the world. There are many VOIP service providers who are growing by the day now, and major phone companies are busy setting up shop in various markets around the world with different calling plans with free VOIP Broadband phones bundled in. FCC and other regulatory bodies all over the world are fervently busy investigating and predicting the ramifications and future risks in usage of VOIP Broadband phones and their prevention.

We will look into the basic technology of VOIP Broadband phones working and it’s potential in replacing the traditional phone systems.

The most intriguing feature of VOIP Broadband phones is that they look just like their predecessors with cradle, buttons and handsets. A normal telephone is connected to wall socket using a RJ-11 connector, whereas VOIP Broadband phones are connected to your computer or router using a RJ-45 connector. All VOIP Broadband phones come with preloaded software to handle any IP calls. Technology is already moving towards Wi-Fi VIOP Broadband phones which can used to make calls from any Wi-Fi hotspot. Are you thinking of replacing your cellular phone?

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The Skype VoIP software that lets you make voice calls from your computer to an ordinary phone line has been available for the Mac for some time. However, most of the handsets and accessories designed for use with Skype have been for PC users only. Now, though, you can starting to see a selection of Mac-compatible handsets.

SkypeStyle has just launched a number of Skype handsets for the Mac. The Cyberphone Mac is a USB handset that plugs into a USB port on your Mac and allows you to control Skype software and make calls through the handset. For the low price, you can go cordless with the Polar IP Atomic handset, or you can completely unplug from your computer with the Edge Core WiFi Phone, a mobile handset that can make Skype calls using any wireless network or hotspot.

Mac gadget specialists, Keyspan, are getting in on the act too, with their own Cordless VoIP Phone. The handset is a little pricey but includes a rechargeable battery so you won’t need to spend money on batteries.

According to belkin officials, the Skype organization is very specific about how a GUI should look and how a keypad should behave for a device to be Skype Certified. Indeed, we had a nearly identical experience while configuring and using each of the phones we tested. However, we found Netgear’s SPH101 much more responsive than the Accton-based phones, with screens quickly painting and commands quickly executing.

Part of the reason we liked Netgear’s overall experience was its superior TFT (thin film transistor) LCD screen, which was much brighter and cleaner than the CSTN (color super-twist nematic) screen in the Accton-based devices.

Each phone we tested automatically downloaded our Skype contacts from Skype’s servers within minutes of connecting to the network. The process of navigating each phone’s interface to find and dial contacts or to dial a SkypeOut number from scratch was intuitive.

In fact, each of the phones left us satisfied, we found sound quality and radio coverage up to our expectations. But our level of satisfaction dropped like a stone when we started moving around with the phone a rather critical problem for mobile devices.

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The new generation of WiFi-enabled Skype phones promise to unchain users from their PCs while providing the same cheap and accessible voice-over-IP service that users have come to expect from Skype. Unfortunately, some of the products failed to deliver much in the way of useful mobility. They may work adequately for a user sitting at a desk or on the couch, but trying to use these phones around the office or out in the world is out of the question right now. And the one product has too little battery life to be useful.

The WI-FI Phones
The Netgear Skype WiFi Phone (SPH101), which lists for $249, as well as a pair of phones based on Accton’s VM1185T design (SMC’s $190 WSKP-100 Wi-Fi Phone for Skype and Belkin’s $189 Wi-Fi Phone for Skype Model F1PP000GNSK).

Both the Netgear and SMC phones are available now, while Belkin’s device is expected to be available this month.

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