| |
| Voip | |
|
|
|
Will the Bell System Survive? A Massive Transfer of Wealth from Bell to VoIP is Underway
Will the Bell System Survive? A Massive Transfer of Wealth from Bell to VoIP Is Underway. The "Internet Revolution" has brought us e-mail, the World Wide Web and quick, convenient ways to communicate that we've come to take for granted. And now it's reached consumers who are looking for a more economical, more flexible way to talk on the phone. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also known as Broadband Phone or Internet Phone, now allows consumers to use their ordinary telephone to talk over the Internet at rates 50 to 60 percent below those charged by the Bell System, and with robust features that Bell cannot offer. The Bell System has been our primary "channel" for connecting with friends, relatives and business associates for the last 100 years. Yet, in July, 2004, Michael Powell, the past Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates the telephone industry, made this dramatic statement: "VoIP will irreversibly alter the world of communications. VoIP is the most significant paradigm shift in the entire history of modern communications since the invention of the telephone." Powell was quoted in Forbes Magazine, but why did he speak about VoIP in such striking terms? For starters, the courts have ruled that VoIP -- voice services over the Internet -- are information services, not telecommunications services. As such, VoIP is not subject to the many taxes, regulatory fees and tariffs that Federal, State and local governments have piled onto the phone company over the years. Take a look at your latest phone bill and you'll see that 30 percent or more of the monthly charge comes from these "junk fees." Moving to VOIP phone service eliminates them, except for a trifling 3 percent Federal Excise Tax. Second, unlike the phone company, VoIP service providers don't have to install and maintain central offices, millions of miles of copper wire and fiber optic cable to carry your voice from point to point. The Internet is "already there," just waiting to send your voice as a digital packet stream alongside other digital traffic. This huge savings on infrastructure costs, plus the elimination of "junk fees" translates into a savings of 50 to 60 percent per month, every month. A typical $65 per month phone bill usually costs about $25 per month with VoIP; saving a residential customer with a single phone line nearly $500 per year. For homes with two lines, savings can approach $700 per year. Third, VoIP delivers sophisticated new features the phone company cannot. For example, Find Me service allows you to designate up to five phones that will ring in sequence, or simultaneously, to find you when you're out of the office. Enhanced Voicemail lets you listen to voicemail from any web-connected PC or Mac, and to forward them as email attachments to anyone who might need to hear the voicemail. A web-based Call Manager lets you build a list of contacts you can dial simply by clicking on the person's name. These conveniences not only increase productivity for busy people; they're fun and easy to use. And of course all the features you already use - call waiting, caller ID, call return, etc. -- are included in the standard VoIP service. These factors working together have led market research firms, including Frost & Sullivan and the Yankee Group, to predict that consumers using VoIP phone service will increase from around one million now to over 18 million by 2007. Other estimates range as high as 30 million by 2007. Losing 18 to 30 million customers in the next few years is very likely keeping conventional phone providers awake at night. The impact of the Internet on communication is pervasive. In July, 2005, the US Congress voted overwhelmingly (410 to 20) to reform the Postal Service to save it from a "death spiral" brought on by rising costs and declining business due to the impact of the Internet. The next few years should bring more challenges to the Bell System as millions of people drop their phone service in favor of the lower cost, richer features and convenience of VoIP communication. How Does VoIP Work? VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) simply means using your broadband Internet connection -- either cable or DSL -- to speak to anyone in the world over your ordinary home or office telephone. If you've never heard of VoIP, you'll be glad to know that it lets you make unlimited long distance calls using the Internet, instead of your local phone company and the Bell Telephone system circuits. To use VoIP phone service, all you need is a broadband connection to the Internet and an inexpensive Analog Telephone Adapter (ATA) - also known as a "VoIP box" -- a small box about the size of a paperback book. You plug the VoIP box into your modem or router, and plug your phone into the VoIP box. Pick up the phone and you've got dial tone. It sounds just like the Bell System dial tone and it works much the same. Simply dial the number you want and hear a crystal clear connection to the person at the other end. But after that, there's a huge difference. With VoIP you can call on an unlimited basis throughout the USA and Canada with no restrictions, no per-minute charges. It's no more expensive to call across the country than it is to call across the street. And, you can call internationally at rates as low as 2 cents per minute. In fact, if your international partner is also using VoIP, you'll have a free call - with no per minute charges. What's more, the features you get from the Bell System - either as a bundled package, or that you pay extra for each month -- are generally free with VoIP phones. Call Waiting, Caller ID, Call Return, 3-Way Calling and many others are simply part of the VoIP package. VoIP telephone service gives you far more service for far less money each month. As Michael Powell predicted, VoIP phone service will drive the largest shift in personal communication since the invention of the telephone. And what's more, as people continue to make the change to VoIP, the billions of dollars now going to the Bell System each will begin flowing to VoIP providers. Therein lies the "transfer of wealth." David Brin, in his landmark sci-fi novel, Earth, envisioned the entire planet being interconnected by what he called "The Net." He began writing the novel in 1987 and set the story in the year 2038. We're a couple decades ahead of Brin's best predictions - a rarity in the world of incredible sci-fi imaginings. The Internet is truly becoming the way we all communicate - via the web, by email and now by VoIP phone. Jump on board! Allan Ramsay is a 25-year veteran of the I.T. industry and principal at http://www.VoIP-USA.net, providing voice over IP phone service, landline, long distance plans, cellular phones, cellular calling plans, broadband access to the Internet and a host of Internet and telecommunication services to residential, SOHO and small business customers nationwide.
MORE RESOURCES:
VOIP - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Use your Computer to make Cheap Long-Distance Telephone Calls What is 'VoIP'?Simply put, VoIP refers to the carriage of voice signals over the Internet. PC to Phone VoIP refers to using your 'Internet-connected' computer to make calls to conventional telephones around the world. How Voip Can Mask The Size Of Your Business And Save You A Bundle Have you heard the buzz about VOIP (Voice Over Internt Protocol)? Basically, it's like communicating over the phone without a phone. Instead you plug your microphone into your computer log on to a website and "boom" you're talking baby. What's Your IQ on Basic PC Phone (VoIP) Knowledge Short T/F quiz1. T / F You can save a significant amount of money using VoIP rather than traditional telephone/cell phone calling methods. Will VoIP be a Mass Market Product? A common thinking among "Marketing people " is that for every product that enters the market there must be a path, a target, a need ( real or created) that decides how the product must enter the consumer's life, which part of the population is more likely to go for it, which niche it is going to fill and, most important ".. 6 Important Things You Should Consider When You Are Selecting A VoIP Provider The following are 6 very important factors to consider when you are selecting a VoIP provider. Educate yourself and be informed before you choose. Instant Menaces or Instant Messengers? Many vendors offering Instant Messaging (IM) services have added new capabilities such as voice messaging and file sharing. Among others, AOL, Microsoft, and Yahoo offer these IM services. How VoIP Will Affect Every Household and Business in the World Seattle venture capitalist, Greg Gottesman, calls it "?one of the most important changes in communications in the past 100 years."The Boeing Company announced plans to move its 150,000 employees to an internet-based phone system, and several Seattle area residents are using internet telephones to get cheap rates or, in some cases, free international phone calls. Is VoIP the "Next Big Thing" in Telecommunications? VoIP or Voice Over Internet Protocol has been simmering for the past few years. This year the market has heated up. How VoIP Works -- Busting Out of Long Distance Rates VoIP is the newest advancement in audio communications technology, and has a variety of different applications that make it useful. VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol, and how VoIP works is actually quite revolutionary because it streamlines the process of sending analog audio signals by converting them to a much easier to send digital form for transmission. A Look at Internet Voice Technology (VoIP) for Residential Today's TechnologyOver the years, the technology has made remarkable progress. Telephony's improved data compression rate, better sound quality, and the availability of residential broadband has given consumers more affordable solutions with even more features than you might have currently. VoIP (Computer Phone) Warning Warning! Warning! Warning!Beware of VoIP internet service providers that operate on industry standard codec and industry standard protocols because they are PUBLICLY OPEN and INTERPRETABLE! This also includes, but is not limited to, peer-to-peer (P2P) networks.In plain terms, this means, if you subscribe to, or considering subscribing to a VoIP internet solution provider who operates on these industry standards - and over 90% do -- you have inadvertently made yourself vulnerable to the criminal activities of hackers. How to Never Pay a Hotel Phone Bill Again The protocol is increasingly being adopted as the standard means by which computers communicate to facilitate VoIP or Voice Over Internet Protocol. So you can imagine SIP as a common language for new generation operators to speak to connect calls. World On IP Community versus Telecoms Monopoly World on IP community versus the TELECOMS' monopoly or a dream of a visionaryWhy VOIP will grow over the usual telephonyWithout qualification, if one had to choose between usual telephone lines or IP telephony for carrying the voice, the first would be a better fit for the needs of voice communications. Also, IP telephony is generally subject to transmission delays. Making PC to Phone VoIP Calls over Dial-Up Internet Connections There's a lot of hype these days surrounding Internet-based voice communications (VoIP) replacing traditional telephone service. Most of this revolves around companies such as Vonage who coin themselves as the 'Broadband Phone Company'. VoIP - A Laymans Look - Should You Or Shouldnt You? "As business people we manufacture shin pads, or we distribute cat food, or we evangelize, but should we be considering VoIP? Will it make us more money, or save us time?" -Dennis SchooleySo what's all this VoIP hype anyway? I mean we all know that our voice can be delivered to the four corners of the globe over telephone lines. (Actually, I missed that part of second grade math where they taught us that a ball has corners, but everybody says it, so I'll accept it). VoIP 101: Voice over IP for Beginners For those who have never heard about the potential of VoIP, be prepared to radically change the way you think about your current long-distance calling plan. VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is very simply, a method for taking ordinary analog audio signals and turning them into digital signals that can be sent over the Internet. What Is VOIP? Confused about VOIP? Join the crowd. It's not as difficult as it sounds and we are going to make VOIP simple for the average person. The Single Most Important Thing to Know About Computer Phones (VoIP) Over 90% of computer phones (VoIP) are not secure because they use a public known codex (publicly known encryption of sound packets) and a publicly known protocol to transport voice conversations. Therefore, users of these type of services are unknowingly exposing themselves to anyone who wants to listen in or access their confidential information. VOIP For Your Business Many companies are now beginning to look into alternatives to high priced telephone systems currently in use. They are realizing that there are huge benefits financially to those switching over to VOIP. What Do You Know About VoIP? What is VoIPVoIP is an acronym for voice over internet protocol, aka voice over ip phone. A VoIP, in essence, is a computer phone that allows you to make phone calls from your computer to anyone in the world, e.
|
| home | site map |
