If you've never heard of Internet Telephony, get ready
to change the way you think about long-distance phone calls. Internet Telephony,
or Voice over Internet Protocol, is a method for taking analog audio signals,
like the kind you hear when you talk on the phone, and turning them into digital
data that can be transmitted over the Internet. How is this useful? Internet Telephony
can turn a standard Internet connection into a way to place free phone calls.
The practical upshot of this is that by using some of the free Internet Telephony
software that is available to make Internet phone calls, you are bypassing the
phone company (and its charges) entirely.
Internet Telephony is a revolutionary
technology that has the potential to completely rework the world's phone systems.
Internet Telephony providers like Vonage have already been around for a little
while and are growing steadily. Major carriers like AT&T are already setting
up Internet Telephony calling plans in several markets around the United States,
and the FCC is looking seriously at the potential ramifications of Internet Telephony
service.
Above all else, Internet Telephony is basically a clever "reinvention
of the wheel." In this article, we'll explore the principles behind Internet
Telephony, its applications and the potential of this emerging technology, which
will more than likely one day replace the traditional phone system entirely. If
you're interested in trying Internet Telephony, then you should check out some
of the free Internet Telephony software available on the Internet. You should
be able to download and set it up in about three to five minutes. Get a friend
to download the software, too, and you can start tinkering with Internet Telephony
to get a feel for how it works.
