Choosing the Right VoIP Equipment for You

There has been much discussion regarding the benefits of various VoIP features and services. But when a company or, in some cases, a residential user plans to connect through VoIP, the service provider is not the only decision to be made. It can be advantageous to understand what is available regarding VoIP hardware choices, as well. This means knowing what different component offerings exist and how their features might address your particular needs.

VoIP Soft Phone Choices

One can encounter VoIP provider services that are software-based. By this, we mean that the VoIP user will only require an appropriately outfitted computer that is connected to the Internet. In this case, the computer would need to have an audio device (a sound card or mainboard imbedded sound), speakers and a microphone or a call center-style headset.

“Soft phone” is the VoIP industry term for software that can be installed on a computer in order to facilitate VoIP communication. Originally, most free services that used soft phones only allowed calls between PCs. This has changed somewhat, depending on the service and your location. For example, free PC-to-PC or PC-PSTN landline calls to the U.S. and Canada can be made through Google Talk. This includes free International PC calls to U.S. and Canadian landlines. U.S. and Canadian PC to International landlines are billed at discounted rates which vary, depending on the country. Other VoIP softphone services will have a monthly charge (or pay-as-you-go) to place calls from a soft phone to a cell phone or regular landline. One of the best known programs to make this type of soft phone call is Skype ™.

Popular business-oriented soft phone software packages include:

• SIP Communicator – which is an open source, Java-based VoIP client that will support audio & video communication sessions over IPv6 and IPv4.
• E-Phone – an IAX2 Windows softphone. Software is free.
• 3CX VoIP Phone (for Windows) – a Session Initiated Protocol (SIP) package that’s available in either a free or an enterprise edition. It will work with Asterisk and Sipgate providers.
• Gizmo – a free Windows, Linux and Macintosh soft phone.
• AGEphone – will operate on Windows XP / Vista / 7 and Windows Mobile.
• ArrowPhone – a Windows software phone designed for H.323 networks. This soft phone can be used over a Virtual Private Network (VPN) behind a firewall.

Soft Phone Hardware Choices

One of the main drawbacks, when it comes to softphones, is the interface. There are those who prefer the computer headset or microphone/speaker setup for its computer multitasking options. But some users may feel uncomfortable with this arrangement and prefer a using a traditional-style phone interface. This may be achieved through the use of USB soft phone handsets that can plug directly into the computer.

USB VoIP softphone interface choices include traditional handsets, speaker phone desk sets and cordless/base station designs. One thing to take note of is that some models require software drivers. You will need to make sure that drivers, for your USB softphone choice, are available for your particular operating system. Providers of USB phones include: Eutectics, Yuxin and World Phone.

VoIP Dedicated Hard Phones

Hard phones are self-contained units that look like standard phone sets but will plug into a router through an Ethernet port. In this manner, it can directly connect with a VoIP gateway or server without the use of a PC. This will also eliminate the need to install VoIP software. A hard phone will cost significantly more than a USB phone since the computer components are located in the phone itself, rather than inside a PC.

Popular hard phones are sold by a number of companies that include D-Link, Texas Instruments, 3Com and Cisco.

Hard phones also include a category that relies on an integrated modem rather than an Ethernet port. This type of phone will use a dial-up connection in order to access a VoIP server. This means that a broadband connection is unnecessary.

A Wi-Fi hard phone is yet another variation. An internal 802.11 wireless transceiver is used in place of (or in addition to) an Ethernet port. The transceiver will allow the phone to wirelessly connect to a Wi-Fi base station (access point). The signal is then relayed to the Internet.

Telephone Adaptors

An analog telephone adaptor (ATA) will allow you to use a standard analog phone when making VoIP calls. The adaptor features an RJ-11 regular telephone port that you would plug your standard handset into. The adaptor will also have an Ethernet port that connects to a local network. The ATA adaptor will then communicate with a VoIP server. It uses standard VoIP protocols such as: H.323, IAX or SIP. The phone’s analog signals are converted to digital data, for Internet transmission, by the ATA adaptor.

A digital telephone adaptor (DTA) is also known as a handset gateway. This device will allow a business to make VoIP calls using their PBX handsets along with their existing infrastructure. Here, the IP PBX will actually replace the original PBX. The integration with a company’s legacy handsets will eliminate the need to replace all of the current organization handsets. Popular handset gateways are manufactured by Intel and Citel.