Business VOIP

You don’t need a VoIP enabled phone to enjoy the benefits of VoIP on a broadband connection. With a VoIP adapter, you can use any phone to enjoy the service – yes, that cordless one too. That’s what a VoIP adapter essentially is: it helps adapt your plain old phone or phone system to VoIP.

Your choice of a VoIP adapter will depend on where you want to install it and the features you need. If you are someone who travels frequently and want your low-cost VoIP service to travel with you, then all you need is Patton Electronics micro ATA device. This Micro Analog Telephone Adaptor is 3.6″ long, 2.1″ wide and .78″ high. Weighing a little over 0.2 pounds, this device is extremely portable.

That’s not all. The device boasts of standard telephony features, including call waiting, call forwarding, call blocking, caller ID, and audio conferencing. It provides connectivity across firewalls and transport networks and can work with SIP or MGCP signalling protocols.

If you are looking at home or small-office you should consider an all-in-one solution that becomes a route, an Internet switch and a VoIP adapter, especially if you don’t have existing investments.

One such device is the Linksys RT31P2. As a sophisticated home router, this unit can enable Internet sharing of an ADSL, Wireless, or Cable connection with 3 computers. With two built in voice over IP ports, the RT31P2 is able to prioritize traffic to ensure all voice traffic gets priority over other Internet data. This quality of service feature ensures that even when you are sending large emails, or doing a lot of file transfers, your voice quality will be maintained.

The two standard telephone jacks on the router enable high-quality feature-rich telephone service through your high-speed connection even while you’re surfing the Internet. Each phone jack operates independently allowing you to configure two separate VoIP accounts (either from the same or different providers). Configuration of the router and VoIP functionality can be done through an online configuration wizard in a step-by-step fashion.

Many devices with similar features are readily available on the Internet. Remember to find out whether the device is compatible with your Internet service provider.