internet phone services

Voice over Internet Protocol, also called VoIP (pronounced "vee-oh-eye-pee" [1] or "voyp"), IP Telephony, Internet telephony, Broadband telephony, Broadband Phone and Voice over Broadband is the routing of voice conversations over the Internet or through any other IP-based network.

Protocols used to carry voice signals over the IP network are commonly referred to as Voice over IP or VoIP protocols. They may be viewed as commercial realizations of the experimental Network Voice Protocol (1973) invented for the ARPANET.

Voice over IP traffic can be deployed on any IP network, including those lacking a connection to the rest of the Internet, for instance on a local area network. Internet Phone Services.

Advantages

Cost

In general, phone service via VoIP is free or costs less than equivalent service from traditional sources but similar to alternative Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) service providers. Some cost savings are due to using a single network to carry voice and data, especially where users have existing underutilized network capacity they can use for VoIP at no additional cost. VoIP to VoIP phone calls on any provider are typically free, whilst VoIP to PSTN calls generally costs the VoIP user.

There are two types of PSTN to VoIP services: DID (Direct Inward Dialing) and access numbers. Bad news for your phone company: Good, cheap Internet phone service is finally here.