Home phone Guides

VoIP equipment

Updated: Friday 27 January, 2012

By Anthony Hill - anthony.hill@consumerchoices.co.uk

Replacing your home phone connection with a VoIP service can cut your costs. With a range of VoIP equipment available, you’ve got loads of options for how you connect. (Updated 11/11/09)

What is VoIP?

Internet telephony - or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) - allows you to make cheap, and even free, phone calls using your internet connection. There are loads of ways to use VoIP, and you don’t even have to use a headset - you can use traditional handsets or a wide choice of VoIP equipment.

If you have a cable broadband connection, or a mobile broadband dongle that allows access to VoIP services, you don’t even need a BT (www.bt.com) copper wire landline. So you could ditch your home phone all together, saving yourself as much as £168 a year.

VoIP telephones

Using a traditional-style handset allows you to use your VoIP phone in exactly the same way as your old home phone. You’ll even get a geographical number that people can call you on.

These VoIP phones connect to your router rather than a socket in your wall, so your router has to stay on for you to be able to make and receive calls. However, you don’t have to keep your computer on.

You will need to sign up to a package from a VoIP provider like Vonage (www.vonage.co.uk) in order to get your number up and running. Alternatively, both BT and Orange (www.orange.co.uk) offer VoIP minutes as part of their broadband packages, and their routers are VoIP compatible.

VoIP routers

With a VoIP router, you can plug in any phone and make calls over the internet.

If you’re signed up to a broadband provider that offers a VoIP router as part of your package, then you'll be able to simply plug in a VoIP phone (or a traditional handset depending on your router model) for cheap calls over the internet with your broadband router.

If your provider doesn’t offer a VoIP router, you can buy one from a manufacturer like Belkin or NetGear, and sign up to an internet telephony provider.

Using a VoIP router means that you don’t have to keep your computer on in order to make calls over the internet. As long as your router is on people will be able to call you and you’ll be able to make calls as normal.

VoIP headsets

When VoIP first started out, most users connected with a headset - headphones with a microphone attached. While many people prefer to use a traditional phone these days, headsets are useful if you’re a gamer and want to talk to people while you play online, or if you use a provider like Skype to make free calls to other Skype users rather than paying a monthly subscription.

However, because VoIP headsets connect using your computer, you can’t simply plug one into your router - your PC has to be on too.

Direct to your PC

Most laptops now come with a built-in webcam and microphone, meaning you can make online calls without any extra equipment. Simply log into your VoIP account – such as one with Skype - and make calls.

VoIP on your phone

iPhones and other smartphones allow you to install Skype and make calls over your mobile internet or 3G connection. Three Mobile even offers a dedicated SkypePhone that allows you to make calls and send messages to other Skype users anywhere in world for free.

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