A Basic Primer on VoIP
Hi Senthilrek,
The first thing you need to have is the following basic idea about VoIP.
As you know VoIP stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol,
it roughly means routing of "voice calls" over the Internet to save costs.
I said "voice calls" instead of "phone calls" b'coz a phone is not absolutely necessary here.
Now, there are 2 ways in which you can access VoIP services. Using a "Soft Phone" which is nothing but
a piece of software that can provide calling facilities of a phone on your PC itself, or you can use a
"VoIP Phone" which is nothing but a telephone with buit-in support for handling VoIP for you.
VoIP handests are costly. Thier prices start from Rs 5000/- onwards.
Then they require you to get a paid subscription from a VoIP services provider in the
form of a "calling card" available in different denominations like Rs. 250/-, Rs. 500/- etc.
You get charged on a per minute basis. Charges vary for different countries.
Check out the VoIP Providers List of India to find the one that's operating near you.
On the other hand, VoIP softwares are available free of cost on the Internet.
Using a VoIP software you can make 2 types of voice calls: PC-to-PC or, PC-to-Phone.
PC-to-PC voice calls are totally free to make to any place in the world that can be accessed online.
Let me repeat this to you. You can talk to anyone, anywhere in the world for free!!
The only limitation being that you and the called party must be using the same VoIP software and
you should have sufficiently fast Internet connections. Your 512 Kbps broadband is MORE than enough.
If you would like to call your friends abroad for free this way, then look no further and get going with Skype.
I have personally used it many times and believe me it's as easy as using a real phone with a superb voice quality.
You may also try: Yahoo! Messenger with Voice, MSN Messenger or Google Talk. They all support free PC-to-PC calls.
Although not absolutely necessary I'll suggest to get a good set of headsets with "noise cancellation" feature to call better.
Unlike PC-to-PC, PC-to-Phone voice calls get charged just like a cellphone's pre-paid card.
Charges depend upon the service provider. Some charge different rates for different countries
whereas some like Skype's SkypeOut charge a per-minute flat rate for more than 20 countries.
If your friends abroad do not have access to a PC, or they do not want to install and use a software,
or if you would like to call them on their regular phones, you can use Skype's pre-paid SkypeOut service.
You can make payment with any major credit card. I haven't used it personally
but considering they provide such a good free service, this should be exceptional.
Then there are a lot of calling cards available to make PC-to-Phone calls.
Most of them require you to download a dialer free of cost and install it on your PC to use them.
Check out Dialpad and Net2Phone. Net2Phone's Calling Card can be used with MSN Messenger also.
NetPhone PC and MTNL Anmol calling cards also supports an online web dialer
which can be used at places where you can't download a software like an Internet Cafe.
Cards like World Phone Premium Internet Calling Card can be used with their dialer software as well as a VoIP phone too.
This card is right now on sale on Yahoo! India Shopping and is available in 3 denominations of Rs. 250, 500 and Rs. 1000.
Cash on Delivery supported. Check it out at:
*yahooshopping.rediff.com/srchnew/productdisplay.jsp?prrfnbr=1012237&frompg=cat_
All that said, I strongly suggest you to go with Skype for free PC-to-PC voice calling.
*skype.com/i/screenshots/step5_windows.png
It even supports "call conferencing" that lets you call upto another 4 of your friends
simultaneously to host a conference call with them. Hosting a conference call demands a high
bandwidth Internet connection but with 512 Kbps bandwidth you wouldn't face any delays at all.
*skype.com/i/screenshots/step4_windows.png
That's all!! This should be able to get you talking.
I hope all this information helps you. Ask me if you have any further queries.
And it seriously wasn't a dumb question at all. Not many people know much about VoIP.
Ravi
