VOIP or Voice over Internet Protocol is a technology that delivers communication such phone calls, voice messages, SMS  messages and other media over the internet rather than the phone lines. The main advantage to this is that it is dramatically less expensive than using a land line or a mobile phone and it is more reliable, especially in parts of the world that do not have stable phone lines. It is also great for places where mobile phone technology is not available or has many “dead areas”.  There are many VOIP providers, the most famous of which are likely Skype and Vonage, but ATT, VOIPo and Switch2Voip {http://switch2voip.us} are also companies who provide good internet communication services. With all these choices, how do you know which company to select? It depends on the needs you have and the volume of calling you do. Here are some tips to help you decide:

1. Personal or business?  The first step is to determine how much calling you do, and whether it is personal or business related. If you think that the majority of your calling is for family and friends, then it is most likely that  a company like Vonage, Skype or ATT will have a plan that suits you. Each offers competitive rates on international calling and allows you to keep your current phone number if it is available.

As a side note: Skype was recently purchased by Microsoft and so if you want to send an email easily through Skype (which is often  run through Facebook) it defaults to Microsoft Outlook. This is annoying and not at all convenient. Thus, for all its bells and whistles, Skype has its limitations, even for businesses.

A big difference between companies will be in rates. VOIPo and Vonage offer unlimited calls to the USA and Canada, but rates vary from $.02 to $.34 to call other countries. Switch2VOIP charges a meager $.008 to call the USA. It is so minimal that it is barely a blip on the radar screen. So even if you are not a large business, you may want to consider how many minutes you call per month and compare that with the basic rates of all of these providers.

1. Business Needs: If you need reliable communication for business, then Switch2VOIP offers the best business packages out there. This is especially true if you want to phone blast or have high volume call centers for TV infomercial responses or political campaign needs. Vonage is a large company that offers various kinds of services for individuals. They offer many “calling plans” that allow calling to about 60 countries, and some of these can be made to cell phones.  But what they do not cater to businesses that have large call centers. This is why Switch2voip.us offers the best mass communication VOIP service around. Skype, the industry leader in VOIP technology allows for many nice features like video messages, video conferencing can SMS to mobile phones, but this is not always what people need. And if you are not someone who is always at a computer, Skype is difficult to use on a mobile phone.
2. Installation and Customer Support:  Most companies send a “box” or a router for free. But then when it arrives, you have to figure out how to hook it up so that the cable provides your phone service and does not interrupt your internet or television service. These companies all have some kind of tech support to assist you. But usually, you have to call, although they do offer online guides as well if you have time to read lengthy documents and diagrams.  

Switch2VOIP differs in this regard because the tech support is excellent. This is a company whose primary employees are people who understand the technology.  This is not true of any other VOIP provider out there. If you look at Switch2VOIP you can see that the FAQs are written and answered by very knowledgeable tech people. The customer can use any Asterisk based dialer or PBX to make calls and if there are any issues getting set up, Switch2VOIP is there 24/7 to help.  Doing business with a company where the employees are very knowledgeable is a definite plus that you probably will not find elsewhere.

VOIP is a great technology, it is clearly the future and the quality of all VOIP services will only improve with time. If you have not joined the VOIP crowd, it is time for you to consider doing this. Have you noticed how public pay phones are becoming a thing of the past? Soon your landline will become extinct too. When it does, VOIP will be there for you.

Author Bio:

David Chase is a leading telecommunications expert and developer of cloud PBX servers. David highly recommends Switch2Voip VoIP Service for Call Centers.