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It is no understatement to say that VOIP has completely transormed the telecom world. Nothing is the same as it was even a mere decade ago, and that is because VOIP has become the killer app of broadband that technologists predicted.

When early pioneers saw the potential of using common and cheap TCP connections to complete voice telephone calls over IP connections, they could not have imagined the incredible momentum their invention would take on in such a short amount of time. As the cost of broadband access plummeted, VOIP calls became a reality for millions of users. Telecom industry insiders have recently begun saying that they feel 90% of all voice calls will be VOIP within 3-5 years. Let`s take a look at what VOIP is and what it can do for you.

VOIP is a method which takes voice phone calls and then encodes them digitally. Once the call is digital it can be sent via the internet to a remote listener. What makes this invention so revolutionary is that all of this can be done on a normal personal computer using easily available software. Once phone calls between continents costs incredible sums of money. Now the same call is almost completely free. This innovation has changed how people live and how businesses operate and has helped to make the econony truly global. Since the cost of talking to someone in Bangladesh is just as cheap as talking to someone in Fresno, California, you have seen a revolution of jobs moving geographically and you''ve seen a boom in the outsourcing business. With VOIP, it no longer matters where you live, because you can talk to anyone in the world affordably.

VOIP really took off when companies made adapters that allowed existing phones to make VOIP calls. This invention, plus the proliferation of broadband connections has allowed VOIP to spread incredibly fast. Since people can hook up easily and begin making free long distance phone calls, you can believe that most people haven''t had to think twice before making the switch to VOIP. Telephone companies have seen an enormous decline in demand for traditional long distance services in the last few years because of the dominance of IP Telephony. Since the user''s internet connection isn''t affected by VOIP, they can keep on surfing the Net while talking, so the need for additional landlines declined rapidly.

As IP Telephony has advanced, IP Telephones have increased in features. VOIP packages now routinely include more features than ever before. Although there is a charge for your internet connection, the calls themselves incur no additional charges using most calling plans, so most users look at VOIP as being essentially free. For frequent long distance callers, the cost savings have been enormous. One nice feature about a VOIP telephone is that you can take it with you when you travel, and your calls will automatically be routed to you. Traditional phone service could not have dreamed of offering a feature like that for free. In many years, IP telephony is now light years beyond the service offered to telophony customers, even business class ones, five years ago and less.

Like any other telecom package, VOIP deals from providers vary tremendously, so make sure you take a good look at the fine print before you sign up. You can find a very competively priced package if you look hard enough, so hold out for the most features. This is the year to step up to VOIP because of the competitive packages now available.

By Darren McLaughlin