Say goodbye to expensive long distance calls

Years ago, making long-distance phone calls was considered a luxury. The cost of making such calls was prohibitive to most people. Families and friends would often plan to gather by the phone in order to make long-distance calls to loved ones. That way, everyone could say hello and squeeze every penny of value from the pricey calls. Companies considered long-distance calls an expensive, yet unavoidable cost of doing business.

Over the years, technological advances in telephony and telecommunications have caused a significant decline in the cost of making long-distance calls. VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) services make such expensive calls a thing of the past. Today, in many countries, people can make such calls for a fraction of the cost of years ago. No longer are friends and family forced to gather around the phone to make expensive phone calls to loved ones. Businesses have enjoyed the dramatic decline in their cost of doing business over the phone. VoIP has altered the landscape of telecommunications.

A Brief Introduction To VoIP:

VoIP takes analog signals that carry your voice and turns them into data. That data is then transmitted digitally through your Internet connection. In doing so, VoIP services allow you to communicate with others while completely bypassing your phone company. Because the phone company normally charges you for long-distance phone calls, bypassing them essentially eliminates the cost of making those calls. Instead, making your phone calls by using VoIP technology merely requires a connection to the Internet, for which you already pay a monthly fee.

Save Money On Phone Charges:

As mentioned, using VoIP services allows you to save money on making long-distance phone calls. If you make a significant number of such calls at home, you can easily save hundreds of dollars each month. If your home business requires a heavy volume of long-distance calls, using VoIP can help you preserve precious cash flow so you can allocate it to other priorities in your business. There is typically a small monthly fee for using VoIP services for your home or business. However, if you’re making a lot of long-distance phone calls, the cost savings will quickly compensate you for this fee.

Make Your Home Business Look Bigger

Another benefit of using VoIP for your home business (aside from the cost savings) is that you can make your business appear larger than it really is. This can be an effective way to give your business a boost of credibility. Most VoIP services will allow you to install a virtual PBX board, allowing each person in your company to have their own outside line. Such services typically cost less than $100 per month and can give potential clients the impression that your business can handle their accounts effectively.

Getting Started With VoIP

If you want to get started with VoIP, you need to call a VoIP service provider. There are several available such as Vonage, AT&T and Lingo. Once you choose a service, you’ll need a digital phone. You can use a headset by simply plugging it into your computer.

VOIP PHONE FOR HIGH QUALITY COMMUNICATION

The Siemens Gigaset C470IP VoIP phone comes with dual mode functionality that allows you to switch between internet VoIP and fixed-line calls at the touch of a button. You can make internet calls without a PC and access up to 6 SIP accounts from different VoIP providers directly through the handset. It allows you the freedom to make 3 parallel calls by using additional Gigaset handsets that wirelessly connect to the same base. Two of these calls can be VoIP calls and one a fixed line call. Finally, its simple and modern design matches any interior or sophisticated décor.

The Gigaset C470IP boasts a handy e-mail notification feature, bringing you alerts of new messages on the set. The details will include the date, time and subject line of the mails. If you happen to be away from home, you can program the Gigaset C470 IP to alert you of any missed calls by sending you an SMS to your cell phone or another external number.

The VoIP phone also provides information services like weather forecasts as screensaver. For multi-taskers with busy lifestyles this phone is a great convenience as its hands free feature allows you to carry on with whatever you happen to be occupied with or just lie back on the couch with your hands behind your head while you enjoy a relaxing chat in brilliant sound quality.

The Gigaset VoIP phone also incorporates the new energy saving ECO DECT technology, which consumes up to 60% less energy than our conventional cordless phones. Like all Gigaset cordless phones, it also variably reduces transmitting power from the handset to base station according to the distance; it also goes further in a number of other ways. Choosing ECO Mode on this model reduces the base station’s transmission power by 80%. It is an energy-efficient way of staying connected with your world.

The Gigaset C470IP phones can be combined with an Asterisk PBX to shape an unbeatable wireless VoIP telephony solution for small or very small business or even for hosted PBX and distributed PBX environments. More robust and reliable than a Wifi phone, the Gigaset C470 IP DECT VoIP phones are perfect when wireless freedom is required in business environments.

The Gigaset IP phone can take great advantage of the features that the Asterisk PBX has to offer, especially for setups requiring more than 6 extensions. Finally the phones can be incorporated with more advanced messaging platforms and services that can be integrated with the Asterisk PBX. These subscription services such as RSS feeds and weather information can then be accessible directly via your Gigaset handset.

The Asterisk PBX brings small to medium enterprises a feature-rich, cost-effective, reliable telephony solution. The implementation of the Asterisk allows one connect and make calls between a wide range of different SIP-enabled VoIP phones and soft phones. Asterisk implementation is fairly simple when using available GUIs like Asterisk NOW, but its deployments can get more complex. Combining the Siemens Gigaset C470IP with the Asterisk PBX can create a powerful, robust and flexible solution.