Digital Phone Service
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Advanced technologies now provide digital phone service as an alternative to the telephone networks that traditionally connect households and businesses around the world. This is just one more example of how the advent of computer technology has infiltrated so many areas that no one could have foreseen even a few years ago. Voice over Internet protocol, or VOIP, is the fancy name for innovative digital phone systems that operate over broadband connections. As if it wasn't strange enough that a voice could travel from one continent to another, almost instantaneously, now gifted inventors have figured out a way to change spoken words (analog) into digital data. That achievement gives consumers another option when it comes to selecting the communication needs for their homes and offices. The wisest man who ever lived, King Solomon, once wrote: "All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing." (Ecclesiastes 1:8). Thanks to innovative thinkers who are not "satisfied with seeing" or hearing, wondrous advances are being made in the communications industry.
With the advent of cell phones and VOIP, who knows how much longer it will be before schoolchildren see telephone jacks as quaint reminders of an old-fashioned way of life? There may come a time when they find it very odd that telephone conversations could be had without the use of a broadband connection. Already, statistics show that many consumers, especially young adults, no longer pay the excessive costs for maintaining a landline. For these mobile college students and young professionals, a cell phone is all they need to stay connected to family and friends. Even older people are finding it easier to give up the traditional telephone. Those who hesitate to end their traditional telephone service often keep it as a kind of safety net. Perhaps the landline is tied into a home security system or operates the gate in a gated community. Many just want the familiar security of a dependable means for contacting others.
Another reason that people give for keeping a landline is to access 911 emergency services. However, some digital phone systems are able to provide this feature. Some companies even tout an enhanced 911 service that provide an individual's name, address, and phone number to the emergency dispatcher. By providing 911 emergency access, companies are responding to one major objection that people have given for not replacing a traditional landline with a digital phone service. Most of the other features that are available through traditional companies are also available through a broadband connection. These include such popular features as call waiting, caller id, and three-way calling. With some systems, the caller id information can even show up on the television screen. That means no more getting off the couch to see who is calling. The call can be totally ignored with no effort on the part of the person being called. In fact, the voice mail feature is one of the more exciting features of VOIP. Because the voice is changed to digital data, the messages from incoming calls can go to a voice mail system. From here, the messages can be treated like email attachments. Instead of accessing the voice mail system, the recipient can open the attachment and listen to her messages on any computer. The voice mail system can be set up to send alerts to a cell phone or pager so that the away-from-home recipient knows that new messages have come into the system. These can then be easily accessed.
All these features, and more that will become popular as technological advances continue to be made, are offered by digital phone systems at a much lower price than traditional telephone service. Companies offering VOIP claim that their bills are much easier to read and understand than those from the telephone company because about all they list is a flat monthly charge. They boast that most popular features are free and that there are few, if any, of the many surcharges and fees that are tacked on to the traditional telephone company's monthly statement. Long distance and international calls, when made over a broadband Internet connection, are much cheaper than those made over the old-fashioned landlines. The low cost and enhanced features of digital phone service will certainly appeal to those people who want to keep a landline, for whatever their reason. Objections to switching to the more modern technology continue to be addressed by companies that are developing reliable digital phone systems. For example, one objection is the fear of not having phone service if an Internet connection goes down. This can be a very real concern for some people. But most people have cell phones in addition to their landlines. Those who do will not have to worry about losing phone service if something happens to their Internet connection.
VOIP digital phone systems are increasing in popularity as people tire of paying surcharges, taxes, and fees for a landline service that they seldom use because of reliance on cell phones. The only extra equipment needed for digital phone service is an analog telephone adaptor, or ATA, which will usually be provided by the VOIP provider. The ATA is the gadget that converts the spoken voice to a digital signal. Both the landline and the personal computer are connected to the ATA device which is also hooked up to the DSL or cable modem. A household with multiple computers can connect each one to a router and then connect the router to the ATA. VOIP providers suggest that households with multiple landlines use cordless handsets. The landline base station can be connected to the ATA. Anyone who wants to move from traditional landline to digital phone service can find many companies online that can provide low-cost and technologically advanced communication systems.
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