VoIP services convert your voice into a digital signal that travels over the Internet. If we are calling a regular phone number, the signal is converted to a regular telephone signal before it reaches the destination. VoIP can allow you to make a call directly from a computer, a special VoIP phone, or a traditional phone connected to a special adapter. In addition, wireless "hot spots" in locations such as airports, parks, and cafes allow you to connect to the Internet and may enable you to use VoIP service wirelessly
Although progressing rapidly, Internet telephony still has some problems with reliability and sound quality, due primarily to limitations both in Internet bandwidth and current compression technology. As a result, most corporations looking to reduce their phone bills today confine their Internet-telephony applications to their intranets. With more predictable bandwidth available than the public Internet, intranets can support full-duplex, real-time voice communications. Corporations generally limit their Internet voice traffic to half-duplex asynchronous applications (e.g., voice messaging). Internet telephony within an intranet enables users to save on long-distance bills between sites; they can make point-to-point calls via gateway servers attached to the local-area network (LAN). No PC–based telephony software or Internet account is required.
