VoIP stands for Voice Over Internet Proticol. Basicaly this means converting your voice into information that can be carried over the internet. Due to the vast take-up of broadband internet more and more services can be provided using the aditional download/upload speeds of your internet connection.

To use VoIP you must have a broadband internet connection and a means of converting analogue signals into digital. There are a number of ways of going about this, the first being a piece of software that is installed on your computer, this is normaly called a softphone. A softphone uses your computers sound card and speakers or a headset and microphone to obtain and play back a phone call. In recient years many USB phones have also been produced to connect to your computer too. The second method and probably the best is a for of VoIP phone or adapter.

A VoIP phone/adapter connects to your internet router and connects to the VoiceHost service. The device manages the connection and any calls that are made using the device. Therefore a computer is not needed, just an internet connection. The differences between VoIP phones and adapters are that a VoIP phone is like a standard phone however it is digital and often offers additional features to that of a voip adapter.

A voip adapter connects to your internet router and then connects directly to the VoiceHost service. A voip adapter is ideal if you wish to connect your current analogue telephone to a voip service, many adapters now offer the ability to connect your current landline to the same phone as voip, allowing you to make calls on both the voip network and the standard analogue network.

Since VoIP uses the internet to make calls, call costs are often cheper than those of traditional telephany. When a call is made using voip it is carried across the internet and then once it reaches its destination it is turned back into speach. If the person you are call is not on a VoIP service, your call will be passed to the traditional telephone network via the internet where you will be connected to the person you are calling.

VoIP can save you vast amounts of money compared to traditional telehany. For example if you have a VoiceHost account and a friend across the world has an account too the calls between the two accounts are free! Plus there is no monthly bills or contracts to sign.

In recient years the avaliblity of Wi-fi networks has grown rappidly, since our service works over the internet it is now possible to make calls from any wi-fi hotspot. Be this while walking throught a city, while sitting in a coffe shop or even from your hotel room.

Mobile phone manufacturers are now producing phones that also connect to Wi-fi hotspots and can connect your handset to VoiceHost allowing cheaper calls from your mobile.