DETAILED SIP SERVICE DESCRIPTIONS

voip, voice over the net, voice over Internet protocol, internet telephony, broadband phone, phone service, video phone, videophone, long distance, SIP Telecom, SIP, ip pbx, voip white paper, voip vpn, voip h323, voip sip, voip service provider, whati is voip, how voip works, voip phone service, voice over ip, voip phone system, voip residential, voip call, web phone, virtual office, net2phone, pc phone, Vonage, Lingo, CallVantage, Broadvoice, VoiceWing, cheap phone service, pc to phone, unlimited calling, dsl phone service, internet phone, att voip, at&t voip, at&t voice over ip, voip technology, cable phone service, att, broadband phone, broadband phone service, broadband calling, bundled calling, unlimited local and long distance, unlimited local and long distance calling, bundled local and long distance calling, phone service savings, international calling plans, international calling, low international rates, CallVantage, Call Vantage, att callvantage, call advantage If you've heard about the unbelievable rates you can get by using your internet connection to make phone calls, it's time to set the record straight - it's all true. Why should you pay 30 cents for a local call when you could pay 10 cents? And who in their right mind would pay $3 for a call to anywhere in Australia when they could pay just 10 cents? Calls to family and friends in Britain, the US and China probably wouldn't be as rushed if it cost you 3 cents a minute instead of between 21 cents and $1.21 a minute. And you can say goodbye to connection fees. By using the internet to make phone calls, you sidestep the telcos and the calls for which they charge handsomely. You can save a lot of money - but these great deals come with strings. Voice over internet protocol (VoIP) means transmitting voice over the internet, a network originally designed to carry data, and there are a few options. If you just want to talk to your friends free over the internet, Yahoo!, MSN Messenger and Google all offer this. Whack on a headset (earphones and microphone in one) and activate voice-chat. But there are limitations. You can only make PC-to-PC calls, you both need to be online and the other person must be using the same program (Yahoo! Messenger with Voice, for example, won't work with MSN Messenger). One step up from this basic level is a service such as SIP Telecom (which has just been acquired by online auction house eBay for $US4.1 billion, $A5.3 billion) where you can call other SIP Telecom users on their PC free and buy credit to call landlines, mobiles and international numbers from your PC. Luxembourg-based SIP Telecom says 160 million people have downloaded the software phone (softphone) program onto their computers - and at any one time one million to three million of them may be online. In Australia, there are dedicated VoIP providers such as SIP Telecom, MyNetFone, Freshtel, and BroadBand Phone. Some of these offer a softphone for making free calls to others on the same service. Some softphones allow you to call regular numbers from your PC. But to make calls from your regular phone to other numbers via VoIP you will need to invest in some equipment, the cost of which might outweigh the immediate benefit of any savings. To use a regular phone to make VoIP calls, you can buy an analog telephone adaptor that takes your analog voice, converts it into digital packets for the internet, then decodes it at the other end. And, remember, a VoIP call is not secure. Your phone plugs into the palm-sized adaptor, which connects to your router or modem - just pick up the handset and dial. Your computer can be off to make and receive calls. More advanced adaptors will let you plug in a regular phone as well as your incoming phone line. If VoIP becomes unavailable, it diverts to your regular phone service. Adaptors cost between $99 and $229. But even at $99, that's the equivalent of 330 local calls at 30 cents each. And there are some other costs to consider. A dial-up internet connection isn't good enough, so you'll need broadband to make a decent VoIP call. A 512/128 kbps broadband connection will cost about $30 to $60 a month. Be aware that talking over the internet involves uploading and downloading data - if you go over your monthly entitlements, you will be up for extra charges. You will also need a VoIP provider. Some internet service providers are offering their own VoIP services. Check if yours does as some, such as VOIP and SIP Telecom, offer a landline/broadband/VoIP package on one bill. (SIP Telecom and Optus don't yet offer VoIP.) Otherwise, check out one of the dedicated VoIP providers. Try phonechoice.com.au and whirlpool.net.au for suggestions. Next, you will need to choose a VoIP plan and there are several available. A pay-as-you-go plan has no monthly fee and you buy credit as you go. Some plans charge a $9.95 monthly fee that includes a normal incoming phone number to use on your regular phone that is VoIP-connected - it's like having a second line coming into the house. However, if you plan to only make outgoing calls and want to keep your regular line for people to call you, a monthly VoIP plan with your regular landline number (known as a PSTN number) is a waste of money. Some monthly plans include a certain amount of calls, others do not. Some plans have no monthly fee but a "minimum monthly spend" instead, which is the same thing. Make sure you understand the limitations of the plan you choose. As the cost of having a landline has ballooned from $11.65 a month in 1998 to $29.95 a month now, a cheaper phone service is tempting. But don't call your telco to disconnect that high-priced landline just yet. If you have an ADSL connection you access the internet over your phone line: cut the line and you cut the connection. No VoIP provider will tell you to get rid of your landline, in fact most go out of their way to tell you that you shouldn't. Why? One reason is that your provider does not want to be sued if you can't make calls in an emergency. However, if you don't think you'll save much money after paying for two line rentals, VoIP is not for you. What about audio quality? Calls over the internet are subject to a number of factors and this makes it impossible to guarantee any kind of service level - the quality can vary dramatically from call to call. The main problems are sounding like you're outdoors, in a tiled bathroom or in a tunnel. On a particularly bad connection, you will hear your voice feeding back in the handset or a delay between when you finish talking and the other party responds. And if you're downloading something while you make a call, the audio breaks up, making it almost impossible to hear the other person - even with a 512/256 kbps broadband connection. Unlike normal telcos that must meet certain criteria by law under a customer service guarantee or pay compensation, this may not apply to VoIP calls. ISP SIP Telecom says that because it offers lower call costs for its VoIP service, it asks customers to waive their rights to the service guarantee when signing up. This means there is no compensation if the service is unavailable due to the provider. And keep in mind that if you lose power or your internet connection you won't be able to make VoIP calls. Most VoIP providers don't have contracts but they have other ways of locking you in. Some lock their adaptors so that you cannot change the settings to use them on another service, which might be acceptable if you were leasing the box from them but as you buy the unit it should be yours to do with as you wish. It is scandalous that they not only get away with this but charge you a fee to unlock the box! On some services, such as SIP Telecom, you use the adaptor as a regular phone. With others, such as BroadBand Phone, you must dial "0" first. With SIP Telecom, you must dial the country code, area code, then the number. When you use your regular phone to dial a 1300 number, such as a pizza chain, your call is automatically diverted by the network to your nearest store. When calling from a VoIP service, the origin of the call cannot be determined and so your call could end up anywhere. This also applies when making emergency calls. While some - not all - VoIP services allow you to make 000 calls, the operator might not be able to determine your location. And you can't move your regular landline number over to VoIP. There are about a dozen dedicated VoIP providers on the Australian market and some ISPs are getting in on the act.

SIP TELECOM HELPS YOU LEARN ABOUT VOIP

Things You Need To Understand About VOIP Before Ordering IT The Australian Telecommunication's Act, The Australian Communications Authority (ACA), The State Fair Trading Acts, The Trade Practices Act and the Office Of the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) all have strong views, rules and advice to consumers and voice service suppliers about what a consumer considering using a VOIP service should know and what a supplier of VOIP services must disclose. to a potential VOIP user. The Australian Communications Industry Forum (ACIF) has set out what it believes a VOIP provider needs to disclose to a VOIP user. The balance of this web page provides the information that ACIF suggests be made available to a person considering using an SIP Telecom VOIP service. About The Service What VOIP Service Is Offered By SIP Telecom? SIP Telecom offer VOIP services over the SIP Telecom ADSL network. SIP Telecom does NOT recommend that a line speed of less than 512 kbps be used to carry its VOIP services. What Networks Are Used To Provide SIP Telecom's VOIP Services? SIP Telecom provides VOIP services via a third party that has switching centres in Sydney and Melbourne and 12 other locations around the world. Your handset is connected to the Sydney VOIP switching via the SIP Telecom or Optus ADSL network to the SIP Telecom Sydney DSL PoP and then to the third party centre which directs your VOIP calls to their destination. This means that there will be transit times of varying length, depending where in Australia you are, that may be noticeable during any VOIP call. In SIP Telecom's testing of the services prior to offering them these delays were not significant. Who Owns The VOIP Network? The network used to carry your VOIP traffic to and from your handset to the SIP Telecom Sydney PoP is owned by either SIP Telecom or Optus. The network used to process your VOIP calls is owned by a third party with whom SIP Telecom has a contractual relationship. The networks that carry your traffic from the VOIP switching centre are owned by major National and International carriers. How Does The Phone And Line Numbering System Work? SIP Telecom recommend that the user retains their current telephone number from their current land line provider. This current number is used by callers who wish to call the VOIP customer on the number listed in the telephone books/known to friends and acquaintances. Additionally SIP Telecom provide a VOIP phone number that can be used to receive calls from other SIP Telecom VOIP users that incur no charges to the incoming caller or to the customer when they call another SIP Telecom user. What The Potential Customer's Requirements May Be What Hardware And Software Is Needed? To use a VOIP service from SIP Telecom the customer will need: An ADSL modem with two Ethernet ports An ATA that is used to connect a 'standard' handset to the ADSL modem A standard telephone handset A standard PSTN line connected to an ADSL network Enough technical knowledge to be able to connect the devices and perform some simple software loading. What Kind Of Broadband Service Is Needed? An ADSL service with a line speed of at least 512k/128k. SIP Telecom can't support its VOIP product over cable broadband. What Warranties And Service Standards Apply To The SIP Telecom VOIP Service? None. The VOIP service in terms of availability is determined by too many factors outside SIP Telecom's control for SIP Telecom to offer any performance or availability guarantees or warranties or service levels. How Long Does It take To Get SIP Telecom's VOIP Service Activated? 48 hours from time of order. Designed and Developed by Stella Design 2005 What Controls Are Available For A customer To Limit Access To The Service? The VOIP service is password protected. Access to the service is restricted to those users with knowledge of the password that activates the VOIP send service. The VOIP receive service is 'always on' provided the ADSL service is operational and the modem is switched on. The Limitations Of VOIP Can The Fixed Line Be Cancelled? Not if the customer is using ADSL as the ADSL service requires a standard PSTN line to operate. If the customer is using Wireless Broadband then a PSTN telephone line is not necessary. What Access Is There To Emergency Services None. It is an essential requirement for the customer to retain a PSTN line to both be able to dial 000 numbers and for their street address to be recognized by the emergency service. Can SIP Telecom's VOIP Be Used To Call 000 Emergency Numbers? No What Is The Quality Of The VOIP Calls. Often close to the quality of a standard telephone line but not always. What Provisions Are Offered For People With Disabilities? None at this stage. What Technical Support Is Provided And How? Telephone support is provided for hardware supplied through SIP Telecom. Costs Related To Te VOIP Service How Are The VOIP Charges Calculated? Call charges are billed monthly in arrears to the customer by way of an electronic bill that can be accessed from an SIP Telecom web site. Call charges for Australian destinations can be found by clicking here Call charges to international destinations can be found by clicking here What Is The Effect Of My ISP 'Throttling' My ADSL Service? Your VOIP service will be negatively affected and may be unusable. What Is The Cost Of the Hardware And Software Needed To Use SIP Telecom VOIP? A suitable 4 Ethernet port modem will cost around $100.00 if you don't already have one. A suitable ATA will cost around $120.00. The only software required is provided with the hardware. What Contract/Term Is Offered? There is no contract term. Designed and Developed by Stella Design 2005

SIP TELECOM IS HIGH SPEED

Business VoIP Provider - Broadband Phone Service The SIP Telecom hosted VoIP service allows businesses to utilize their existing Internet connections to make phone calls cutting monthly telephone costs by 30% - 80% over traditional phone services. With the SIP Telecom VoIP solution businesses can utilize their current phone system and handsets so there is no need to purchase new phones or upgrade their PBX. All local and long distance calls are included with the service. - Keep your current phone number - Use your existing phone sets or IP phones - Unlimited Local and Long Distance Calling - Cheap International Rates - Hosted PBX with Web Portal - Nationwide Coverage To compare our Business VoIP plans, click here. Business VoIP Service Features The SIP Telecom hosted VoIP solution is full featured and utilizes your current phone system. With four levels of service available, you can choose the right solution for your business: - Small Business VoIP Service - Business VoIP Enterprise Bronze - Business VoIP Enterprise Silver - Business VoIP Enterprise Gold Designed and Developed by Stella Design 2005 And Additional 'A la carte features available Click here to compare these services. Save Money and Consolidate Services Your business can expect to cut monthly telephone costs by 30% - 50% by implementing a VoIP solution. The SIP Telecom VoIP solution can utilize your current phone system and your current handsets so there is no need to purchase new phones or upgrade your PBX and all of your local and long distance calls are included with the service. Streamline your organization by consolidating both your internet access and your phone service onto a single bill. By consolidating these services with SIP Telecom your business will benefit from having a single point of contact to manage all of your communications needs, eliminating the finger pointing that occurs when things are not working to your satisfaction. Utilizing the many tools that VoIP from SIP Telecom has to offer will increase your employee's productivity - tools such as Unified Messaging, Ad Hoc Conferencing and much more. With SIP Telecom VoIP service your business will benefit from both short term and long term cost savings. Your business will further be able to save money by consolidating expenditures and support resources with a single vendor while converging both your voice and data networks reducing your total support overhead. Increase productivity through communication capabilities, lower equipment costs and lower maintenance and administration costs. What is Voice Over IP? Voice over IP (VoIP) is a technology that allows businesses to utilize their existing Internet connections to make phone calls as opposed to using traditional phone lines. Ten years in the making and businesses today are able to expect the same level of uptime and call quality that VoIP has to offer. Until recently, small to medium sized businesses found it difficult to invest in phone (PBX) systems because of the astronomical start up costs and on going monthly maintenance fees. With a Hosted VoIP solution from SIP Telecom, businesses are able to get all of the same features that an enterprise PBX has to offer but at a fraction of the cost. In fact, your business can get all of the same features and functionality of a corporate PBX, without spending money on a new phone system.