PC to Phone Calling

Inevitably, the major telecommunications companies face a slow, agonizing death at the hands of newer technologies that effectively break their monopoly on long distance communication.

I'm of course talking about PC to Phone calls, otherwise known as Voice Over Internet Protocol, an affordable alternative to expensive calling plans and cell phone bills.

Network Telephony, as VoIP is also occasionally called, allows anyone with an Internet connection and a computer to make calls across the country and even around the world.

The basic technology in a nutshell works as follows: any information whether it be in the form of text, video or audio can be digitized, or described and expressed in the form of 1's and 0's, so that sound or video picture can be easily compiled and transmitted through fiber optic cables or traditional phone lines.

With the great increase in Broadband and DSL bandwidth in recent years, using the World Wide Web to make calls to other connected machines and phone lines has become a viable and reliable method for communicating with others.

There are a variety of different services that can be used to take advantage of PC to Phone calling.

One popular service you've most likely heard of is known as Skype.

It's a widely used VoIP service that often comes pre-installed on new PC's running Windows, and can be easily setup on older Macs or older computers as well running on nearly any operating system.

It's incredibly user friendly and easy to configure, and the best part if that it is of course free to activate an account.

Once installed, it allows anyone with a Skype account to call anyone else with a Skype account for no charge, and includes features such as voice mail and call forwarding.

Yahoo Voice is another highly effective and hassle free PC to Phone service which allows end users to make free PC to Phone calls either to other users on their Ethernet or Wireless Ethernet connection or to land line phones or cellular telephone numbers.

Like Skype, Yahoo's PC to Phone calling service charges a relatively low rate to call actual phone numbers, which is very affordable for domestic calls and somewhat more for international connections.

While overseas calling is significantly more expensive, overall it's far cheaper than a calling plan with a major service such as AT&T or Verizon.

A third option amongst many other programs is known as Ekiga. The service began as a college product for a Belgian computer science student and eventually developed into a full fledged service on par with Skype and the other major VoIP clients.

Ekiga is the default Internet telephony program for calls and audio and video teleconferencing on Ubuntu Linux.

Offering exemplary clarity and an almost complete lack of bugs, it supports almost every audio codec out there and features an advanced user interface that supports almost any function a user might need.

In the end, which PC to Phone VoIP service you choose depends on your own personal tastes and budget.

There are minor differences between the competing platforms, but all of the major Internet telephone systems are more or less comparable to regular phone corporations as far as phone call quality.

Aside from the occasional interruption in audio or video streaming, PC2Phone service is a nearly seamless replacement for traditional telephone service.