VoIP
MyVoIPprovider.com – everything you need to know about VoIP, from people that actually use VoIP.
First things first: what is VoIP?
VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol.
Basically, VoIP is a way of making phone calls using the Internet. Internet Protocol is the language that computers use to talk to each other over the Internet.
You should care about VoIP.
Voice of Internet Protocol is a cheap and effective way to make phone calls. With residential or business VoIP, you can spend 80% less on your monthly phone bill.
While prices vary between VoIP services, choosing the right VoIP service provider based your specific needs and calling patterns, especially if you make regular international calls, can save you a small fortune every month. How you can save with VoIP.
Our site exists to help you find and interact with your VoIP provider. We want you to be able to say, "They're my VoIP provider."
Picking your VoIP provider
The problem with choosing your VoIP provider is that there are literally thousands of VoIP providers out there.
In January 2008, we had identified over 1400 international providers for the residential and small business market, such as RingCentral. That doesn't even include wholesale VoIP providers or large-scale business phone service providers.
On top of that, each VoIP provider claims to have the cheapest international rates and the most reliable service. Finding the right VoIP provider is a time-consuming search (just compiling a list of VoIP providers is time-consuming) so we've tried to make finding your VoIP provider a little easier.
How to Find your VoIP Provider using MyVoIPprovider.com
- Topical Comparisons
- Top 100 VoIP providers
- Complete VoIP Provider Directory
We have several different ways to help you find the right VoIP provider for you. If you know which specific type of VoIP product you need, you can visit the individual page on that topic (small business VoIP; VoIP PBX; etc).
Topical VoIP Comparisons
We compare business VoIP providers, residential VoIP providers, mobile VoIP providers, PBX providers, etc.
We try to make sure that all our topical VoIP comparisons are fair to the VoIP providers on the page and to you: all the providers listed in our topical comparisons are listed as offering a similar version of service.
For instance, the prices and plans displayed on our Business VoIP page are priced per user per month and all offer some kind of unlimited calling (or an equivalent).
Top 100
Interested in which VoIP providers are in your country? We have a list of the Top 100 VoIP providers in the world.
The list is pretty business VoIP-focused and oriented toward paid VoIP services over free VoIP services.
VoIP Provider Directory
Our complete VoIP provider directory is company names and company blurbs.
The directory is also very useful for finding out which type of service each VoIP provider offers, which country they offer it to, and some other pertinent marketing information.
Free VoIP Service
You'll probably notice that we tend to support paid VoIP services on myvoipprovider.com. Skype and Google Voice are great services, but they have limited use and aren't as feature-rich. Also, unfortunately, most free VoIP services tend to have a catch (Skype and Google Voice don't, but they're the exceptions).
Different Types of VoIP Service
In addition to there being hundreds of different VoIP services, there are many different styles of VoIP service.
Knowing the key differences between the different styles of VoIP will make understanding the information that each VoIP provider gives you much easier to understand. There are several different ways to differentiate between VoIP services:
- Free VoIP service
- Paid VoIP Service
The difference between these VoIP services is obvious, I hope.
Within the paid VoIP service section, there are other types:
- Flat-rate VoIP services
- Per-minute VoIP rate services
Pretty much, these differences relate to how the VoIP service is billed. Flat-rate services charge a flat rate per month (usually this is subscription-based VoIP service). Per-minute services charge a per minute rate to call a certain destination (on top of that they may have a specific fee associated with opening an account.
There are also the different categories of services that VoIP providers offer. The major varieties of service are:
Residential VoIP plans are geared toward homes that want to replace their POTS ('plain old telephone system') service.
Business VoIP plans are geared toward businesses. Business VoIP tends to offer the most varied applications of VoIP technology – just because businesses tend to require more of their phone systems.
Wholesale VoIP is designed to be sold to carrier-level services – that's the VoIP providers themselves. If you’re a VoIP provider who needs minutes, check the wholesale VoIP providers.
Types of Business VoIP
Basically, most Business VoIP providers offer some variation on private branch exchange (PBX). A private branch exchange basically allows you to exchange calls between extensions at your business. You can also use a private branch exchange to set up an auto attendant, a voicemail server, or a call queue for a call center.
'Hosted' means you lease the exchange from a VoIP provider, which provides you virtual access to the PBX; IP PBX refers to an actual computerized system in your office. Virtual PBX is usually a stripped-down version of a hosted PBX, usually used for call forwarding and mobile applications.
Mobile VoIP refers to available mobile technology (it tends to go hand-in-hand with virtual pbx), especially smart phone applications.
SIP trunking is a specialized application of VoIP that allows you to replace analog, POTS phone lines one by one. SIP trunking usually works with analog or IP PBX set ups.
