Cut the cord! : the consumer's guide to VoIP

303 Pages·2006·2.941 MB·English

by  Jerri Ledford

TEAM LinG
Cut the Cord!
The Consumer’s
Guide to VoIP
Jerri L. Ledford
© 2006 by Thomson Course Technology PTR. All rights Publisher and General Manager,
reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or trans- Thomson Course Technology PTR:
mitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, Stacy L. Hiquet
including photocopying, recording, or by any information
storage or retrieval system without written permission from Associate Director of Marketing:
Thomson Course Technology PTR, except for the inclusion of Sarah O’Donnell
brief quotations in a review.
Manager of Editorial Services:
The Thomson Course Technology PTR logo and related trade Heather Talbot
dress are trademarks of Thomson Course Technology and
may not be used without written permission. Marketing Manager:
Heather Hurley
All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Important:Thomson Course Technology PTR cannot provide Acquisitions Editor:
software support. Please contact the appropriate software Mitzi Koontz
manufacturer’s technical support line or Web site for assis-
tance. Senior Editor:
Mark Garvey
Thomson Course Technology PTR and the author have
attempted throughout this book to distinguish proprietary Marketing Coordinator:
trademarks from descriptive terms by following the capital- Jordan Casey
ization style used by the manufacturer.
Project Editor:
Information contained in this book has been obtained by
Jenny Davidson
Thomson Course Technology PTR from sources believed to be
reliable. However, because of the possibility of human or
Technical Reviewer:
mechanical error by our sources, Thomson Course Technology
Arlie Hartman
PTR, or others, the Publisher does not guarantee the accuracy,
adequacy, or completeness of any information and is not
Thomson Course Technology PTR
responsible for any errors or omissions or the results
Editorial Services Coordinator:
obtained from use of such information. Readers should be Elizabeth Furbish
particularly aware of the fact that the Internet is an ever-
changing entity. Some facts may have changed since this Copyeditor:
book went to press. Kim Cofer
Educational facilities, companies, and organizations interested
Interior Layout Tech:
in multiple copies or licensing of this book should contactthe
Shawn Morningstar
publisher for quantity discount information. Training man-
uals, CD-ROMs, and portions of this book are also available
Cover Designer:
individually or can be tailored for specific needs.
Mike Tanamachi
ISBN: 1-59200-988-3
Indexer:
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2005927430
Katherine Stimson
Printed in Canada
05 06 07 08 09 WC 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Thomson Course Technology PTR,
a division of Thomson Course Technology
25 Thomson Place
Boston, MA 02210
http://www.courseptr.com
For Mom and Dad…
because you gave me wings and taught me to fly.
Acknowledgments
N
o book comes to life without the support of an entire team of people.
As the writer, I’m only one of those people. Without the support of
people like Arlie Hartman, who reviewed this book for technical
accuracy, and Jenny Davidson, my wonderful editor, this book would not be
as useful to you, the reader. Thanks to both of you, and the other members
of the team at Thomson lurking behind the scenes. Without you, there
would be no book.
Thanks, too, to my agent, another team member who saw something in the
proposal and found a home for this book. Lynn, you’re fabulous, as always!
The other part of that team is my family. Curtis, Sean, and Jennifer are the
sunshine that lights each day for me. They have patience when I’m working,
celebrate when there’s cause, and push me when I’m being a lazy sot. Thanks
guys! I love you all dearly.
About the Author
J
erri Ledford has been a freelance business technology writer for more
than ten years. During that time, more than 700 of her articles, profiles,
news stories, and reports have appeared online and in print. Her pub-
lishing credits include Intelligent Enterprise, Network World, Information
Security Magazine, DCM Magazine, CRM Magazine, and IT Manager’s Journal.
Jerri also develops and teaches technology training courses for both consumer
and business users. She’s developed courses on security, customer service,
career skills, and technology for companies such as IBT Financial, Writer’s
Village University, You Don’t Say, LLC., Hewlett-Packard, and CNET. She is
also the author of Web Services: Understanding Service Level Management
(ContentCan, 2002) and Marketing Your eBook: The Only Guide You’ll Ever
Need (Roberts Publishing, 2001), and is a contributor to The Writer’s Online
Marketplace (Debbie Ridpath-Ohi, Writer’s Digest Books, 2000) and Unbe-
lievably Good Deals and Great Adventures That You Absolutely Can’t Get
Unless You’re a Student (Marian Edelman Borden, McGraw-Hill, 2001).
When she’s not writing for a consumer audience, Jerri also produces corporate
collateral—white papers, case studies, Web content, and presentations. Her
corporate clients include Switch & Data, The World Health Organization,
FujiFilm, Coca-Cola, and NaviSite.
In her off-time (which is infrequent), Jerri homeschools her two children,
and spends hours playing with her electronic gadgets. She’s fondly referred
to as “tech support” by friends and family members.
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv
What Is VoIP? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Chapter 1
VoIP Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
VoIP of the Past . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
How Does VoIP Work? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Flavors of VoIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Chapter 2
PC-to-PC VoIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Quality and Reliability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Softphones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Internet Phones. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Analog Telephone Adapter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Wireless VoIP: VoWiFi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Which to Choose?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Why Go VoIP? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31
Chapter 3
The Benefits of VoIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
The Future of Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
How Convergence Affects You. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
viii Cut the Cord! The Consumer's Guide to VoIP
Understanding the VoIP Industry . . . . . . . .41
Chapter 4
What Industry Standards Mean. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
VoIP Protocols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
H.323. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
SIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Other Protocols. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Are Protocols Really Necessary? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
The Politics Behind the Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Current Legislation and Regulations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Planning Your VoIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61
Chapter 5
Available Service Plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Standard VoIP Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Alternate Area Codes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Caller ID. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Call Waiting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Call Return . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Three-Way Calling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Voice Mail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Real-Time Billing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Network Availability Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Advanced VoIP Features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Call Blocking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Call Filtering. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Call Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Toll-Free Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Repeat Dialing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Speed Dialing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Do Not Disturb. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Call Forking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Call Forwarding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Virtual Numbers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Fax Capabilities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Contents ix
Ring Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
International Call Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Business-Oriented Features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Auto Attendant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Call Parking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Hunt Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
What to Expect from Your Service Provider. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Quality of Service. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Reliability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Getting the Right Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . .83
Chapter 6
Telephone Adapters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Do You Need an Adapter?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
ATA Versus Router. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Vendor-provided Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Telephones. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Existing Phones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Specialized Phones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Cable and Network Connections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Broadband Versus Dial-up Internet Connections. . . . . . . . . . 96
Your Existing Network Connection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Wireless Network Connections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Porting or Changing?
Chapter 7
What About the Number? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101
Understanding Number Portability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Portability Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
How Portable Is Your Number, Really? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Have Patience, It Could Take a While . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Should You Port Your Existing Number?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
How to Port Your Existing Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
How Porting Affects Emergency Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Getting a New Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113