IP phone gets down to business Ian Grayson APRIL 04, 2006...

IP phone gets down to business
Ian Grayson
APRIL 04, 2006

TECH-SMART computer users have been doing it for years, but now growing numbers of business people are turning their backs on conventional telephone networks and using the internet to make phone calls.

IP phone
The promise of greatly reduced bills is attracting thousands of small businesses to VoIP services, and in the process reshaping the telecommunications landscape.

By sending voice calls over the internet rather than telephone networks, VoIP services bypass much of the cost levied by big telecoms carriers.

The result for users is heavily discounted, or even free, telephone calls.

With more than 100 VoIP service providers in Australia, competition for users is fierce.

Many are turning their attention from the consumer market to potentially more lucrative segments of small and medium business and travelling executives. For these groups, the cost-saving lure is enhanced by the flexibility offered by VoIP calling.

Calls can be made from conventional phone handsets, laptop computers or even handheld wireless devices.

Geographic boundaries also no longer matter.

Calls to a Sydney VoIP number can be received by a user just as easily in a hotel in London as they can be from a cafe in Hobart, all that's required is an internet connection.

Shara Evans, chief executive of telecommunications researcher Market Clarity, estimates there were about 411,000 consumer and small and medium business users of VoIP services in Australia at the end of 2005.

She forecasts this figure will rise to six million by 2011.

"Growing numbers of business people are hearing about VoIP and are keen to try it," she says. "The flexibility it offers makes the services very attractive."

From a user perspective, the barriers to entry into the world of VoIP telephony are extremely low.

In some instances, it's as straightforward as downloading some free software, logging on to the internet and making calls.

Other services require the use of a special handset or telephone adapter.

Most services offer a geographically based phone number to allow incoming calls from regular phones and either a pre-paid or post-paid payment system.

For consumers or small and home office users, such services can be a boon.

However, many business users often require more bells and whistles from their phone services.

With this in mind, one Australian telco has launched a VoIP package aimed squarely at them.

GOtalk, operated by second-tier telco Telecorp, is offering a bundle of services and features designed to make moving to VoIP more appealing for businesses.

Telecorp chief executive Steve Picton says consumer take-up of VoIP services has not been as spectacular as many in the industry had predicted, but the small and medium business sector is looking like a different ball game.

"You find that people operating out of small offices need to be technically literate and so tend to understand what VoIP is all about and what it can to do for their businesses," he says.

The GOtalk Business VoIP offering includes the ability to move an existing public switched telephone network (PSTN) phone number to a VoIP service.

Picton says this is important because many businesses have invested in promoting their phone number and are reluctant to change it.

GOtalk Business users can also have five telephone numbers based in different geographic areas in Australia linked to a single VoIP phone number.

This would allow, for example, a small business in Queensland to have local contact phone numbers in other states.

"If I was a Richard Branson and starting out in business now, I would not run it out of a phone box as he did in the early days of Virgin," Picton says. "I would have a broadband connection in my garage linked to local numbers in each of the areas in which I was operating. This is what VoIP can provide."

Rival service provider Engin is also eyeing the small and medium business and travelling executive market, pushing its offer of untimed national calls for 10c. Ilkka Tales, chief executive of Mobile Innovations, which owns the Engin VoIP service, says the service is particularly attractive to business users who spend a lot of time away from the office.

"Using a softphone on their laptop, they can make and receive calls regardless of where they are in the world," he says.

"With more hotels offering broadband services, it means you can bypass the costly room phone charges and make all your calls over the internet."

But leaving your laptop in the office doesn't mean you have to give up the chance to use a VoIP service.

An innovative USB-based device being promoted by at least two Australian VoIP providers allows any internet-connected PC to become a VoIP phone.

The device, a USB flash drive with a volume control and headphone jack, contains the softphone client software.

A user needs only to plug it into a spare USB port on a PC and the device automatically becomes a VoIP phone.

Pickton, whose company is releasing such a device under the name VoIP to GO, says it makes the task of using internet phones "about as simple as you can get".

"Everything runs on the USB drive so there's no need to install software on the PC or worry about drivers," he says. "This makes it easy to use in locations such as internet cafes."

For business people working from a home or small office, a combination ADSL router and VoIP gateway device reduces complexity and clutter while offering an easy way to get a service up and running.

One example is the MyNetGateway device from Australian hardware manufacturer Netcomm.

This box comprises an ADSL modem and router, wireless networking capabilities and a VoIP gateway.

It can be configured to allow a single handset to be used for both VoIP calls and calls over an existing PSTN line.

This can be handy in small offices reluctant to ditch their landline altogether, or wanting to retain it for incoming calls while using the VoIP service for all outgoing calls.

There are a range of other VoIP providers offering services suitable for small and medium business users.

Most have a range of capped plans or pay-as-you-go billing options.

For example, MyNetFone offers calling rates of 10c for local calls, 10c untimed national calls and calls to Australian mobiles at 29c per minute. Telecoms provider Primus, through its TalkBroadband offering, charges 10c for local and national offers and 26c per minute for calls to mobiles.

Naturally, calls made over a broadband connection create data traffic and, as such, will count towards any monthly allowances that may be in place. On average, a 10-minute phone call will generate about 2MB of data.

To add options to the picture, a range of free VoIP services is available.

These are mainly pitched at consumers, but growing numbers of small businesses and executives are using them for ad hoc communications on the run.

Australian VoIP provider Freshtel offers a software application called Firefly. Its users can make free calls between each other. The service is similar in concept to Skype, a massively popular VoIP service used around the world.

Both also provide the option of making calls to PSTN phone numbers.

Internet portal Yahoo7 also offers a free VoIP service, through its Messenger software application.

While US users can call out to PSTN numbers, this feature has yet to be made available in Australia.

Nuts and bolts of net phone

VOICE over internet protocol services provide low-cost, or even free, phone calls because of the underlying technology that makes them work.

Conventional phone services are based on circuit-switched networks.

Each time a call is made, a constant network connection is created and maintained between the parties. Telecoms carriers charge for the time this constant connection, called a circuit, is required.

However, during a VoIP call, the voice streams are converted into a series of data packets that are transmitted over the internet. The individual packets are reassembled at their final destination and converted into spoken voices.

No circuit connection is needed. If calls are made between two VoIP users on the same service, the entire call travels over the internet and is therefore free.

However, if a user chooses a conventional phone number, the call is transmitted as far as possible over the internet before being switched on the public switched telephone network, (PSTN).

The user only has to pay for the part of the call that is carried over the PSTN, usually a local call.

Because VoIP calls are packet-based, providers can offer a range of other services for little or no extra cost. These include three-way calling, voice mail, and real-time billing summaries.

Engin MyNetFone Primus FreshTel GOtalk
Monthly charge $9.95 $9.95 $9.95 $9.95 $9.95
Local calls (untimed) 10c 10c 10c 10c 9.9c
National calls (untimed) 10c 10c 10c 10c 9.9c
INTERNATIONAL RATES TO:
*US (min) 3.5c 2.9c 2.7c 3.9c 2.9c
* UK (min) 3.5c 2.5c 2.7c 3.9c 1.9c
* Hong Kong (min) 3.5c 2.5c 2.7c 4.9c 1.9c
* Note: Comparisons based on rates and charges for the cheapest VoIP service offered by each provider that includes a PSTN phone number for receiving calls.

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,18693348%5E24169%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html