Electronics

Voice over IP is one of those technologies that sounded exciting long before anyone had cracked the code necessary to make it work right. Upstarts and early adopters such as Net2Phone caused a splash when first launched with their promise of cheap Internet telephony anywhere, any time. What they failed to mention in the same ads was the bulky hardware and maddening lag associated with their primitive product.

Today companies like Vonage have changed this landscape forever, and for the first time consumers everywhere can speak freely over a broadband connection without any hidden costs. But the rock bottom price for lag-free long distance is really just the beginning.

Voice Over IP: the Only Way
Once you place your phone number in an IP address and not a brick and mortar structure, you are free to take that phone number with you anywhere you move in the country. Conversely you can add extra numbers in any area code you want, and each will ring right in your home! The difference between voice over IP and the old way has never been more starkly defined.

Perhaps the best feature of this revolution is that web meetings and similar business technologies can now add telephony to their dazzling collaborative workspaces. Now you can share applications, edit documents and talk the whole time with partners a thousand miles away. No wonder so many top corporations are turning to voice over IP to cut costs and increase productivity.