Many people are getting used to hearing about VOIP these days.  But, there
is a new technology out that blows VOIP away!  The new form is known as
SOIP.  Read below for the full details.

VOIP:
For those who do not know much about VOIP, let's take a moment to
examine what it is. VOIP stands for "Voice Over Internet Protocol."  This
technology  requires that you have a broadband connection, DSL or higher,
in order for you to reap the benefits of talking cheaply through the Internet.  
This is one of the problems; most people in America are currently using a
dial up connection with modems that are commonly in the 56K range.  Dial
up connections are made through standard telephone lines, which is one of
the main reasons why it is still the most widely used connection for private
residences.   In most cases, using VOIP requires that you dial from
computer-to-computer.  Which requires both computers to have downloaded
software to create compatibility.  

This is what happens when you use VOIP to talk through the Internet:  One
person at one computer, talks into the computer microphone, and their voice
is converted into a digital signal called a data packet.  This is your voice  
translated into 0's and 1's.  The data packets are then sent over the Internet
and are received by the other computer.  The software converts the data
packets into an audible signal that comes out of the other computers
speakers.  This process enables normal telecommunications to be
circumvented.  Also, this process allows the consumer to drop a lot of the
cost normally associated with traditional phone to phone connections.  

In some cases, special hardware adapters can be used to allow a regular
hardwired telephone to relay and receive the converted data packets.

In a recent article (January 27th 2005) on USAToday.com they talked about
VOIP.  The following is taken from that article: "VOIP calls travel over the
Internet, much as emails do... plugs a regular telephone into a special
adapter, which is plugged into the home broadband connection... for the
most part, Internet calls avoid the tolls and fees that make regular phone
service so expensive."  The article then went on to talk about some of the
problems with VOIP: "There are problems, and some of them are going to
take a fair amount of time and money to fix... Performance: Internet calls can
sound almost as good as regular calls.  But on a slow Internet connection or
other network glitches can make quality degrade fast.  It doesn't take
much-surfing the Internet while on the phone was enough to break up a
recent Internet phone call in a USA Today test... Power: Most Internet phone
systems don't work when the power is off.  That could be a problem in an
earthquake, fire or other emergency - or during a non-emergency outage.  
They also require a working high-speed Internet connection.  If Internet
callers' digital subscriber lines (DSL) or cable modems go down, so do their
phones.  Technical know-how:  Internet phone systems are easier to use
than they used to be.  But they still require a bit of fiddling and aren't for
technophobes.  High-tech systems, such as those that combine wireless
Internet connections and phone service, require even more skill to install."

Let's not take things the wrong way; VOIP does have great potential, but it
still has so many obstacles to overcome.  Let's take a look at SOIP and see
the differences.

SOIP
SOIP stands for Speech Over Internet Protocol.  This protocol is ready for
insertion into the marketplace because the chains that bind VOIP are not
present in SOIP.  There are no hardware requirements, no software
requirements (just a simple plug-in), and SOIP does not need a high speed
connection.  This technology operates off of a minimum of 8K of bandwidth!  
Which means that anyone can use it!

Let's take a look at how SOIP works.  First, you do not need any expensive
gadgets or gizmos on your phone or computer in order to get cheap calls.  
All you need is an Internet connection (and a microphone, if talking through
your computer).  SOIP even works on old computers; but, for maximum
clarity, faster processors should be used.

All you have to do to make a call is pick up a phone (no extra equipment
needed) or go into your account, and click on a button to make a call.  On the
first use (when making calls through your computer), you go through a
simple sound check and setup to insure maximum quality.  If you want to talk
to someone in another country for as much as you want, just send them an
email from any phone in the United States(and if you use the black box, you
can do this anywhere in the world, ask for details), and a button will be
attached to the email, which they click on to automatically call you back (all
they need is speakers and a mic). You can talk as much as you want. When
they click the button to call you back, it will call you on any phone you wish in
the United States, and even locate you if you wish.  The quality of the sound
is awesome.  It is as if you are talking on a land line, even if the person is on
the other side of the world.  If you decide to make calls through your
computer one day instead of using  your phone, you will still be able to surf
the Internet at the same time (shop and talk if you want), since such a small
amount of bandwidth is needed.

Right now, you can call anyone in the United States phone-to-phone without
worrying about Internet access, hooking phones up to your computer's
Internet connection, or computers at all for that matter.  International rates
are coming very soon.  But, if whomever you are talking to in other countries
don't mind talking through the computer (computer-to-phone), you can talk to
them as much as you want, as of right now for a very low flat rate.  Or, you
can use the black box technology to be able to call  phone-to-phone and talk
as much as you want as well(ask for details).

I know that this seems to good to be true.  But, it's not.  This technology is
real and is going to revolutionize communications.  You do not have to be a
tech junky to use it either.  You can even use the new Speech Phone service
without having a computer, unlike other technologies.  Although it is simple
to use, you get more functionality than any other offerings that may be on the
market's table today (you get your own virtual assistant with all accounts that
can do some amazing things). To get your service today, or for more
information and a free over the phone demo, just  click here, and you will get
your service in a snap.
What is SOIP?
SOIP vs VOIP