Free VoIP
No VoIP call is completely free, you still have to pay for your broadband Internet connection. The goal is not to achieve completely free calls to all destinations, but to use a VoIP operator that suits your needs.
Companies is to offer free calls inside their own network and also towards other specially selected destinations. This tactic draws users to make calls to free destinations and afterwards they purchase credits to make calls to paid destinations.
VoIP companies find ways to lure customers in and make a profit in the same time. So VoIP is very cheap, but not completely free.
Here are some systems used today in the VoIP calls market:
Skype is one of the most popular VoIP services on the market, you can initiate conversations with other PC users of Skype free of charge, but if you want to make calls to regular landlines, you’ll have to pay.
You can make free phone calls on a PC to PC basis using the Skype software, but if you want to reach someone that doesn’t have a PC or an Internet connection, you’ll have to pay fees.
Raketu offers free phone calls to landlines in 42 countries and it also offers live video television. They ask you to pay $9.95 up front in order to use their services as credit if you happen to call destinations that are not on the free call list.
voipCheap allows you to make free calls to PC’s and regular phone lines and many destinations outside USA and Canada that can be called without paying a cent, but you have a limit of 300 minutes each week per IP Address.
How VoIP telephony works.
To setup a VoIP gateway, you use a PBX (Private Branch Exchange). It is a device that allows the VoIP provider to purchase as many telephone lines, as the maximum number of simultaneous callers.
More or less 10% of the users will make calls at the same time, so this means that the VoIP can purchase fewer telephone lines, instead of buying one for each user.
Configuring a PBX is almost cost free then, and the actual costs come from the prices collected by the telephone companies for connecting to the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network).
VoIP providers do is use PSTN connections for accessing the public land and mobile telephone lines and use the SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) to stream content such as voice over the Internet.
Although some VoIP providers have hidden costs and restrictions, VoIP calls are still very profitable. If you manage to use services that offer good deals, you can save up to 98% from your phone bills.
If you put some research into it, in the end you can achieve almost free calls via the VoIP technology.
