An introduction to VoIP

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They can make and receive calls from Paris France or Paris Texas , or anywhere else with a reliable Internet connection, for that matter. Another advantage is that users of VoIP telephony can often call each other at no cost. There are even agreements in place between some SIP service providers to enable free calls.

Furthermore, the per-second or per-minute VoIP call charge is often cheaper than traditional telephone networks and, often, there is no call setup charge with VoIP telephony. To deny that there are issues with VoIP telephony would be a mistake. The main issues related to an IP telephone are quality of service, susceptibility to power failure, lack of redundancy and problems in determining your location in the event of making an emergency call.

For these reasons VoIP telephony cannot be relied upon as your only telephone connection in the event of an emergency.


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It is useful, however, in being able to set up a separate telephone number for different purposes for example, a freelancer with a separate landline number to their home telephone number. It is possible to set up a land line number on your Mac, to use anywhere in the world with a reliable broadband connection, with just a simple lightweight application downloadable from the Mac App Store and an account with a VoIP service provider of your choice.

If this is all new to you, you may not know the most appropriate provider for your needs or for your location. If you want to test the VoIP service before committing, it is possible to find SIP providers that will set up an account with a landline number and no initial costs, and some without line rental costs. Essentially, this means that you can configure your Mac to receive calls to a standard telephone number. This can be a good way of testing out whether VoIP works for you.

If it does, then you can look at other SIP service providers, or your existing provider, to see which offers the best service and the best value for money for your particular requirements. Sipgate allows me to set up the landline telephone number at no cost, there are no ongoing monthly rental charges, I can receive telephone calls to this number and if I was to make outgoing calls then I can charge my account with some credit.

If you plan on using your VoIP account as a freelancer or business, you may wish to look into a number of SIP providers, since different companies offer different mixes of pricing. For example, Sipgate charges for calls by the minute, whereas other SIP service providers, who charge a monthly line rental, may only charge calls by the second. This can make a big difference to the overall cost of making calls. So do check a number of SIP service providers to ensure that you have chosen one that meets your needs. Tip: For the purposes of this demonstration only, I have chosen Sipgate.

This does not necessarily constitute a recommendation as your individual requirements might be better suited to a different SIP service provider. At the time of writing this article, the app is available at no cost. The beauty of Telephone app is in its simplicity of use, functionality and lightweight size. It just works! Configuring Telephone app is relatively easy, as long as you are patient and ensure that you enter the correct details in the right places.

To help you do this, for your particular SIP service provider, there is a useful list of requirements at tlphn. In this example, using Sipgate, I will need to know the domain, the username this is usually your account name , the STUN server, and a port number. Find this information from your SIP service provider with whom you signed up earlier. Tip: Different SIP service providers will require different criteria to be entered into the Telephone app in order for it to work.

For help with your particular SIP service provider be sure to check with tlphn. It is also important that you accept Telephone App accessing your contacts, otherwise, you will not benefit from the full functionality as Telephone App uses CLI Call Line Identification to check your Contacts app. Further, if you have you have the incoming number listed, it will present to you the name of the person or company that is calling. To test that you can receive an incoming call to your new landline number, first ensure that your Mac has an Internet connection. Second, ensure that the Telephone app is running.

Finally, use a mobile telephone or a fixed line telephone to call your new landline number. All being well, after a few seconds, you should see a notification of the incoming call. If CLI called line identification is available, you will see the telephone number. If the contact number is in your Contacts app, you will see the name of the person calling. Until you have applied credit to your SIP account you will not normally be able to make outgoing telephone calls. However, there is still a way to test that outgoing calls is set up correctly by calling a freephone number.


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  5. In the UK, I can call numbers to test to get going call functionality. In this particular example, even though I have not applied any credit to my SIP account, Sipgate allows me to call freephone numbers using their VoIP service. Call an number to confirm that the outgoing call functionality is working. Ideally, this is best when you have a reason to call that number anyway.

    Alternatively, find an information line that uses an telephone number. If you have permitted Telephone App access to Contacts app, then you will be able to type a name in order to find the correct telephone number to make a call. If you prefer, you can just type in a telephone number. The easy way to test this is to have a friend or colleague telephone your new landline number so that you can spend some time talking to them via your Mac to ensure that the quality of service is as you expect. Upload and download bandwidth of your broadband connection is important for ensuring good quality and reliable VoIP calls.

    In most cases, a normal VoIP telephone call will use around 90 kilobits per second.

    A Better Way to Connect

    If, however, you use a dial-up connection then this may not provide sufficient bandwidth to enable reliable VoIP telephony. If you are connected to the Internet via cable or a DSL connection and you are having problems, such as stuttering, with your VoIP telephony then you may wish to check the terms of your broadband contract to check that your ISP is not performing traffic-shaping or throttling of VoIP services on your line. In such situations, it may be worth investing in a USB headset, with a microphone, that allows you and the other party to hear each other more clearly.

    If the results of your tests are positive, and you wish to keep telephone on your Mac for the purposes of making receiving telephone calls, then you may wish to consider a couple of settings to ensure the telephone App runs automatically when you turn on your Mac. The easiest way to do this is to drag the telephone from the applications folder onto the dock.

    Then secondary-click, or control-click, the mouse on the Telephone App icon. In the menu select Options and then select Keep In Dock. Repeat the process and select Open At Login. You can use your new landline number on your business cards, on your website, in your email signature and pass it on to your business contacts. If you work away from home and you have a reliable broadband connection, you will be able to make and receive telephone calls on your landline number, regardless of location. Enjoy this tip? Subscribe to the OSXDaily newsletter to get more of our great Apple tips, tricks, and important news delivered to your inbox!

    Enter your email address below:. Described method works on idevices iPhone 4s and above. For iPhone 4 you still need to be connected to wifi before initiating FaceTime Audio call. Name required. Mail will not be published required.

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