(If you are one of those who always seem to miss a heartbeat seeing the enormous phone bills (local, long distance and international), then VoIP Phone Services may be the answer to your worries. Go ahead and discover its advantages...)

Gone are the days when you have to think twice before making a phone call from USA to India! The huge bills that glared back are almost things of past; your phone bills would no longer create that familiar hole in your pocket by the end of month. Thanks to the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phones, calling India from USA is like making a local call!

"Earlier we had to think twice before making a call home, it was quite expensive. Even my parents would get concerned and would keep down the phone after asking few questions. But now things have changed. We talk for hours. I have bought a VoIP for my parents and I have one with me. We have Internet connections here and back home in India, and thanks to the technology-talking is never a problem now,' said Nitin Das.

How does it work?

Technically speaking VoIP is a method for taking analog audio signals (which can be the voice you normally hear over the phone) and turning them into digital data to be transmitted over the Internet. The Internet-based phone systems, convert voices to digits, put those digits in "packets" and route the packets over the Internet (packets from many calls can run on the same line, and they are compressed); this means less usage of bandwidth, hence making VoIP a cheaper option than the traditional phone services.

VoIP runs on several different types of infrastructure, and there are three ways you can use it. You can either connect using your regular phone and an adapter, a special internet phone, or download software and use your computer.

In case of PC-to-PC calls, you require- PCs at one or both ends, VoIP enabling software running on the computers, a microphone, a headset and speakers. The software can vary from your basic Instant Messaging (IM) software of MSN, Yahoo! or Google to specialized VoIP software for companies like Skype. For ease of use, one can pick up a VoIP-enabled handset; doing away with the complexity of using mike, speaker and headsets.

On basis of popularity, the current market leader in the standalone VoIP services is Vonage; whereas Skype rules when it comes to software based service.

Growing Usage:

The general perception among the people who had never used VoIP phones is that installing a VoIP system is a cumbersome and expensive process and may result in poor quality of calls; but that's not the case.

'It is neither very expensive nor difficult to put up the phones. All you need is good Internet connection at both the ends, and the VoIP phones, which are not that expensive. After that, you can talk without a worry, and even the clarity of the voice is very good. Earlier we designated few days for my parents and few days for my in-laws, after all it was expensive; but after we took up the connections, we talk endlessly,' explained Amit Gupta.

There are many options available in market, which can easily help you choose accordingly. Most of the companies offer their services two way- either free or paid; depending on your requirement, you can choose the service. Some of the VoIP providers with good services and economical are Vonage, SunRocket, Lingo, Voice Provider, Earthlink and Packet 8 etc.

But whatever services or company you choose, it all spells financial gains for the customers. In fact, according to the latest market studies, VoIP helps in saving. Consider this, on an average if you spend $60-100 for your local, long-distance, international bills (not even touching the mobile bills), a VoIP service can help you bring down the phone bill 25-30 per cent.

The value added features

One of the most attractive features of VoIP is the ability to make free calls; and many a times even the VoIP international phone calls are free. In addition, there are other value added features like caller ID, call transfer, call waiting, repeat dial, return call, three-way calling forwarding, messages systems, etc., (available free or at a very nominal cost) which make it a worthwhile proposition.

Other value-added service, which VoIP provides is the "virtual phone number" and toll-free numbers. The virtual phone number (provided at the time of ordering the service) can eliminate long distance charges to friends and family who want to call you. One can order a second phone number in a distant city; and when your family member calls from that city, they can dial that number and it will be a local call for them (which means free!).

In addition, there also advanced call-filtering options like forward the call to a particular number, send the call directly to voicemail, give the caller a busy signal, play a "not-in-service" message or send the caller to a funny rejection hotline (so if you get a call from your mother-in-law or an uncle you do not like, you can use the appropriate option to let them know your mind). But of course, different companies offer different options and prices. So it would be a good idea to do some research and pick up the plan that suits you best.

Popularity among the Indians

According to a market study, more than 50 per cent of all international long distance calls from India are made over the Internet. In addition, India is the second largest market for VoIP services in Asia after China.

The market is expected to grow; and higher PC penetration and broadband availability are the two major factors that will drive the growth of VoIP in India. So, despite the regulation, bandwidth problems and at times the Quality of service (QoS) issues, VoIP is still something, which is going to gain an even greater momentum in the coming years.

For people who plan to take the service to India from USA, the options range from Vonage, ipvaani, Lingo, Base Telecom, Primus etc. In addition, the increasing competition between the broadband providers in India like Airtel Broadband, MTNL Tri Band ADSL services, BSNL, Satyam, Tata Connect, Hathway, Seven Stars and other local providers etc., is only good news for the Indian users.

But presently, according to many Indian users, MTNL and AirTel rules the roost. One of the advantages with MTNL is that one doesn't have to worry about cable fault or switches going bad between your home and local operator. Another advantage is the readiness of the service, which can be available in 2-3 days, besides the low cost factor.

Concerns with the service:

The common concerns or issues arising with the use of the service for NRIs or their parents in India are - blocking of the ports, switching from analog to digital, modem or router compatibility or trying to use the service as a 'business usage' etc.

Another concern is that if there is a power outage and the modem goes dead, it results in the VoIP phone lines going dead.

In addition, there is another big misconception in India about VoIP-many people believe it is illegal. However, that's not the case. The Indian Government deregulated Internet telephony three years back Currently, the Department of Telecom (DoT) allows IP telephony within a Closed User Group (CUG), if the call is: terminating on numbers outside India or between two computers or SIP devices.

Despite these minor concerns and issues, VoIP is growing at a fast rate. In fact, majority of the Indian users in USA have started using it a mode to talk with their parents and friends in India.

Though most of the users were earlier apprehensive and had concerns about how well would be the clarity and whether they would end up spending more money than they presumed; but once they started using it, everything turned out much better than they expected.

'It was a new technology and most of my friends initially shot me down. But I thought why not try it? I did and the amount of money I saved was amazing. Now, I do not have to search for cost effective calling cards or anything; the VoIP phones are real savers. Even my friends are converts now and sing praises,' said Saurabh Pant, who recently installed a phone to talk to his parents in Delhi.

Conclusion:

To make the best use of your money, try understanding whether you want to use VoIP as the only phone service, what package are you interested in (national/international), price the company's QoS and reliability. If possible try getting it for a trial period.

These phones and the associated services have no doubt made talking easy. And its popularity would increase even more, as more houses in India gets Internet connection. After all who would want to use calling cards or get phone services from normal telecom companies, if you can talk for hours with people at home and that too at such nominal price?

Just as Nitin said, 'Nowadays, we do not miss home that much. Anytime we miss our parents or friends, we just pick up the phone and talk for hours. We talk as if we are home!'