How does it work? Just
fine! Here's how:
Method 1: Using your current phone
To make a voice over IP phone call with our
VoIP program, you pick up your current phone, dial the number
you want, and speak when the phone is answered. Does that sound
familiar? It's just the same as you do now, with the following
differences:
- technical: your call is now going
via the internet rather than down a "landline". If
you want to know what is happening "under the bonnet",
read more about "SIP" below.
- financial: calls to other subscribers
are free, and much less to non subscribers.
To get started, here's all you have to do:
Take advantage of our time-limited offer
to get a free "ATA" Phone Adapter (worth over £50).
Just plug in the power supply, plug in your existing phone, and
connect the ATA to your broadband line. The ATA is "plug
and play" and configures itself automatically. Within a few
minutes, you'll hear a dial tone, and can start calling. Simple!
Method 2: Feature phones
Our VoIP phones
can be linked with your computer so you can use computer address
books to maintain your phone directory. We also have an internet
videophone available for the
service, so you can see friends and family while you talk, and
they can see you.
So, what is SIP?
It is the "Session Initiation Protocol",
which was established in the 90's, for purposes such as inviting
people to view multicast sessions such as space shuttle launches
over the M-Bone, the Internet's multimedia channel.
Like the Hyper Text Markup Protocol ("HTML")
on which it is modelled, SIP defines how equipment such as computers,
phones and mobile phones can communicate with each other. HTML
made the internet possible, and SIP is forecast to revolutionise
telecoms: traditional telecoms required expensive, centralised
switching equipment, whereas by moving control out to SIP enabled
end-points (SIP phones or PC clients), SIP enables lower cost
and more rapid development.
As a signalling protocol which is certified
by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), SIP sets
up the communications sessions, whether these be phone calls,
video, games, instant messaging or something else.
