Posts Tagged ‘VoIP’

Inexpensive Holiday Calls

Friday, December 25th, 2009

If you’ve got friends and family around the world that you’d like to call on Christmas Day, or perhaps to wish a happy new year, you’ll want to look into some calling options that utilize internet speed.

Skype  is a favorite of people all across the globe.  Download their free software and enjoy free calls, video calls and instant messaging over the internet. Plus great value calls to phones anywhere in the world. If you are calling someone who also has Skype on their computer, the call is free. If you’ve got webcams connected with your Skype account, you can see each other for free!  Calling to phones is inexpensive, and you can even use the software from some mobile phones.  This blogger has found Skype to be consistently reliable and a great way to keep in touch with loved ones the world over. You can download it now and be making calls within minutes!

Another way to make inexpensive calls over the internet is by using Voice Over Internet Protocol, or VoIP. Sites like MyVoIPprovider.com have reviews of a number of service providers.  There is a small piece of hardware to buy, but once it’s done, you can make inexpensive calls over the internet—often using a real phone rather than your computer’s microphone or headset.  That being said, Skype also offers a Skype phone and other hardware if this is something that interests you.

Vonage is a well-known VoIP service provider.  For a reasonable monthly fee you can make phone calls from a phone using your internet connection for much less than a standard phone line would cost. This is especially true of long distance calls. And now they’re offering unlimited international calling using your smartphone over your cellular or WiFi connection to over 60 countries!

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Digital Literacy Depends on Internet Speed

Friday, October 9th, 2009

Continuing with the reasons that Americans need access to high-speed internet, we’ll look at some of the benefits of a digitally literate society–with information from Speed Matters.org .

Digital literacy refers to the skills involved with using a computer and being able to navigate the Internet, which can be extremely beneficial in today’s world.

For one thing, a digitally literate person is more attractive to prospective employers–in any field. As more services go online, the digitally versatile have an advantage over other job hunters, making them able to benefit from the growing field of information technology (IT) or be hired by more well-equipped and upscale companies. Digital skills apply to and can transfer across many professions, and even enhance a worker’s ability to apply for a job, or start and run a home-based business.

• Digitally literate students can do better in school because they can easily access the myriad of online resources about any subject. They can watch lecture videos online, access library databases and correspond with their own professors, or even experts in the field they’re studying.
The internet makes more of the world’s knowledge available, no matter where a student is studying.

• Digitally literate people save time by using internet speed to their advantage–paying bills, applying for jobs, doing their taxes and banking online. They also have the ability to be better informed about the world. Shopping online makes it possible to get products shipped directly to your doorstep, which allows people to make better buying decisions regarding price comparisons, and environmental and ethical considerations. They may also be able to keep in better touch with family and friends across the globe, thanks to social networking sites, VoIP phone products and webcams and YouTube.

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Internet Phone Calls While In Flight

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

In an earlier post, we saw that Skyping from the Sky was possible, if not encouraged, while on flying.  But USA Today  tells us that many other countries allow and even promote it, since they make money from it. 

U.S., Federal regulations prohibit in-flight cell phone use because they may interfere with flight operations and create congestion in ground cell towers. But with many airlines offering inflight Wi-Fi, the issue of Internet-based phone calls has become an issue. Perhaps because it is possible to access VoIP services through cell phones these days, which further blurs the line. 

A bill in Congress currently seeks a similar ban on all in-flight voice communications by passengers. While airlines in Europe, Asia and the Middle East allow calls and have even taken it a step further by introducing pay-by-minute cellphone service using satellites. There are two companies in the USA that offer in-flight Internet service to airlines: Chicago-based Aircell and California-based Row 44. Both companies say the airlines have asked that Internet-based phone calls be blocked.

Frederick St. Amour, a business development executive at Row 44 says travelers making Internet phone calls “create competition for bandwidth” that could result in slower speed for other passengers. But how many passengers at a time would be using the service, especially if airlines are charging for it? 

It may be just another illustration of the ways in which America is falling behind in technology. American companies seem resistant to change and would rather ban the freedom to talk with internet speed while flying at jet speed than find a way to provide the service. From cell phone technology to high speed internet, America is no longer a world leader, and the airlines certainly don’t seem to be doing much to move the US up in the rankings.

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Saving Money Online

Monday, September 7th, 2009

Britain’s BBC News program about technology called “Click” has an website that keeps you up to date on their stories.  One we thought might be useful in these challenging economic times is their article called “A hi-tech guide to saving money”. 

The article explains that there is lots of free software available online, offering many alternatives to paid programs. It is possible to find free anti-virus (avg.com), collaboration tools (mindmeister.com), project management (nozbe), file-transfer (Filezilla), blogging (wordpress) and media players (videolan).

We at Speedplexer know that Mozilla offers lots of free, open source programs that offer alternatives for internet browsers, e-mail  and the standard office-style programs.

The BBC Click article also says on the subject of software that can save you money, that you can use your high-speed internet connection to speak to people on the other side of the planet rather than via the old-fashioned phone. The technology in question is called Voice Over IP (VoIP) - the “IP” stands for Internet Protocol. Many of the services that use it are free if users call another person on that service. That can save quite a bit of money if you regularly have long conversations with friends or family abroad.

We at Speedplexer have used Skype and have found it to be quite useful, since you can also have video webcam chats with friends and family, and it’s just as free. 

And of course, the internet can always help you save money by giving you the means to research and do cost comparisons on items you need. Knowledge is power, and it’s available to you with internet speed!

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