Originally published June 22 2005
Columnist offers advice on how to use free VoIP service
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Steve Bass, columnist for PC World, told people about Skype, a free Voice Over Internet Protocol, in his column last week, and, due to popular response, offers more tips on how to use the internet phone service in this week's installment.
That happened a couple of weeks ago when I told you about my experience with Skype, a freebie for chatting with friends over the Internet.
Some of you wanted to hear more about the hardware, others were curious to know if Skype always works, and many asked about workarounds for 911 emergency-call hassles.
One thing I get tired of doing is crawling under the desk to connect my headset to the PC's sound card whenever I want to make an Internet call.
The one I tried is Logitech's mouthful--the Premium USB 300 Stereo Digital PC Headset.
I've always been impressed with the sound and construction of Plantronics' products.
You might have noticed hearing your voice in the handset while talking on a landline or cell phone.
The solution is to skip the headphones; instead, plug a microphone into your PC's sound card and rely on your computer's speakers to hear the caller's voice.
BTW, in my July magazine column I mentioned the Actiontec Internet Phone Wizard, a gizmo--technically an Ethernet gateway device--that uses your landline or cordless phone to make Internet calls.
Fair warning: I haven't tried any of these; I'm mentioning them just to give you a sense that other devices exist.
For instance, SIP Phone offers free SIP to SIP calls.
(SIP stands for "Session Initiation Protocol," if you must know.)
While you're at it, watch a few streaming videos of our own Stephen Manes (along with Angela Gunn) talking about VoIP.
Stephen Manes talks about the problems you'll encounter with VoIP services such as BroadVoice, CallVantage, and Vonage.
The problem is that some VoIP services don't provide emergency dialing services; for example, one Vonage subscriber couldn't get access to the police during a home burglary.
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