Internet phone service, broadband phone service, IP phone service and digital phone service are all terms that are commonly used to describe VoIP. Voice Over Internet Protocol is a technology that makes it possible for telephone calls to be made over the internet.

Unlike traditional land-line service, internet phone service does not rely on the public switched telephone network (PSTN) that telephone companies use; it uses a broadband internet connection to route calls over the World Wide Web. Broadband phone service is unbelievably cheap because there are no high phone company fees involved.

I was reading a time magazine article the other day and found that there is a thing called skype phones that was sweeping the internet. The two guys who started it sold their website to ebay and are now very rich because of it. What am I talking about? It is called voip or voice over internet protocal. It is not a new idea, making long distance calls over the internet for free, the rational being that the internet connections are done through local servers. They basically created a way to make free phone calls around the world with just a microphone and a speaker and some free downloadable software.

The implications are obvious, the first being that if you can connect a video phone to it, you can talk and see just about anyone anywhere in the world. There is a drawback, however, and that is that it is most easily used over a broad band connection. The bandwidth of video just does not justify clarity over a 56 k modem.

While there are a number of ways that VoIP is currently being used, most individual callers fall into one of three categories: ATA, IP Phones, and Computer-to-Computer.

ATA or Analog Telephone Adaptor, is the most common way of using VoIP. This adaptor actually allows you to hook up the phone, which is already in your house, to your computer, and then to your Internet connection. What the ATA does, is turn the analog signals your phone sends out into digital signals that can be sent over the Internet. Setting up this system is quite simple. It simply requires that you order an ATA, plug the cable from your phone (which would normally go into the wall socket) into the ATA, and then the ATA gets plugged into your computer, which is connected to the internet. Some ATAs include software that has to be installed on your computer before it is ready to be used, but basically it is quite a simple process.

Fads come and go. But when it comes to technology, every trend is a worthwhile experience.

Take the case of mobile phones. From the plain call and text features, the cell phone industry has definitely gone a long way.

Today, cell phones are made more innovative by applying technologically advanced applications such as GPS or Global Positioning System. Equipped with this remarkable device, cell phones can now operate beyond their basic functions.