Traveling with VoIP
One of the truly remarkable benefits of a VoIP service is its portability. I have taken advantage of this on many occasions, and have stretched portability to the limits!
A few months ago my family and I took our annual trip to East Africa to visit family and friends. I took my ATA/Router with me on the off chance that plugging it in to my former employer's broadband connection in their office would bring me some type of connectivity. I didn't hold much hope for this as I knew that they didn't have a huge pipeline to the Internet, and after all, we were going to be 8,000 miles away.
However, once there and plugged-in, I was astonished to hear the familiar dial tone! I tried to make a call to my brother and he was equally astonished when his caller ID revealed that I wasn't in East Africa at all, but at home. He answered the phone by saying, "Hey! What are you doing home so early?" I told him that I wasn't at home, but in an office on the other side of the globe! As a test, I had him call me back and was thrilled when the phone rang loud and clear.
I have been working and traveling to East Africa for most of the past 20 years and have always had to deal with the headache and expense of communication with the States. It's amazing to me that in this day and age I can now communicate with my people stateside at zero expense and little headache, and they can do the same with me.
VoIP has many benefits, and this is just one. If you travel domestically or internationally, and anticipate a broadband connection on the far side, take your ATA or ATA/Router with you! It will save you money and allow you to call just as you do now - people will never know where you are!
Todd Schaffer
Mconnect Customer Service
www.mconnectinc.com
posted by Mconnect at
12:21 PM
6 Comments:
Are you telling me that I can unplug my VoIP router and put it in my suitcase, travel, and once at my destination I can plug it into any ethernet connection that has access to the internet anywhere - and I'll have my home phone number and anyone can call me as if I were still at home... that doesn't seem possible!
January 7, 2008 2:29 PM
VoIP Sceptic,
Yes you are correct. VoIP is the kind of technology that you can take anywhere and everywhere. All you need for the service to work is the VoIP adapter or router and a high-speed internet connection. As long as the internet service provider has not blocked the connection, you can just plug your VoIP equipment in and start using the service no matter where you are located.
I hope that answers your question.
January 7, 2008 4:02 PM
So if I'm in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, and I find a broadband connection that is suitable for VoIP, I can make a call and whoever I call will think I'm at home? I can be in Katmandu, Timbuktu, Honolulu? Can that be true?
January 7, 2008 4:20 PM
VoIP Sceptic,
Yes, again that is correct. No matter where you are in the world, as long as there is a high-speed internet connection that is not blocked by an internet service provider for VoIP calls, you can take your VoIP equipment, connect to that high-speed connection, and you will able to make calls anywhere and everywhere.
Hope this answers your question.
January 8, 2008 10:12 AM
I am impressed with the transportability of VoIP. But what kind of phone do you need to make all this possible?
January 23, 2008 9:36 PM
Curious,
That's a great question. You can use any regular telephone or SIP(Session Initiated Protocol) based telephone. That means that you can use the same phone that you used for your regular landline service or you can use a phone that is made specifically for VoIP. The real question though, is what equipment do you need to use in addition to your phone? All you need to run VoIP for a residential service besides a high speed internet connection is an ATA(Analog Telephone Adapter)if you already have a router, or an ATA/Router if you don't have a router.
Hope this answers your question.
January 24, 2008 8:51 AM
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