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9th February 2010

Essentials On Errors And Omissions

Do you know what E&O or errors and omissions insurance is all about? Errors and omission is a type of insurance that covers your company or you individually from clients that deem you liable for a service that you or the company performed or catastrophically performed a service that have gone out wrong.

On behalf of lawyers, accountants, architects or engineers, this insurance may be called professional liability. No matter what it is called, this safeguards from the errors and omissions that you have made or what the client thinks that you have done.

The majority of errors and omissions (E&O) policies include judgments, settlements and defense expenses. Even if the accusations are found to be unjustified, a lot of money is needed to be able to defend the court case. These kinds of lawsuits are very capable of bankrupting a small company or an individual plus it has a lasting effect on the outcome of larger companies.

In cases like these, there will be a very big possibility that you or your company would be bankrupt. To cut a long story short, errors and omissions (E&O) coverage helps you survive these types of lawsuits.

Although people who are in advertising agencies or commercial printers, web hosting companies to wedding planners, people who render certain services for a fee should also get an E&O insurance. These people should not risk themselves or wait for the time when they are filed a lawsuit for not doing their jobs correctly. Generally, E&O insurance is recommended at the foundation of every insurance portfolio of a company. More often than not it is best to obtain the coverage prior to merchandise launch, or when you have customers.

Different companies or businesses who deal with a lot of people and customers should not have second doubts about getting E&O coverage. You do not have to be a genius to know the answer. Basically, we all make mistakes, no one is born perfect. Even the you top level employee would sooner or later make mistakes

If a wedding planner reserved the reception ball, the caterers, the flowers, the band, and the dancers on Feb 20 instead of Feb 23, and everyone shows up on the given date of the invitation card but on the wrong date, who gets to pay for that unwise mistake? If a moving company delivers the goods and some of these good were damaged due to carelessness, who gets to pay for the loss of the client?

Errors and omissions insurance protect you from these kinds of disasters. So be sure to obtain E&O insurance for your company or you individually.

Geroge Bay has worked with professionals in their fields to help prevent Errors and Omissions law suits. The right insurance is a big factor in helping to prevent costly law suits.

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9th February 2010

Cable TV Toes The Line Against Satellite TV

The market for televisions networks and providers is undergoing major change. Keeping up with the new developments in technology is huge stress for many of them. The costs that go with these changes are not small. It is hard to remember a time without the presence of cable TV, but the future may hold shaky ground for many in this industry as internal costs continue to increase while competition forces prices to consumers downward.

Cable used to be the only choice that people had. They could either be contented with the basic networks they got in with their antennas, or they could subscribe to cable. Some of the original cable networks and reformatted themselves to be available to everyone even without cable. The cable industry was the first ones to offer additional channels and niche networks.

The world was wonderful without competition. Then along came satellite. Cable providers everywhere now have some serious problems in keeping up with the other guy’s rates and package deals. The emerging technology has not helped cable at all in being able to reduce their own costs in research and development, and also in upgrading entire systems. With a rise in internal costs, and a decrease in revenue, it is just the beginning of the hard times ahead for cable.

Consumers are a demanding group of people. They have been putting increased pressure on cable providers to offer smaller channel bundles, or a la carte programming, in order to better serve people. This provides the ultimate in the way of consumer choice and control over the programming available in their homes. Cable companies have been in the past resistant to the idea because of technology limitations and increased costs for them in customer tracking.

Cable companies have long argued that to provide the smaller channel packages would be too costly. It would increase the amount of subscription tracking that they would have to do. That means more labor dollars that have to be spent. Furthermore, the technology, when the debate first came around, was not conducive to the added choices.

Networks are wanting to hike up their fees to get back some of what they have lost in production costs. The price of talent in front of the camera can be heavy burden for many to carry. Some that are very popular are putting cable companies in a very tight position, demanding more money or their channel goes away.

This appears to be a case of being careful what you wish for. Consumers may begin seeing smaller channel bundles, and even the ability to put together their own bundle as if ordering from a menu. That does not mean that costs will go down. These new options would be a saving grace for hard strapped providers that have continued to see their expenses rise and their revenues flat-line.

The cable TV industry appears to be at a crossroads. Where things go from here is anyone’s guess. A future without cable television seems very unlikely though.

Want to find out more about Satellite TV Deals, then visit our site on how to choose the best Dish Network Deals for your needs.

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8th February 2010

Affiliate Marketing Explained

Everybody, everywhere are always looking for new and better ways to get money from the larger online industries, this way everyone starts getting money and not just the guru’s who already have the money.

While many people are turning to the internet to supplement there income, finding available businesses is next to impossible, because the guru’s have sucked up all the best online income opportunities.

However there is one industry that is already in existence, helping people to get into the online business industry from everywhere on the planet, which is constantly growing and is always in need of extra people, the online business that is always looking for new people is called affiliate marketing.

The way these programs work is by rewarding people who have there own sites for opting to advertise products on there sites in order to earn money from every sale.

The affiliates are paid on a commission basis; there are no monies paid to the affiliate just for placing the ads on there site. In order for affiliates to be paid, they need to send people to the owners site and these people must purchase the program or product.

Affiliate marketing has become one of the largest industries online for normal people to earn money from. With the simplicity of this program, it is one of the smoothest running programs online and it is mutually profitable for both the marketer and the owner of the affiliate program.

Industries and internal sectors have thrived thanks in part to their involvement in an affiliate program. The affiliate marketing industry is a cost-effective way for small and large companies alike to reach out and expand their zone of influence.

Online sports betting is a form of gaming that has been revolutionized since being introduced to the unrestricted realm of the Internet. By taking advantage of affiliate marketing, the advertisements and banner are now on thousands of websites all over the internet.

The benefits are not just for the large companies, affiliate marketing has become a way for millions of people to earn extra money online. When it comes to sports betting, affiliate marketers have been having a huge success by promoting this highly additive program. Individual affiliates can earn anywhere up to 35% of the money generated by each of the players that they introduce.

With this revenue lasting for the entire lifetime of a players on the site, this creates an almost unlimited income potential, especially if the affiliate continues to refer more and more people, akin to that of the industry whom they represent.

With the affiliate marketer and the affiliate program owner working together, to help the other part of the circle to be profitable, as long a one is succeeding the other will succeed. This affiliate program has become a monster in the world of online business and earning.

One of the great things about becoming an affiliate marketer is that you don’t need a college degree, or any experience either, if you want to become an affiliate all you need is your own website or blog and be willing to advertise programs for other people.

There are no strings attached, if you make a sale you get paid, this is why there are so many companies and regular people who are flocking to get started with the amazing opportunities that are in affiliate marketing.

Brian Tubbs works as an internet marketer full time. Find out more about Internet Business building at his website about: Starting An Internet Business.

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8th February 2010

Is There Such A Thing As Free VoIP Service?

When VoIP was first introduced over the Internet, most of the programs available offered free VoIP services. Ah, the good old days. Unfortunately, those days are gone and nowadays these services are no longer free; but are still offered at a very minimal monthly fee.

However, even after you’ve decided to purchase these VoIP services, you will still be amazed with the benefits and advantages that VoIP offers. Your calls are unlimited and you’re able to make long distance calls at no charge, but you have to pay the low monthly fee.

Don’t worry though as there are programs that still provide free VoIP services, among them are AdCalls and Skype. These two programs enable you to make calls using free VoIP programming.

With AdCalls, you can make calls to anyone in the USA and Canada at anytime on their home, business and cell phone free of charge. You are also able to call anyone in the world on their PC provided that they also download the AdCalls free calling dialer that can be found on their website.

Skype allows you to make a PC-to-PC call to another Skype user using a headphone and a microphone. All you have to do is download the free Skype software found on their website. This free VoIP service is only available for a PC-to-PC call and the person you want to contact would have to download the software too. If you want to call someone on their phone (SkypeOut) and receive a call from them (SkypeIn), you’d have to purchase their credits at a very cheap price.

Even as many people are choosing to utilize VoIP, it does have its disadvantages, one being the inability to call 911. The reason for this is that the call is made from your computer network instead of a landline phone. This makes it impossible for 911 to trace your call from the VoIP phone and to determine your address. When receiving your 911 calls, it is also impossible for the dispatcher to receive any kind of information on your location.

This is what has made the FCC come up with new rulings. Among the options given were to register with 911, calling 911 and giving them your vital information and location immediately, or having a landline phone or cell phone with you at all times in case of any emergencies. The latter could be the best solution in having and enjoying the benefits of both services.

VoIP is fast gaining popularity and big corporations like Verizon and AOL are all offering VoIP packages. Free VoIP is the most popular choice, though nowadays it is getting more and more difficult to find one. For users who are still not ready or who feel uncomfortable with switching to VoIP, they still have the option of using instant messaging services, for example Yahoo Messenger.

We cannot deny the fact that VoIP has many benefits and plus points that are not available with your typical landline or cell phones. Some of these advantages include the ability to have conversations with multiple users at one time, having the ease of standard features that normally come with your regular landline phones together with your VoIP packages, as well as the option of unlimited talk time (some even worldwide).

As VoIP progresses everyday and with more and more people welcoming the idea of being able to combine all their telecommunications needs like audio, video, data, e-mail, and web services into a single program, many new products will be developed to continuously equip VoIP users with the best tools to enjoy all of VoIP’s benefits.

To find out more about free VoIP , feel free to visit his site and discover how much everyone can benefit from this revolutionary free voip technology.

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8th February 2010

The Panasonic Viera TX-P42V10 – An Initial Review

The Panasonic TX-P42V10 is a great new option in the plasma television market. This plasma television is moderately priced and reasonable quality as well. This plasma television is a good option for those looking to upgrade or for first time plasma buyers. This television is perfect for a variety of needs, but not great for people who want to watch Blu-ray or play video games.

This new Panasonic model has improved picture and sound quality over previous models. The Panasonic:TX-P42V10 creates a unique home viewing experience for sports and DVDs as well as HD television viewing. Plasma televisions have received mixes reviews from buyers in the past, but new models are getting much better feedback. This plasma screen television has a large screen that further enhances the viewing experience.

The Panasonic TX-P42V10 is customizable to your needs and can handle many different viewing needs. Panasonic has made much progress in providing higher quality pictures on the plasma screen. The sound has also been improved to match the picture quality. This is a great choice for a home theater setting.

The Panasonic TX-P42V10 may not be the best for gaming. Video games normally do not work best on plasma televisions. There have been a few buyers who have complained that Blu-ray does not play right and does not look as good as it should. This television looks better the bigger the screen and works best for television, sports, and DVD viewing.

This television has features that will make everyone happy. Memory card slots make it easy to share digital video and pictures with guests and HD compatibility makes more viewing options available to you. The Panasonic TX-P42V10 costs anywhere between $2000. 00 and $2200. 00 and with its large screen it is a great choice for those desiring quality and value.

This plasma screen television may not be right for those who play video games or watch Blu-ray, but it is a great and lovely TV for movie buffs and sports fans. This would make any sports fan’s holiday or birthday a happy one. This would be a difficult gift to ever forget. If you give this a s a gift this year, good luck outdoing it next year. These plasma screen televisions are also simple to find at online stores. There are many benefits to buying online.

If you are looking for a new plasma screen TV it is best to see the options in person before buying. Local stores often have different brands on display that you can look at. This is a great way to see which television is best for you. It is also a good idea to take a look at consumer rating in magazines and on the Internet. A bit of research can help you to choose the television you are going to be happiest with.

Take a look at a few Panasonic models as well as a few other models. See what options each offers and you will be happy with the TV you decide on. A few simple steps to making the right decision and you will be sitting in your favorite chair, enjoying your plasma screen TV in no time.

Best Price for the Panasonic TX-P42V10 in the UK at Panasonic TX-P42V10 and Panasonic TX-P42V10 Review

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8th February 2010

How To Choose A High Speed Internet For Your Company

I don’t think you need me to tell you that dial up is not the best way to go when looking for a internet connection for your company. Dial up is not just horrible and annoying for family usage, but it can end up costing a company a good chunk of money because they could not close some deals on time. When you are finished reading this article, you will learn how to choose a high speed internet that is perfect for you and your business.

1-Internet through cable

Do you remember when cable use to be the best way to get high speed internet? After that, all the popular things such as satellite and DSL started to come out. But Comcast has stepped up and now the cable high speed internet is back in the picture. To give you an example of how fast the cable connection can be, you can get up to 2.0 Mbps, if you don’t know what this means, it means that you will get an internet that is about 40 times faster than dial up. Sure, this might not be as fast as the other high speed internet options (although it isn’t far behind) but if you want to save some money while using a fast internet, this is the way to go.

2-High speed internet through the sky

Satellite internet has really started to become popular within the past four years. The reason it has become so popular is because it is currently the fastest internet that is available. If you are a company who will be uploading stuff to the internet then this is probably the way to go because it has a very high upload speed. If you are using the internet for just downloading then this may be a waste of money.

3-The popular DSL

If you have never heard of DSL by now then I have no idea where you have been. The reason DSL became so popular so fast is because it is a high speed internet that is actually affordable. DSL has an insane download speed, but they did not put too much focus on their upload speed which means you will have trouble putting stuff on the internet.

If you are looking for a Business High Speed Internet then all you need to do is check out http://BusinessHighSpeedInternet.info to learn more about choosing the right internet.

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8th February 2010

The Dangers of Peer-to-Peer Systems

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) systems do not operate on secure lines, thus providing a conduit for hackers to enter a network or computer, access personal and confidential information, as well as deploy viruses or worms. Users of P2P systems are prime targets and/or launching points for malicious hacker attacks simply because it requires downloading and sharing electronic files or programs, not to mention usage on publicly open and interpretable industry standard protocols and industry standard codec.

A Staff Report submitted by the Government Reform Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives (May 2003), entitled “File-Sharing Programs and Peer-to-Peer Networks – Privacy and Security Risks”, stated that users of these programs have inadvertently made their personal information available to other users. “A search of one P2P network found at least 2,500 Microsoft Money backup files, which stores the users’ personal financial records, available for download.”

Personal information includes tax returns containing you name, address, and social security numbers of not only you, but your spouse and dependents, financial information such as income and investments, medical records, business files such as contracts and personnel evaluations, and attorney-client communications, to name a few.

Spyware and adware programs are frequently bundled into P2P file-sharing software. These programs collect personal information for marketers and provide access to your computer by malicious hackers. In an article located on Vnunet.com entitled “Users Fume at Grokster ‘Drive-by Download’”, these two programs “can redirect a user’s homepage to a different website, install a new browser toolbar, insert entries into the users’ browser bookmark list, reinstall itself after uninstallation, and ultimately crash a user’s system.”

Another grave concern for both individuals and businesses when using P2P software is unknowingly having your computer used as a supernode. A supernode occurs when your computer is arbitrarily assigned as a hub.

When you are running the software for P2P services, your computer’s disk space, bandwidth, and processing power are used to help other users on the same system operate their software more efficiently because of their own network or firewall constraints.

Not only can this overload systems or networks with excessive data, disk space, and network bandwidth, unscrupulous hackers can also insert arbitrary code in each supernode’s address space or crash all supernodes.

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) systems such as Skype operate by taking bandwidth (information carrying capacity) from customers on their service to assist other customers using their service – analogous to a symbiotic relationship. The tools that enable them to accomplish this are bundled in the software their customers download to access their VoIP service.

Dee Scrip available only at http://www.whypay4calls.com/gtp/to.pl?l=ART-02. This article is supported by VoIP Software and voip technologies

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8th February 2010

The Most Notable Five Benefits Of IP Phones

Communication and interaction has become a vital thing in almost every field of life. Verbal communication is the easiest and most attractive means of communication. With the advancement in technology, many devices are made for exchanging ideas through voice. IP phone is one such device. There are many synonyms of IP phones such as VoIP telephones, sip telephones, and soft phones.

An IP phone works on Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communication channel. It needs internet connection to work, and does not have any link to public switched telephone network. The calls can be made at any part around the globe from a computer over the internet. IP phones convert voice into digital signals, and vice versa. It looks pretty much like an ordinary phone, or a cordless phone, but it only works when it is connected to sound card of the personal computer, or laptop.

The hardware components required for receiving, and delivering voice messages through the IP phone are speaker, earphone, or microphone. For the exchange of voice, and digital messages, it has ADC, and DAC converter. The other necessary parts required are the general-purpose processor, Ethernet network hardware, and voice engines. Batteries and direct current sources are the generally used power sources for this. There is no need of separate wiring.

There is a direct connection of the IP phone with the router. Once you are connected with the router, then you are connected with the information-sharing network. All this is done with the help of the voice over internet protocol software. This software is very easily available; it can either be downloaded free, or can be bought for a small amount of money. With the help of an ATA adapter, you can easily convert an ordinary phone into an IP phone. The adapter works by taking the simple analogue signal, and converts it into the digital signal for its provision to the other end, over the internet.

It provides many alluring features, including many business tools, call management services and other tools, as per the communication needs. It provides call forwarding, call waiting, local number portability, call blocking, FAX, three way calling, Last number re-dial and many other services. It keeps the complete record of caller ID, contact list and the voice mails.

The reason of popularity of IP phones is its convenience to call at any part of the world. They are perfect means of communication with the friends and family members over the internet channel. The calls between computers are free, but you have to pay for calls made on landlines, or mobiles, however, the rates are very low as compared to calling from regular phones. For making calls you only need an internet connection from any internet service provider (ISP).

The other added advantage of the IP phone is that you can establish conference calls through which, you can invite a number of friends and family members to talk, and hear each other simultaneously. This is a great time saving, and convenient feature, which is not available on ordinary phones. The transmission over this line is established through compressed bandwidth.

The portability feature outclasses this telephone, and is the main reason for its popularity. You can take these phones to any place; you just need an internet connection to connect this phone to your office, or any private network. The call diverting, and auto-attendant features enable you to work from home or at any remote location across the globe.

So, IP phone technology is a revolutionary technology that has all the qualities of a sophisticated phone system. It makes your small business impressive and your life easier than ever before.

To buy and view wide range of Cisco IP Phones visit the website.

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8th February 2010

Affordable Conferencing For Your Business

Business has gone global and there’s no stopping it! Teleconferencing is beginning to become the wave of the future, as more and more people are busy working from home or running their own home business. With our diversity of locations, communication needs have demanded classy solutions. This made teleconferencing products both more popular and more available. You may have never given teleconferences a thought before, but end up now looking into available options.

Teleconferencing allows two or more folk to talk live thru a telephone. A teleconference permits folks who are thousands of miles apart to attach. They can allow you to take part in a work conference call from home or to hold your own teleconference with many people.

There are numerous ways to use teleconferencing services. You can select either to buy your own appliances or to pay for the employment of equipment through a teleconferencing provider. There are benefits and drawbacks to both options. Either way, you’ll be able to contact 2 from two to thousands of other people at the same time, depending on your service.

If you will be making multi-person calls on a regular basis, you may want to consider a company that has monthly agreements or service contracts. When your conferences include international callers, choosing a service which allows toll free dialing might be obligatory. Some other things you may wish to ask for is online management of your calls, e-mail invites and responses, real time controls to manage the call even though it is being made, and consumer support.

In fact, a normal teleconference today actually licenses folk to be in a meeting without physically being there. This means that thru a standard teleconference someone will be able to make reports, present concepts, pitch concepts and so much more. How is this possible? The internet, as you will know, allows people to really share different sorts of information. By using the internet to share diverse documents and paperwork, people can make the actual appearance of an individual nonessential.

One resource that the teleconference saves is time. During the past, people had to rush for a morning meeting. They needed to take the correct amount of time to prepare their show materials and their reports. In a teleconference, people may be able to share the required info straight from their PCs. This means that people need not waste time on print-outs and on switching on other machines required for presentation.

The major benefit of teleconferencing is the reduction of communication costs. The savings come because folk do not need to travel miles to meet with each other anymore. In fact, according to statistical data, teleconferencing can cut down business travel-related expenses by around thirty % each year. That might translate to billions of dollars!

If you would like to learn more about business teleconferencing please visit my sites: businessteleconferencing.net and here.

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8th February 2010

VoIP Service – 9 Facts You Need To Know

VoIP Service is one of the hottest technologies on the internet today. And, unlike so many other internet services, VoIP service – in place of a standard telephone service – actually provides real value to the user.

So what exactly is Voice over IP (VoIP)?

Voice over Internet Protocol. Simply the ability to transmit Voice traffic (an analog conversation) over the internet (a packet based protocol or data conduit). This is done much the way music is digitized when converted to MP3.

You have probably heard of Voice over IP or VoIP before, and maybe even used it, but check your knowledge against this list of 9 need to know facts:

* VoIP is an exciting new technology, but it’s not yet perfected * Skype, and now Google Talk, are the easiest ways to get started * Some VoIP Service companies that are here today will be gone tomorrow * A VoIP phone is only as reliable as your broadband internet connection * You don’t want to rely on a VoIP phone line for 911! * VoIP phone service does not carry the same legal protections as a landline * Low introductory prices for VoIP service will likely increase later, maybe a lot * Long distance is getting cheaper all the time, removing some incentive for VoIP * VoIP is the future, and merits looking into

VoIP is exciting, but not perfect

We all love something for nothing, but have you ever heard the phrase “There’s no such thing as a free lunch?” Sure you have. With Voice over IP, keep in mind that it is a relatively new and developing technology, and the “price” can be lack of quality.

The internet is designed to pass data packets. The ability to resend packets that are lost in transmission is built in to the way the internet works. This works great with data packets – keep resending until the recipient gets it or a predetermined timeout factor.

If a packet is lost with voice, however, how does the person speaking know to stop talking until the packet arrives at the other end? Getting the picture? Think early days of cell phones (depending on where you’re at you might be thinking of cell phones today!).

Anyone who has used VoIP, and you probably have been on the receiving end of a VoIP call whether you knew it or not, knows that drop outs and dropped calls do happen. Many businesses are beginning to use VoIP to save money on long distance. Next time you receive a call from a business and the line quality “waffles” a bit, you are probably on a VoIP call.

Skype (or Google Talk) is a must for anyone interested in VoIP

You simply MUST checkout this technology. It primarily turns your computer, with a microphone and speakers (preferably a headset), into a telephone. When you login to Skype, Skype servers can then connect others to you automatically when they “dial” your username.

You can call any other Skype user, who is online, for free. With inexpensive minute packages, you can call any phone number in the world.

WIFI enabled cell phones even have the ability to make skype phone calls right from the phone’s menu. This saves paid minutes for other calls and allows international calling to be free.

I know several businesses with employees scattered around the world who keep everyone in touch via free skype calls.

What VoIP companies will be around for the long haul?

Not all VoIP companies are like Vonage, and Vonage is… well, have you noticed that the Vonage stock IPO (initial public offering) was less than well received, with the price of the stock quickly falling 50% and more?

Vonage is probably the best known VoIP company, and if you prowl the internet chat rooms and newsgroups you will see an awful lot of complaints about dropped calls and other quality and service issues. The company may ultimately get the kinks worked out and improve their reputation, but only time will tell.

Many other VoIP companies may not last very long. Don’t you kind of wonder about a business that pays up to $200 for a residential VoIP Service referral, as long as the referral stays a $20/month customer for at least two months? I know of one such company. Scary.

Not a big deal if you are just playing around with VoIP on a second phone line and trying to save a little on long distance. But what happens to number portability when the company that has your number no longer answers their phone?

Reliability of the Internet

With Voice over IP, don’t forget what IP stands for – Internet Protocol. Is your internet service ever down, or sloooow? Guess what that does to your VoIP service; that’s right, what service!

Even if you have the most reliable ISP or Internet Service Provider, the VoIP call needs to get to the other end after being properly routed everywhere in between. If any part of the path fails and cannot quickly redirect, your call is either dropped or nonexistent in the first place.

In order for VoIP service to work well, the entire network must support something known as QoS, which stands for Quality of Service. Problem is, not every path on the internet supports QoS, at least not yet.

Just like a chain, a Voice over IP phone call is only as good as its weakest link.

And that leads right into the next point..

Do NOT rely on a VoIP phone line for 911

Now I know there are those of you who are young, single and carefree who maybe have never had to call 911 in your life and don’t expect to have to.

But it’s not just seniors and families with children who have medical emergencies, whether it be for someone who lives in that residence or a visitor.

What about fire? What if you have to call the Police?

* Do you ever want to pick up the phone to dial 911 and not get an immediate dial tone? * Do you ever want to have to redial because the call was dropped? * Do you ever want to get routed to the wrong 911 dispatcher? Or have the dispatcher not get your correct address on their screen?

Emergency 911 service is yet to be available with many Voice over IP services in most areas of the United States. Some providers in fact will only let you make OUTBOUND calls from your home because of this (they want you to keep a land line for now).

For those where it does work it depends on the correct data being entered in their master database somewhere and for the routing algorithms to work correctly for your call to get to the correct 911 emergency call center.

Traditional landlines have a variety of legal protections, but not VoIP phone service

With the current attitude of the US Government to keep chipping away at the Consitution in the name of anti-terrorism, I don’t expect that many, if any, legal protections will be extended to VoIP. Certainly none that will protect you from Uncle Sam that’s for sure. And YES, VoIP calls can be traced, even over encrypted connections!

Don’t be sucked in by low introductory rates

We all know how it works. 3, 6, 12 months at a low price, then huge increase once they’ve got you hooked. Companies like Vonage started out with rates around $50/month. Now they offer intro rates of $20 – $30/month.

You know where they want to go with those rates. Up. The higher the better for them. Quite possibly back toward $50/month.

The only thing that will prevent that from happening is competition. But in order for competition to keep prices down, the customer, that’s you, have to be willing to endure the inconvenience of jumping ship. That’s a task certain to be more painful if you try to take your phone number with you.

Can you count on the VoIP service provider to make it easy for you to switch to one of their competitors? Can you spell “Busy Signal”? Sure you can. You’ve been there before. It’s not like being able to walk in the office of your local phone company where you can speak to someone in person!.

And for $20 – $50/month, you can buy a lot of long distance these days; which leads me to the next item..

Long distance just keeps getting cheaper

If your primary reason for giving up the quality and reliability of a land line is to get free long distance, your reason is getting smaller every day.

Why? Long distance rates are coming down. Between competition and the fact that telecommunications companies are themselves using Voice over IP to route long distance traffic. The difference, though, is that telecoms use dedicated networks with high dollar equipment to eliminate the dropped calls and to keep the quality of the call in line with what their customers expect.

Many traditional phone customers are being offered unlimited calling packages now. And who doesn’t have some spare minutes on their cell phone package to use for a long distance call now and then? The attractiveness of free calling via a VoIP service is diminishing daily.

Conclusion: The future of VoIP

Bottom line? Voice over IP is here to stay. It is the future. For those who feel like being a pioneer, new technology can be fun. Just remember what can happen to pioneers, they get arrows in their back!

If you fancy the latest in technology, take Voice over IP for a test drive, I am.

But when I have a really important call, or I don’t want to make a bad impression or I’m calling someone older who doesn’t hear so well any more – I pick up a land line, dial 1+ the number and show some respect for the person on the other end of the line.

For more information about Voice over IP and other Windows and Computer issues, visit the author’s website at http://www.FreeComputerConsultant.com, or our article distributor VoiP service

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