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One of the first decisions you will have to make when setting up a VoIP system is your VoIP service provider, who will establish your actual VoIP connection. Luckily, VoIP providers are not covered by the legal restrictions that apply to phone companies, allowing them freedom to use cutting-edge technology to offer a virtually unlimited range of services. There are several VoIP providers competing for subscribers, and to a VoIP neophyte, choosing the best provider can be difficult. It is important to know where a particular subscriber stands in the market before signing up. Read on for a list of the most trusted VoIP service providers today.
Vonage 
Vonage leads the market in VoIP service and has the largest customer base in the United States. Operating in the US, Canada, and the United Kingdom, Vonage is known for fast, reliable connections and excellent tech support. Vonage offers subscription plans from $15 to $40 monthly, all of which allow calls to the US, Puerto Rico, and Canada. Payments are made through credit or debit.
Skype  Started by the inventors of the file sharing program Kazaa, Skype is often credited with popularizing internet telephony. Skype started out as a free PC-to-PC voice chat program, later expanding to PC-to-phone. Today, Skype is a full-range VoIP service provider, offering such perks as SMS messaging, voice mail, conferencing, and video calling. Skype uses a sort of prepaid system, where customers buy credit or call time online using an international credit card or payment lines such as PayPal and Click&Buy. Credit denominations start at about $12.
Packet8  Packet8 serves both home and business VoIP systems with clearly delineated subscription plans. One of its most tempting offers is the videophone service, where, for as low as $6 a month, you get unlimited audio and video call time to other Packet8 subscribers worldwide, as well as enhanced 911 support as prescribed by the US government. You will have to pay for the videophone unit, although Packet8 offers great discounts for large subscriptions. Regular (audio VoIP) phones or ATAs are provided free in all subscription plans.
SunRocket  A relatively new provider, having started in 2004, SunRocket has some of the most affordable subscription plans around. A $10 monthly fee will give you unlimited talk time to other SunRocket subscribers and over 3 hours of talk time for international calls. They also offer annual packages starting at $200 ($17 a month), where you get unlimited calls to US, Canada, and Puerto Rico. They also provide free VoIP equipment, which are shipped free and come with no installation or activation fees.
What Is VoIP? Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a technology that allows you to make long-distance calls over the Internet. VoIP uses your Internet connection to place calls, bypassing the telephone line – and the long-distance charges that come with it – while avoiding static, crossed lines, and other kinds of interference associated with traditional phone connections. Contrary to popular belief, VoIP is not the first technology to use the internet for voice conversations. VoIP is part of a group of methods called voice over packet networks, which include other network protocols like asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) and public switched telephone networks (PSTN). How Does VoIP Work?
The basic idea behind VoIP is that there is a more efficient way to transmit voice than by circuit switching, the method employed by most traditional phones. In a circuit switching line, a constant flow of data is maintained, even during dead air or the few seconds of silence between each exchange. This results in a lot of wasted data and a slow connection. VoIP is based on a different method of transmission called packet switching. Packet switching captures your speech and leaves out the dead air, transmitting your voice in intermittent bursts of signals, or “packets” of data, rather than a continuous flow. While circuit switching keeps your line open for the entire conversation, packet-switched networks open the connection just long enough to send one packet at a time. The packets usually take different routes, with the router automatically selecting the least congested route for each one. Each packet carries an address, which tells the router where to send the packet, and instructions for the receiving computer, which it uses to reassemble the packets into their original form. How You Can Use VoIP There are three ways you can use VoIP – with a traditional phone, with a VoIP phone, or with a VoIP computer program. To use your traditional phone for a VoIP call, you need an analog telephone adapter (ATA). The ATA will convert the analog voice signals from your phone into a digital signal that can be broken into packets and transmitted over the Internet. You can also get a VoIP phone, which you can connect directly to your router to place calls. Most VoIP phones today have an RJ45 Ethernet connector, although future models will run on Wi-Fi, the VoIP equivalent of mobile phones. Wi-Fi VoIP phones enable you to place internet calls from anywhere with a Wi-Fi hotspot. A cheap alternative is the virtual phone or “softphone,” a computer program incorporating the interface and features of a hardware VoIP phone. Softphones establish a direct connection between the two party computers and eliminate the maintenance and clutter of an ATA or corded VoIP phone. Most softphone programs are free, with paid upgrade options offering a wider range of services.
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