Thanks to Alec Saunders for pointing me to a post by Jajah’s Don Thorson about building really useful stuff (as in new software, services, gadgets, and whatnot). I was excited because it reads sort of like TheVOIPGirl manifesto (if there was one). Makes me wish I’d written it! Beyond its ability to dazzle, new stuff has to 1) solve a problem, 2) be easy to understand, 3) be easy to get, 4) be easy to use, 5) be easy to share.

For #2, he talks about giving new stuff the Mom test, meaning I assume that if Mom gets it, anybody will. While I object to the idea that Moms are the lowest common denominator–some of the most technical, savvy, and successful gals I know are also Moms–I think I know what he means. I’m a Mom and being one is the most important thing in my life. The flip side of this is that technology is not the priority…at all. I don’t have time to mess around with something that doesn’t meet the five basics.

Don also says that mainstream users need to be spoonfed. Okay..maybe true, but what’s wrong with that? Busy people, Moms and power users alike, need simplicity. Alec, a power user if there ever was one, atests to that as well.

All in all, thanks Don for a great post. Companies that stick to these rules have my vote.

From: www.quickstartvoip.com

Voice over the Internet phone service is no longer an exclusive preserve of techies. Scores of telecom companies, cable companies and young entrepreneurs have set up VoIP services.

Each one claims to offer extra features and benefits. So how do you decide?

If price/cost is your most important deciding factor, VOIP comparison sites are great. They extract all the rate info and display it in a handy chart. Voipreview.org is a good example. Click here to compare the VOIP phone service and prices being charged by different providers.

The services that you should take a close look at are basic services, advanced services, voice mail, faxes, call blocking, web management, special calling, and customer service.

The most common services being offered by VoIP providers under the different service heads are:

1. Basic Features: Call forwarding, international call forwarding, caller id by number, caller id by name, call-waiting, call-waiting caller id, disable call waiting, distinctive ringing, repeat dialing, return dial and three-way calling.
2. Advanced Features: Call Transfer, conference bridging, simultaneous ringing, sequential ringing, secondary virtual phone number, additional service lines, toll-free numbers (incoming), MS Outlook integration and softphone support.
3. Voice Mail: Retrieval of voicemail from telephone handset, phone number for external retrieval, retrieval via web interface and receiving of voice mail via e-mail
4. Fax Functionality: Support outgoing/incoming faxes, receive faxes via voice mail, and a dedicated fax line.
5. Call blocking/filtering: Block outgoing international calls, block outgoing 1-900 calls, block incoming anonymous calls, do not disturb notice. This also includes blocking of telemarketing calls or selective blocking and selective forwarding via e-mail of filtered calls
6. Web Management: Modify basic/advanced features, obtain detailed call logs, activate order/cancel features/services, activate click to call facility, and provision of web interface that is compatible with non-IE browsers.
7. Special Calling: 911 Emergency calling, 411 Information, free in-network calls, free calls to external VoIP networks, Cable box/SatTV/Tivo compatibility
8. Customer service: Technical support via telephone, technical support via email, web-based technical support and account management by telephone.

Reprinted with permission from: www.quickstartvoip.com

In order to use VoIP, both parties need a broadband connection. This is a high-speed Internet, or broadband connection usually provided by a cable or DSL modem. Broadband modems are usually used to connect computers to the Internet, but in the case of VoIP, computers are not necessary.

The simplest form of VoIP is a computer-to-computer voice connection. All that is required for this type of connection is a computer, a headset consisting of earphones and microphone, and VoIP software. Most software packages are free and allow you to connect to any computer running the same software. There is no charge for this type of connection and calls can be made to anywhere in the world.

VoIP software can also be used to connect to land-line phones — that is, phones which are not connected directly to the Internet. This type of call is usually not free but the cost is quite a bit lower than what your telephone company charges. Some VoIP services also allow you to make calls to cellular phones.

The only time that both parties need a particular VoIP software package is when they are making computer-to-computer calls. Parties receiving land-line or cellular calls do not need any extra equipment or software.

VoIP Transmissions

VoIP is based on digital data transmission. The first step in any VoIP call is to convert the analog signal of the human voice into digital data. This is done within an Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) that divides an analog signal into discrete steps which are represented by numbers. The next step is to compress the audio data using a codec (enCOder/DECoder) which significantly reduces the amount of digital data while maintaining audio quality.

The compressed digital data can now be sent over the Internet. The data stream must be divided into packets which, besides containing the audio data, also have information concerning their destination and their place in the data stream.

All data that is sent over the Internet is encapsulated in ‘layers’ which aid in its proper delivery. For example, web pages may use the Internet Protocol (IP) network layer to specify destination and origin addresses, the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) transport layer to create a connection between two computers and the Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) as an application layer to allow the Web browser to display the web page correctly.

Most VoIP uses a transport layer called User Datagram Protocol (UDP) which is faster than TCP. A commonly used application layer is Real-time Transmission Protocol (RTP) — originally developed for delivering audio and video over the Internet. RTP provides information about the sequence of the data packets so they can be reconstructed in the correct order at their destination.

RTP also has the ability to drop packets if they do not arrive within a certain amount of time. This is necessary for telephone conversations because if the telephone software waited for every packet of information to arrive before reassembling it there would be unacceptable delays in the audio stream.

Even though some of the packets are dropped, there is usually still enough information to make the conversation legible. The number of packets that will be dropped depends on the speed of your Internet connection in the distance between the two parties.

Once the voice data has arrived at its destination, it is reassembled in the correct order and converted back from digital to analog.