Fire the Phone Company: A Handy Guide to Voice Over IP

Finding Broadband

---

This device acts as a junction point for wires running from within your home to the telephone company's cables Figure 3. When you install your telephone adapter, you may need to modify connections inside this device to distribute telephone signals throughout your home. We will discuss this process in more detail in Chapter 4. For now, just note the location of this device on your phone system map. Your home's telephone cables originate in the demarcation point and proceed to jacks throughout your home.

Inspect the demarcation point carefully to see how many cables run to the inside. Some installers run each cable individually out to the demarcation point; others use a distribution block inside the home to pass the signal to each individual jack Figure 3. In Chapter 4, I discuss special steps to take if your cables terminate in the demarcation point. If you live in an apartment building or townhome complex, you may not have direct access to the telephone company's demarcation point. If so, please note this on your drawing; it may affect the way you connect your phones to your telephone adapter.

Not having access to this connection point means you may not be able to disconnect the telephone company's cables. This can lead to stray voltages being sent from the telephone company into your system—a situation that has been known to damage telephone adapters. I discuss options for this situation in Chapter 4. After completing your drawings, you will assess your readiness for VoIP installation Figure 3. Look for factors that may pose a challenge to your installation.

Best books

Identify factors like bandwidth, telephone company interconnection, and device placement, and form a strategy to deal with these issues. In this section, I examine these challenges and identify possible strategies for dealing with them. Bandwidth or the lack thereof is one of the leading contributors to poor voice quality. As I discussed in Chapter 1, each voice codec has different bandwidth requirements. QoS is the ability of certain types of Internet traffic to take priority over others. This priority traffic will be given first access to available bandwidth.

VoIP protocols do take precedence over most uses but can still be affected by sustained high-volume traffic of lower priority types. QoS prioritizes certain traffic but cannot hold off all other traffic indefinitely.

If you plan to use your Internet connection for other purposes while making voice calls, you should include an additional factor to account for that use. Moderate Web browsing will be unlikely to cause any problems in a Kbps Internet connection, but heavy file downloading may significantly affect voice-call quality. As you consider bandwidth, keep in mind that even advertised bandwidth fluctuates slightly during use. Most Internet access providers use a practice called provisioning to help them budget bandwidth allocation.

They assume that most connections will not use the full advertised rate percent of the time. They base their available bandwidth capabilities on a guess as to what percentage their customers will typically use. If they guess low, you will experience bandwidth restrictions, or bottlenecks. When this happens, you will receive somewhat less than your advertised bandwidth. To see how often this happens, test your Internet bandwidth periodically. A Google search for "voip speed test" will reveal a list of suitable testing sites.

Testing sites supported by specific VoIP vendors will indicate how many calls you can support concurrently when using their VoIP services.

There are a few ways to address bandwidth issues. If you are very interested in a specific VoIP provider, and bandwidth is an issue with its service, you might have no choice but to upgrade your Internet connection speed. Often, this is as simple as calling your Internet access provider and asking for an upgrade. Occasionally, upgrading might require additional or updated Internet connection devices to be installed in your home. If you are not set on a specific VoIP provider, you might choose to use a provider that uses a lower-bandwidth codec.

Some providers use G.

Often, these options are simplified to High, Medium, and Low in the provider's literature. A call to the provider's support department usually will get you the actual codec names. If your bandwidth issue is caused by concurrent use of other Internet functions, such as Web browsing or e-mail, you might simply choose to avoid these activities while making calls. This is simpler when you are in total control of the system. If you are playing EverQuest in the office while your significant other is trying to make a call, this option might not work so well. EverQuest will take forever to update, and you might have to sleep on the couch.

Topics covered include the use of voip for both home and business networks, using voip over a wireless network, understanding the pros and con of voip, and how to explain to management why voip's a good choice. Voip Made Easy, by Bill Stuckey. Billed as the "ideal introduction to internet telephony," Stuckey's thorough treatment of voip takes readers from a highly simplified understanding of voice over IP fundamentals, to more complicated aspects, like how voip fits into the business picture and what the future holds for voip technology. A practical and no-nonsense guide to making the switch from traditional phone service to voip.

Ledfords book is full of useful tips, checklists, and online resources. Internet Phone Services Simplified voip , by Jim Doherty and Neill Anderson, arms readers with the "most basic need-to-know" information and then helps them learn to get the most out of their voip phone's versatility. Veering away from a highly technical approach, this book has full-color illustrations, step-by-step instructions, and all the hand-holding you could possibly need.

Fire the Phone Company: A Handy Guide to Voice over IP - download pdf or read online

Slated to hit the shelves February , Shepard's volume is part of the Mcgraw-Hill How to Do Everything juggernaut and looks at everything from how voip works, to saving money and deciding if voip will work for your business or home office. Fire the Phone Company, a Handy Guide to Voice Over IP, by David Field, has a one-track mission to demystify the techno babble surrounding voip and make it accessible to the average consumer. Connecting without Walls, Wires, or Borders.

It is written by Fred Johnson, former Yahoo!

This book presents great ideas for mobile connectivity for both Windows and Mac computers. I highly recommend picking up a copy. Internet hotspots are all the rage today. Many companies are making good money providing this service to travelers in airports and customers of restaurants, coffee shops, and malls. Most large airports offer Internet access to travelers.

Often, you can obtain information about available hotspots by visiting an information desk or simply by powering up your notebook computer and seeing whose hotspot home page pops up when you open your Web browser. Because you might feel a bit self-conscious unpacking all your Internet phone gear in a busy airport terminal, you may opt for a softphone in this environment. The most likely places to find an Internet hotspot, coffee shops have a reputation as being places to connect and communicate.

Some provide free access; others use fee-based hotspot solutions provided by vendors like T-Mobile. Look for a hotspot sign near the entrance to see which of these options the coffee shop provides. Many shopping malls are beginning to offer public hotspots to give their patrons better communication abilities.

Planning for VoIP Installation | Assessing Your Infrastructure | Peachpit

Look for these near food courts or other large gathering places. Coffee shops in malls are a sure bet. Many hotspot locators are available on the Internet Figure 9. These tools let you enter information about the area you are searching and return a list of public hotspots that you can use in that area.

These locators are excellent at locating hotspots that you might not otherwise know about. The only drawback is that you must already be online to do the search.

Searching before you leave home is an excellent way to be prepared to use these services when you arrive at your destination. Hotels and conference centers often offer a mixture of wired and wireless Internet options. Many offer wired high-speed Internet in guest rooms and wireless hotspots in public meeting areas. Before you travel, call ahead to your hotel to find out exactly which options it offers and what you will need to bring along to get your systems connected.

If you plan to use your TA and a notebook computer in your room, consider bringing along a compact Internet gateway Figure 9. Connection to the hotel's network is similar to your setup at home; you just need to get the appropriate addressing and gateway settings from the hotel staff. Linksys makes the WRT54GC compact gateway especially for travelers and those with limited desk space in their home office.

If you plan to stay at your hotel for some time, setting up your system like you do at home will allow you to use the full capabilities of your VoIP service. In addition, having a familiar telecommunications setup will help you be more productive and is worth the extra effort that it takes to bring it on the trip.

• Op. 18, No. 2, Movement 4 - Allegro molto quasi Presto - Score
• Charmseekers: The Magic Crystals: Book 7
• DRAGON TALES
• The British Crime and Prison Quiz Book
• Pig Boy
• Napoleans Brothers