Do Not Disturb Feature!!!

Many of us value our sleeps specially those people who work at night and for those people who have a busy lifestyle or should I say have a long tiring day...

During this time, hope that we will not be disturb by anything and even a phone call and especially if the call is coming from telemarketers...

VOIP services has this feature called DO NO DISTURB, when in you will be able to disable your phones and all the calls will be routed to your voice mail and when you enable it again and that the only time your phone will ring again and you can always check your voice messages....

I believe this feature is very useful, if you don't want to be disturb just dial the special key on your phone to enable the feature and have it disable anytime you want and you will be able to get the special keys with your VOIP service provider or sometimes it is included on the welcome package they sent you or you can find it on their website....

Vonage V-Phone vs Vonage SoftPhone!!!

V-phone is a telephone line stored in a USB flash drive and Softphone is one of Add Ons features of Vonage.....

You will notice that this type phone is somehow look like a key chain, yes you can use is like one, but imagine you are carrying your personal phone with you anywhere you go, all you just need to do is plug it in to one of the USB port of a computer or laptop and your ready to place call, this is basically advisable to people who always not at home and love to travel, because you can use any internet cafe, computer in a public library to place and receive calls, even if your in a hotel you will be able to have the convenience of having V-phone, of course you can have it with unlimited local and long distance anywhere in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico and to some European countries or depending to what type of plan you need, you will be able to save important file on it that you might needed to print out while on the or save for future purpose like a presentation...but always remember that there is always a minimum PC requirement for this type of phone so that whenever or wherever you use it you know what need....and please note that LINUX and APPLE MACINTOSH is not supported....

What about SoftPhone, basically it's one of the add ons features that you can get if you already have Vonage service, were in you will be able to get and additional telephone number using your PC or laptop, so that wherever you are and if you need to place call and even access you voice mail, you will be able to do so, this add ons allow you to place 500 minutes calls each month to Non-Vonage telephone numbers, and it doesn't matter where you place the call as long as it is not international call aside from Canada and Puerto Rico...

If you want to avail this, you just simply log in to your Vonage online account and look for add ons and once your done having softphone you just need to download it to any computer and you will be able to use it right away, just remember that you PC's need to have a microphone and speaker or a headset for calling.....

Just a reminder Softphone and V-phone is not like V-pro or Vonage Talk software because with V-Pro and Vonage talk you get to use the same telephone number that you already have with Vonage and it serves like an extension line while SoftPhone and V-Phone you need to get a different telephone number aside from the one that you already have and also V-phone can be the only thing you have with Vonage unlike V-pro, Softphone is only an added feature while Vonage Talk comes the package that you have with no additional cost....

I hope that this information is someway helpful and I'm not being paid by Vonage for any of their services that I feature , It's just that VOIP is my concern, for furher questions and inquiries, feel free to leave your comment and I will certainly answer it to the best of my knowledge....

Vonage Talk vs Vonage Pro!!!

Vonage is one of the most popular VOIP company nowadays, aside from the service and for the fact that you can take your phone with you anywhere in the world as long as you can get high speed internet and sure thing it will work, but how if you leave and forgot or you cant take the Telephone Adapter with, that is the reason why Vonage has this two features , the Vonage talk and Vonage Pro.....

Vonage Talk is a feature that you will be able to use your computer to place call, receive calls and get your voice messages, aside from that you will also be able to chat with your friends using the "Vonage Talk" software, just download it to any computer anywhere in the globe if you already have Vonage service, it allows you to chat with your friends using AIM, MSN, Yahoo, and Google Talk and it comes with the any package that you have with no additional cost...

Vonage Pro - if you already have Vonage service you can upgrade your plan to vonage pro, and if you are just signing you can also avail this plan....

Vonage Pro is a plan which includes unlimited local and long distance anywhere in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico and to some European countries, and together with this plan is a companion software where in you will be able to place unlimited local and long distance using your PC's, smart phone and blackberry's, it also include 25 calls to 411 directory assistance per month and 25 free visual voicemail each month.


With Vonage talk - if you use your computer with this feature and you are currently on call or log in the sofware, your telephone connected to the Vonage Telephone adapter wll not ring because your ar using your vonage line, unlike in Vonage Pro, even if your telephone number is in use on the computer, smart phone or blackberry the Telephone attched to the Vonage device can still be in use for outgoing and incoming call, and if someone calls your number both of them will ring at the same time....technically it like an extension line that you can access anywhere at anytime...

You can download the companion software to all of devices so that its ready everytime you need.....remember ti could be a PC, smart phone or blackberry....and of course you need to have internet service in those device for it to work.....

One other important thing, if you call 911 for emergency using Vonage Talk and Vonage Pro, you must give out information of where is the call is coming from...

.....It's up to you which one suite your needs, Vonage Talk or Vonage Pro......

VOIP - Home Wiring!!!

Since a lot of consumers now or people are changing from a traditional phone service to Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) telephone service....

It's no questions that VOIP is less expensive compared to traditional phone service especially if you are using your phone a lot to place long distance calls and international calls....

When switching you telephone service to VOIP, having this kind of phone service is that "WHAT ABOUT MY EXISTING TELEPHONE JACKS, will I be able to still use them?".

To give you a heads up, there are some VOIP company that will take care of your Home Telephone Wiring, and some that will not recommend for you to do it so you will end up with one jack on which is on the phone adapter, some will provides you procedures on how to do it and will ask for you to seek Technical support in your area or they can send technician in your area but you will be charge for installation fee...remember you can always call your VOIP service company for other options......

If you only have one telephone jack at home and you uses multiple cordless phone handsets or your base unit is design to have multiple handsets and home wiring wont a problem.....the questions "IF I'M NOT"...hope information below will be useful...

HOME WIRING GUIDE

I will provide you my personal knowledge on how to keep your existing telephone jack inside your home.....

First and foremost....you need to isolate your telephone line, meaning you have to make sure that the previous provider is no longer attached to your home telephone wiring, its not enough that you don't hear a dial tone on the line, but what's needed is make sure that there is no cable connected from your telephone box to outside source of your previous provider and they call it NID box (Network Interface Device. It's the demarcation point where your previous telephone company and your telephone home wiring meets, its easy to find, look for your outside telephone box and sometimes it's locked or fastened, just remember to access only the side where the wires coming from your home and not from the streets and remember not to disconnect the wires coming from the grounds this wire is your protection from lightning.

Once you've opened your side of the NID, you'll see one or more sets of screw terminals inside. Each will have a short piece of telephone wire coming out of it with a phone connector on the end plugged into a corresponding jack. If there's only one line coming into your house, you'll most likely have only one set of screw terminals. To disconnect from the phone company, simply unplug each of the short telephone wires from its corresponding jack.

Once you have done this, remember not to reconnect this cable again as long as you uses VOIP service because your device might be damage. Clearly labeled the NID before fastening it again for future purposes. Don't let anyone change what you have done without your knowledge for any inconvenience in the future...

Second....once you have done isolating your home wiring, try to check the phone connected to the wall telephone jack and make sure that you hear nothing, in this way we are able to make sure what you have done is correct...Because if still hear sounds on the line you need to double check what you have done and see if your home wiring is really isolated or you have disconnected the wrong cables, and if in any case that you are certain that you did disconnect the cable from your telephone box going to your home and still hear a sound on the phone that is connected to the wall jack and can't resolve it yourself....I suggest that you seek assistance from a telephone technician...

Lastly...If you have successfully isolated your telephone home wiring and the VOIP telephone adapter is up in running meaning the phone that is connected to it has a dial tone and you were able to place and received call....

Connect the telephone cable coming from your VOIP telephone adapter to one of your telephone wall jack, this line is suppose to be connected to a telephone but since you will be using your existing home telephone wiring...so you need to connect that cable to the wall....

After doing this check if you here a dial tone, check the rest of your home phone or the telephone connected to rest of your telephone wall jack...

Reminder: If you are porting your existing telephone number to VOIP service, the tranfer need to be completed first before you try and do this because if your existing telephone number is not yet ported you will end up wondering how come you don't receive incoming call...The process of porting your telephone number is that VOIP company provides you temporary number while the transfer is in progress for you to be able to see if the service is working properly prior to the number transfer....

Also if you have many telephone jacks, kindly limit only to use five lines for better result because if you will be using above than the said number, you might be encountering audio problem with the line...

......I hope you were able to follow this guide and for further questions, let me know and I am more that willing to address it and answer it to the best of my knowledge.......

Virtual Telephone Number!!!

Virtual Telephone Number, is a feature offered by Vonage, it really one of the best feature there is, because with this feature it allows you get a different telephone number with different area code in a certain city or town that you always receive a call which happen that if they call you on your primary number they get charge for long distance calls....

Virtual Number, eliminate your caller to be charge long distance calls, not just that if your have families abroad like in Canada, United Kingdom, Spain, Ireland, Italy, France and I just don't know if they also offer virtual number in Mexico....you'll be able to get Virtual Number for them which could be a local number in their area.....

By these, people will not think twice calling you because they know that they can call you anytime and they wont get charge, it's really convenient for people who have different residence for they can have multipled telephone numbers and since they can take their phone adapter with them every time they move from one residence to another, some people call it "Snow Bird"....this feature will surely fits you...

If you are a kind of person who have multiple residence and have friends and families in various location this feature offered by Vonage is very beneficial for you....so just to let you know I believe there is a monthly fee for this....call Vonage to make sure....

I think any other VOIP company offer this feature too but I am not certain if they offer virtual number in Canada and to some European countries like United Kingdom....

Reminder: Vonage don't accept collect calls....

Switching to VOIP

Many people is switching to VOIP service and they are still wondering how does it work and if they can transfer their existing telephone number over to this kind of service..

First, in order for you to have VOIP service or in order for your phone to work you must have a high speed internet service...could be DSL, Cable Internet and any other High speed internet service available and it's not dial up and I don't recommend Satellite Internet connection for this have problem like latency or audio delays...

Now, you might be wondering how can you transfer your phone line over to a VOIP service...

First the line need to be still active with your current provider to complete the transfer process...normally it will take at least 10 business days depending if you have issues with your current provider...

Second, you must provide accurate information about the said telephone number to be transferred, like billing, account name, etc...

Third, make sure that if you are using DSL internet connection, it's not bundled with your telephone line, meaning they are not sharing the line. If this is the case call your internet service provide or telephone provider to have it separated or obtain what we called stand alone DSL internet service or Dry Loop...
If you are using Cable internet connection or your telephone line is not associated with internet service then I don't see any problem converting or transferring it to any VOIP company of your choice....

Lastly, you must provide accurate e-mail address, because any update regarding your order like number transfer status will be sent to your e-mail...especially if there's any alteration or additional information needed...like for mobile phone users...they need to provide more information coming from the mobile company....

Reminder: once your telephone number has been transferred and you can't get your device to work, make sure that you have internet service, and you can check that by simply accessing your computer and check if you can get online.....Bottom line as soon as you have received the device test it to see if it is working properly....

I hope that this information is useful.....

PSTN vs VOIP

PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) also known as POTS (Public Old Telephone Service) vs VOIP (Voice Ove Internet Protocol)....

First and foremost about this comparison, this particular post is purely, in regards on what I know and understand about PSTN and VOIP...

PSTN is the type of telephone service that we're been using for ages, our local phone company provide this service and they are the one who provide us the telephone number depending on what area they cater and if there is another telephone provider on the area, we can simply switch to a diferent telephone company together with our existing telephone number...but to some areas that is not possible, basically it depends on the law of the certain region or country regarding telephone service...

Basically PSTN is a telephone service where in it required copper wires to be connected to the network and it stays with one place, meaning in a certain residence or building, Cellphone is also a form of PSTN because it receive signal and it works the same as a land phone...all I know "PSTN is a kind of service that need to stay in one place and need to be wired connected and with mobile phone you can receive and transmit signal"....

As I remember before, in order for us to have internet service we need to have a land phone so we can connect using our modem, it could be dial up or DSL...Now Internet service have changed, you can now have internet service with your curent telephone provider without the presence of telephone line, meaning they can provide you a stand alone DSL, like cable company does, that if you have cable TV service with them they can also provide you Cable internet service...Our technology nowadays is really amazing....

Even before internet service has been upgraded to different type service, or how you want it, because like what I have said, it could be DSL with phone line, Stand alone DSL that does not required telephone service, Cable internet service, etc....VOIP is already there....

VOIP, nowaday is very popular, having VOIP phone at home is a good, because this way around you don't need to have telephone to have internet. Now you can have telephone service using the internet...VOIP basically is a form of communication using the internet, its just that now they provide you a number (telephone number) and it's great.

If you notice, voice chat is also a form of VOIP, its just so happen that with this you are using the IP address and you dont have telephone adapter to connect....hehehehe

Here is the good part, VOIP is less expensive, and you can carry your phone number anywhere in the world as long as you can access an internet service and not worry about paying high international calling rates, but be reminded that not all VOIP company provide a telephone adapter that you can take anywhere....If your VOIP company can provide yu a portable telephone adapter, imagine if you have familis in a differnet country, you can get them a separate telephone number on a different phone adapter and it will be VOIP to VOIP call for both of you and not to worry paying per minute rate at all.....

With PSTN, you pay for every feature that you need and with VOIP they provide you all the feature whether you need or not with no additional charge....

VOIP is good but there is also disadvantages of having VOIP, if you don't have high speed internet service, you cannot used VOIP, if your alarm system is not compatible with VOIP service, you will end up with no alarm system, but there is Alarm system company who can do that...Another thing, if there is no power and if your internet service is down, you can't use the phone because there will be no dial tone...

Yes you are correct, there are disadvantages, but let see the advantages, it's unlimited local and long distance, especially to residence of USA, Canada and some other countries, and you can take it with you once you move out or having a vacation at anytime...when you move you dont have worry paying for moving a line fee, no additional Long Diatance calling plan rate, and you can always have a mobile phone for a back up....that is what everybody does now....

I just hope that I was able to provide you an informative ideas about this......

Voice Mail vs Answering Machine!!!

Most people are still dependent on answering machines, since they are used to it and answering has been there for ages, and they still rely on answering machines, it is good because every time you came home, the first thing you do is access your answering machine to see if you have an important messages for the day...

Voice Mail is the new system to leave messages for a person, people that are so used in using answering machine sometimes refuse to use the Voice Mail feature that they can get, because for them it's kinda complicated...and I do respect them..

Look into the brighter side of having voice messages, if you have Vonage, you will be able to enjoy this feature since it is included in every package that they offered for free, aside from the fact that it is very easy to use and set up...

By using voice mail, even if you are away from home you will still be able to access your voice messages remotely, because if you check the Vonage website and go to feature page you will be able to get the Local Access Number for your Voice Mail depending on the area code that you will be using for it to become a local call from your current location...

Not just that, every time you get a Voice Mail using Vonage service, you will also get a link through your e-mail or you online account to play the voice mail using media player, which is very convenient because even if you are in a different country you still have full accessed to your voice messages...

Vonage came up with even better feature in regard to your messages because they have also this so called feature Vonage Visual Voicemail, were in every time you have voice messages it's automatically transcribe for you into text messages were in you can receive a copy of it to read through your mobile phone or e-mail...

It's still up to you if you want to keep your answering machine or choose the Vonage Voice Mail, were it's very convinient for those people that always on the go or if your in the office you can always check your messages...but in order for you to experience this wonderful feature I believe you must have VOIP service from Vonage....

The choice is always yours....If you have questions just let me know...

By the way before I forgot...to access your voice messages using Vonage phone, just simply dial *123 and follow the voice prompt and remember if it is your first time to set it up the password is included on the package that you got from vonage or your be able to find it on your e-mail or simply configure your voice mail setting using your online acct...

And for accessing it to a non-Vonage phone, just refer to Local Access number, you'll be able to get it on Vonage website under voice mail feature....because instead dialing *123, you dial the Local access number to get to the voice prompt...

I hope i was able to provide useful information....

Vonage V-Portal

As we all know that VOIP is one of the most used telecommunication service nowadays...Now i will be featuring the latest device release by Vonage called "Vonage V-Portal" and according to them this device is created solely for Vonage customer and I will provide you a step by step instructions on how to set it up or install it.

Once you open the package that you receive or bought on the retail store, you must check everything that comes on it, the device, the ethernet cable, power cord, power adapter, and the manual...

You will notice that the device is very portable and it comes with LCD screen which will be very useful for the user, it will provide you informations of what is the status of your connection, it will also tell you if you have voice messages, and it works as a caller id as well...

Now Lets get started, first you need to determined what type of internet service you have, aside from the fact that it suppose to be a high speed internet connection, could be cable or DSL internet...

If you are using DSL internet, you must determine if you connection is PPPOE, DHCP, or static connection...

If you are using PPPOE, you need to have your username and password, this required you to connect to the internet and if you have forgotten, please call your internet provider, if you are using DHCP, then you have nothing to worry because it will be easy, and for static IP, you must have your static IP address from you internet provider...you have nothing to worry because if you call your provider and ask them this information they will certainly give it to you. Now for cable internet user, you are safe because you are automatically connect to the internet as long as your cable modem is on and connected, the same as with DSL DHCP connections...

Now that we have determined you internet connection, we must first test if we have internet connection before we start setting up the device, turn on you PC's and check if you can surf the net by simply openning one of your browser...

Now, we were able to see that you have internet service, this time you need to turn off your computer, modem and if you have a router you must turn it off as well....Get the Vonage box, take the device and the blue ethernet cable, look for the ethernet port at the back of your modem that says DSL or the cable where your router or your computer is connected, unhook it and plug in the blue ethernet cable that comes with the package and the other end connect it to the back of the v-portal colored blue port...

Now the cable that you unhook from your modem, connect it to the yellow port of the v-portal device....Be reminded the you must have a spare telephone to test the line, hook the telephone cable at the back of the v-portal colored green port that says line 1 ( the base unit of the phone is the one suppose to be connected )

Now this time, turn on your modem 1st, wait for like 1 to 2 minutes, until all the lights are solid before you turn on or plug in the v-portal to one of your electrical outlet....

On the LCD screen of the device you will notice messages, powering up, retrieving IP address, those messages is OK, just give it sometime and wait until you see something that say "ready to place call" then check the phone that is connected to the device to see if you hear a dial tone....

If you have a router, this is the right time to turn it on and check your PC's if you are getting internet connection, and if you don't have a router, make sure that if you are using cable connection and not wireless on the computer, the cable that runs from your computer is connected to the yellow port of the v-portal...

Below is the diagram on how to set up Vonage V-portal....



















This is just a basic installation instructions...If in any case your internet service is not DSL DHCP or Cable Internet and you are using Static IP or PPPOE and you have no idea how to configure your device, you can always call Vonage technical group and seek for assistance....

If you have question regarding the procedure or any question at all please let me know...

Introductory Statement - Disclosure !!!

AS we all know nowadays VOIP "Voice over Internet Protocol" are becoming the most used Telecommunication services of this generation...

With this website/blog I will try to cover about almost everything that I know about telecommunication, PSTN vs VOIP....

PSTN - is the most standard means of telecommunication, which provides by our local phone company in a certain area or rate center....

VOIP - is the new form of telecommunication, this time we uses internet to make phone calls, unlike before we need telephone lines to connect to the internet and that is still being used, but voip is different it uses your internet connection to place and receive phone calls. You will notice now that there are companies who provide internet service without the use of telephone line, like cable companies....

As I go along with the topics that i will be covering, I will tell you various information about VOIP, it's technical aspect, installation, home wiring, how features work, what devices suite your needs in using this kind of service...

Let me just remind you, that I am doing this blog for the benefit of my readers and as per the company who cater this kind of service I am here to help the comsumers, like me.....

Whatever is written to this blog is my personal opinion, my belief, my understanding, and I am here to provide educational information toward this kind of technology, for more question about this blog please contact me, Richard at rroxas08@yahoo.com

My website/Blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.

The compensation I received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post may not always be identified as paid or sponsored content.

Even though I receives compensation for my posts or advertisements, I always give my honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely my own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question, and like anybody else I must be compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics.

This blog does contain content which might present a conflict of interest. This content may not always be identified.

If you need further information about the topics I wrote you can always asked me and I will certainly provide you an answer....