By Edahn Golan

 

In the past I have discussed on these pages the various Voice over Internet Protocol (commonly referred to as VoIP) options available to companies and individuals interested in saving on long distance costs.

 

To recap, VoIP allows you to make phone calls using the Internet’s infrastructure at considerably reduced costs, much to the dismay of the phone companies. We also examined the use of Skype to hold peer-to-peer (between two computers) voice conversations from our computers with our friends and colleagues.

 

A couple of events that took place since the article was published bring me back to it now. Recently, the Federal Communications Commission voted to free VoIP companies from the control of state utility commissioners. The idea was to free the VoIP companies worried about state regulated prices and heavy taxation.

 

Not getting into the politics of the issue, and since it is the bottom line that we are concerned with, what this means is that the cost of making calls over the Internet will remain low and reasonable.

 

This is of course great news and once again I highly recommend that you take advantage of it. I’m in Antwerp right now, away from my family, and naturally want to be in touch with them. Often. Well, what can I say, my family is not as hooked as their dad is on computers, and to expect my very busy wife to stop for one minute and get online is not reasonable at all.

 

Enter Skype. I know I have mentioned them before, and just did again a couple of paragraphs ago, but things have happened there. Beyond the superb sound quality and the price of the software (it’s F. R. E. E. free!!), a new feature was added a while ago - the ability to make phone calls to regular, everyday, run-of-the-mill telephones. A cautionary note - making these calls is not free, but nonetheless, what an option.

 

Start using these services now, because things might change in the future. FCC commissioner Copps says that deregulating VoIP might create “challenges for law enforcement and has implications for universal service and public safety”.

 

So, in case you feel that all this talk is the stuff of gadget nerds and tech geeks, take note from SBC Communications Inc., the second-largest local phone company in the United States. It reported in mid-November plans for a full-blown new residential VoIP service to be launched in early 2005.

 

It’s already being tested in ubber-urban Los Angeles, Dallas and Chicago over DSL Internet connections.

 

Like Skype, its service has a “do not disturb” option and a “find me” feature, but go even further, adding much-asked-for voice mail, call forwarding, call waiting and three-way calling.

 

SBC plans to be offer competitive pricing to compete with other VoIP services, such as Vonage, which

offers monthly plans costing $25 and up.

 

The important issue is habit. If you have several offices around the world, and your phone bill is running high due to all the talk between them, changing peoples’ habits will require some time, but it pays and is well worth the effort.

 

Keep those emails coming in. If you have a question, suggestion or a comment to make, by all means drop me a line at: edahn@idexonline.com.