Can You Use VoIP For Everyday Calling?

Phone calling has changed significantly over the years and landlines have become a thing of the past. To the point where the youth of today marvel at them as something antique – or prehistoric even. It went from dialling numbers on a handset bolted to the kitchen wall or stuck by the nearest plug point to tapping a screen and chatting away without a second thought.

We all made the shift eventually, and it was because of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). So now, you might be considering going all in and cutting the cord on your phone line. Before you do, it helps to know what you’re signing up for. VoIP isn’t a complicated technology, but one or two things can trip you up if you’re not prepared for them.

Here is everything you need to know about VoIP before you rely on it for everyday calling.

What Is VoIP In Simple Terms?

VoIP, especially when called by its full name, sounds daunting – especially to those who aren’t quite confident with tech. In reality, it’s just a long-winded way of saying that your voice travels over the Internet instead of down a traditional phone line.

In a nutshell, your words get broken up into small packets of data that are fired over a connection – your Wi-Fi – and reassembled on the receiver’s end so they can hear what you said.

You’ve likely been using VoIP for ages without realising it. The WhatsApp call to your colleague or FaceTime with your mum is all VoIP. It’s been around for some time but only recently has it become reliable enough to use for everything while ditching your old setup.

Why More Residents Are Making The Switch

VoIP has worked its way into nearly every part of how we talk, and there’s good reason for that. It’s cheaper, more flexible and can do things a landline could never dream of.

The Money Aspect Is Hard To Argue With

The cost-effectiveness can be reason enough for households to move to VoIP. You’ve already paying for your Internet and the calls cost next to nothing. Most app-to-app calls are completely free, like WhatsApp calling, and even phoning a landline or mobile can work out cheaper.

It makes a real difference though if you call overseas numbers often. Calling someone on the other side of the world costs a few pennies, or nothing at all if you both use the same app.

It Has Features A Landline Never Had A Hope Of

Some VoIP services come with additional features like video calling, voicemails that go straight to your email and call forwarding. Most of these come as a standard, not a costly add-on. Not only does your setup feel more current and ahead of the times, but you don’t need to worry about an expensive bill at the end of the month.

Your Number Goes Wherever You Do

When you use VoIP, your number isn’t glued to your house anymore. With an old line, it belonged to the building. With VoIP, it belongs to you. If you go abroad for a couple of weeks or months, your number stays the same. Even if you had to move across the country, and you don’t need to go through the hassle of letting everyone know that your number changed.

Setting It Up Won’t Ruin Your Afternoon

Setting up VoIP doesn’t require an engineer or an appointment window to wait around for all morning. In most cases, you just need to download an app and create an account, then you’re good to go. It’s that easy.

Even if you prefer to have a physical “phone”, you can use your existing handset with an adapter or buy a dedicated VoIP phone.

What You Need To Be Aware Of Before Using VoIP

VoIP comes with a handful of downsides – as does everything – and it wouldn’t be fair to just gloss over them. None of them are considered to be dealbreakers, but you should know about them.

You need the Internet: When the connection goes, so does your phone. An old landline would usually keep working through an outage but that’s not the case with VoIP as it and the Internet are now one and the same.

Your connection affects call quality: A strong connection will give you clear and crisp audio but a weak one will make your voice sound robotic or drop the call entirely. It’s worth noting that most broadband can handle VoIP comfortably these days so it isn’t as much of a challenge as it previously was.

Power cuts can cut you off: Landlines drew power through the phone line itself so they could still work if the lights went out. VoIP runs on your router and devices, all of which need power to run. One way to get around this is to have a battery backup which can soften the blow a bit.

Is VoIP The Right Option For You And Your Household?

For most people, it’s an easy call – pun intended. If you have a decent broadband at home and make a couple of calls a week, especially international ones, and you want to save some money (who doesn’t?) then VoIP will suit you well.

The downsides are there, yes, but they are quite manageable. For day-to-day use, the good comfortably wins over the bad. And in practice, most of us are already living this way. We use the Internet to chat to work colleagues or loved ones almost every day without giving it a single thought.

When you think of it like that, switching to VoIP doesn’t sound as scary or a leap into the unknown. It’s just acknowledging how your calls are happening and saving a decent amount along the way.