VoIP-Point

IP Telephones

One of the most important items in your Voice over IP system is, of course, the IP Telephone itself. IP phones can take a number of guises ranging from the ‘computer phone’ or Soft Phone to the fully independent, stand-alone IP Phones with many features for business.

The Soft Phone.

The Soft Phone, so called because it is actually a software program running on a desktop computer is probably the cheapest and most simple form of IP Telephone. The Soft Phone usually provides a GUI interface on the screen which allows you to receive calls, dial numbers and keep an address book. The computer itself is required to have a soundcard, headset and network adapter to function with the Soft Phone software. An interesting problem of soft phone is that due to the need to use a headset or similar, it can be difficult to tell when an incoming call is ringing if the user is not wearing the headset.

The USB Phone.

Recently, many new models of USB Phone have been coming on the market. The USB phone shares a lot in common with the Soft Phone in that it requires a computer and may even provide a GUI on a screen. However, the USB Phone provides a handset which looks much like a normal telephone. This essentially replaces the Soft Phone’s headset with a numeric dial-pad integrated with a handset. The handset will ring like a traditional telephone when there is an incoming call. The USB Phone is tethered to the computers USB port and the computer is once again required to have a network adapter available.

The Hard Phone

Hard Phones or Hardware IP Telephones are completely independent of computers and closely resemble traditional telephones. Hard Phones offer the most convenience in that it is unnecessary for a computer to be switched on or even present in order to make or receive a call. The phone itself will provide its own network adapter which can be plugged into a LAN or broadband router via a normal network cable. Some Hardware IP Phones also include a network ‘pass through’ which allows a computer to share the same network connection and removes the need to run a separate network cable back to the broadband router. Hard IP Phones tend to closely resemble their traditional counterparts and are available as models suited for domestic or business use.

Wireless Hard Phone

Along with the normal Hard IP Telephones there are also Wireless IP telephones. Once again these are usually entirely stand-alone units which require no computer for operation. They connect to your network via a Wireless Access Point which is purchased separately. The handsets are usually either styled like an analog wireless handset or like a modern mobile phone. A display is provided on the handset to aid dialling and to provide caller-id for incoming calls. Of note is that early versions of these handsets had various problems such as poor range from the access point and overheating. Later models overcome these difficulties.

ATA

The ATA or Analog Telephone Adapter is a device which allows a traditional cabled or wireless telephone to be used as an IP telephone. Essentially, the ATA acts a go between of the analog and digital worlds, it provides connection to your broadband router and also provides a socket into which you can plug your traditional telephone. The ATA then converts digital calls from other VoIP phones on the network or internet into the analog standard which works with the traditional handset. The handset is also able to make calls across the network with the ATA converting the dialling tones into a VoIP recognisable network request.