on VoIP
skype vs. the telephone
Why start here? Well, why not. Also, a lot of folks think of skype every time someone says VoIP, so it seems logical to make a distinction between different types of VOIP services.
Skype calls itself a software company–not a VoIP company. Skype’s about page starts out with:
Skype is a little piece of software
(”that let you make free calls” etc.) The distinction is that skype is not a telephone. It is closer to a voice-capable Instant Messaging client. As such, skype’s model is not one that aims to replace your landline or cellphone with a VoIP telephone. Thus, although they claim “excellent quality,” they are not bound by some of the obstacles faced by companies whose goal is to replace your dialtone.
Similar models include Google Talk and the Gizmo Project. I’ll also note here as a matter of record that skype does not use the standard VoIP protocol SIP, but a proprietary skype protocol. Gizmo, and Google Talk use SIP.
Other companies (Vonage, SunRocket, Broadvoice, etc) have a different approach to VoIP: They want specifically to replace your PSTN dialtone with a VoIP device. This model is the one that I deal with mostly on this post.