Using VoIP With Your Cell Phone
Author: Mark Woodcock

Before many of us came to rely on cell phones to make long
distance phone calls, our only option was to commit to a long
distance phone company. Long distance carriers charged what
were at times exorbitant by-the-minute fees to make calls to
friends and loved ones often living only a few hours away. When
cell phones came into prominence, they brought with them service
plans that gave us such luxuries as free night and weekend
calling anywhere domestically. Alas, even cell phones had their
drawbacks, in that their reception was often broken up, and
calls could be dropped unceremoniously. When along came VOIP, a
new choice in long distance phone calling was on the horizon.
VOIP has many different options, and now it seems that we have
the choice of combining VOIP technology with cell phones. The
prospect of VOIP cell phone service brings with it the
potential for even more freedom and convenience, along with
lower prices. Or does it?

Normally, VOIP service is available in three modes: ATA, IP
phone, and computer-to-computer. All of these services are
common and available for use at your home computer. ATA, or
analog telephone adapter, lets you connect your regular home
telephone to your computer and use it for VOIP service by
converting analog sound bits into digital data. IP, or Internet
protocol, phones are telephones that are specially designed for
use with VOPI service. These phones look just like a standard
home phone, but are wired differently to be VOIP capable. You
can have a cordless IP phone that allows you to move freely
through your home or office as you talk. Computer-to-computer
VOIP is achieved by installing software that you can get
through a provider. You make long distance calls from your
computer, and talk through a microphone that is hooked up to
your machine. All of these services are convenient in their own
ways, but do not have quite the portability that cell phones
offer. That is why the idea of VOIP cell phones is so
appealing. Potentially, it is the best of both worlds:
portability and low cost phone service.

Cost savings is by far the most attractive aspect of VOIP. With
typical VOIP, you can expect to pay anywhere from $19.95 to
$34.99 per month for a service that consists of many features,
including free domestic calls, dirt cheap International calling
rates, Caller ID, Call Waiting, 3-way Calling, among others.
This, of course, is in addition to your current monthly ISP
charge, which for broadband is usually around $40 per month.
The combined cost for your ISP and VOIP services is likely to
still be less expensive than if you were to remain in service
with a traditional telephone company. However, this is not
necessarily the case if you were to switch your cell phone over
to VOIP as well.

Providers that offer VOIP cell phone services usually charge a
monthly fee in addition to a per-minute fee. If you don't use
your cell phone often enough to meet or exceed your current
allotted plan minutes, then it is simply not cost effective for
you to subscribe to VOIP cell phone service. VOIP and cell
phones go well together for those customers that regularly
exceed their plan minutes or make International calls on their
cell phone on a regular basis. And, if your Internet connection
if prone to outages, you could experience the same dropped call
occurrences that you might often get with a standard cell phone
service.

There is no doubt that VOIP is a reasonably priced and
convenient way to bundle all of you communications together.
VOIP service is improving all the time as technologies moves
forward, which will allow providers to offer more reliable and
even more affordable service down the line. Currently, VOIP
cell phone service is in its infancy, and the kinks are being
worked out. If you do the math, and feel that your monthly cell
phone bill would benefit from a reasonable VOIP service plan,
then it is worth the switch. If you do not make International
calls on your cell phone, and you rarely or never go over your
plan's allotted monthly minutes, then you are probably better
off sticking with your traditional cell phone service for now
than putting out more money for VOIP cell phone service.


About The Author: Mark is a director of 3 Internet Companies,
is a published author and has written many articles on a
widespread number of topics. All his articles may be reproduced
provided that an active link is included to
http://www.voip-services-provider.com