Got me first IP phone today! I bought two actually and I’m going to mail one to my brother, so that I can save on daytime cell phone minutes.
anyone here into this kind of stuff? I have lots of questions…
jeff
what’s an IP phone?
It’s a phone that plugs into an internet connection. Use it to place calls over the internet. You can call other IP phones worldwide for free. Or you can purchase a service to call any phone world wide for a fee that’s much cheaper than long distance.
I’m just messing around with this stuff. I’m trying to figure out how to call into an online database and interact with a menu. You know, typical customer service stuff - but in my case, I want to do fun stuff like call a phone number to trigger the sending of a newsletter.
jeff
That sounds cool. Can you program it to make the speakers on your computer ring when you receive a call?
Not with my phone since it looks and acts just like any other phone accept that it has an IP address and connects over the Internet rather than a phoneline. But there are softfones, which is software running on a PC which can be used to place IP phone calls.
Here’s where you can get a free number and use their free service.
http://www.freeworlddialup.com
I have an account too which my IP phone uses.
Do you have to have an IP phone to use the free service or do you just use your micophone and speakers like the Phone services on Yahoo messenger?
If you don’t have an IP phone then all you need is microphone, speakers and a download their client software is all you need. Yeap, just like Messenger.
Jeff, maybe the forum at broadbandreports.com will be of some use?
http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/voip
Good luck with your new gadget!
hm…
my friend has something similar.
but it’s an adaptor that plugs a regular phone into a cable modem… and then he pays for the service and it’s cheaper than a land line. i can’t remember what it’s called…