There are many benefits to having a VoIP solution, for example:

• One low monthly rental fee.
• There are no unexplained taxes or regulatory fees. You know the ones on your current bill that nobody understands and your local phone provider can't explain.
• Long distance and international calling are much cheaper. The Internet does not care whether you're calling someone who lives a block away or your cousin in Australia. This is why Intense Broadband can give you such great rates for long distance and international calls.
  

The features available with a broadband phone service are incredible.

• Your voice, which is an analog signal, is converted into small packets of digital data and sent over your Broadband Internet connection to your VoIP service provider. This digital data is perfect for the Internet and it means your service provider can do many things with it such as:
• Store incoming calls to voice mail if you do not want to be disturbed by the telephone.
• Send a voice mail to you as an e-mail attachment so you can listen to it on any computer.
• 3-way calling. Many plans allow up to three people in one conference call, allowing you to talk to your entire family at once.
• Offer caller ID and call waiting. These features are often thrown in for free. You would normally need to pay for the privilege with a local phone provider.

There are many other cool features that VoIP offers and it should be remembered that this technology is growing fast so the possibilities are endless.

Although most VoIP service providers have Emergency numbers there are still a few that do not. South Africa currently do not support Emergency numbers.

The biggest disadvantage that skeptics will throw at you is what happens when your power goes out at home or you lose your Broadband Internet connection. You see VoIP relies on having a broadband connection so if that goes down so does your Internet phone service. However, in the days when most of us have a cell phone of some sort, even if it is just "pay as you go", is this really a big issue?

Another option that many people go for is to have a cheap regular local phone service to use just on those rare occasions when you lose your power or broadband connection.

To make a VoIP call the only additional piece of equipment that a typical setup will need is an Analog Telephone Adaptor (or ATA), which is usually supplied by the VoIP service provider when you sign up for service.

This allows you to make phone calls as normal, using your own standard phone. The ATA does the clever conversion of your analog voice to a digital signal that the Internet can understand. It then sends that signal on to your Broadband Modem, which passes it over the Internet.

A typical residential VoIP solution looks like this:

Why is the computer in the picture - you still want your high speed Internet. You can surf the web while your daughter talks to her friends on the phone.

If you have more than one phone in your home the recommended connection is to use cordless telephones. The base station of the cordless telephone plugs directly into the VoIP ATA. The additional handsets can then be placed anywhere in your home, distributing the VoIP phone service to your required locations.

For homes with more than one computer simply connect a router to the ATA instead of the PC in the diagram above. Your computers then connect to the router. Note that many other connectivity options exist for this type of setup.

A high speed internet connection is required, such as iBurst or ADSL.   To use your existing phone you will need a phone adapter to allow connection to your internet connection. This adapter provides the conversion from your analog voice to the digital signal required for internet transmission. Alternatively, you can purchase a special VoIP phone (often called IP Phone), which can be plugged straight into your internet connection with no phone adapter required. You will also have to sign up for a month to month prepaid package through Intense Broadband. 

This is an important question to ask. There are a number of VoIP Service Providers out there and they are increasing every week. Most Service Providers have a selection of plans to choose from and provide various different features, at various different costs. Intense Broadband has partnered with an awesome partner and have been testing the solution for several months before launching it into the South African Market.

Most plans provided by Intense Broadband now allow the user to call any number anywhere in the world, including local numbers, long distance numbers, international numbers, and cell numbers.

Probably the biggest advantage of a VoIP phone service is the cost savings over a traditional phone service. These savings can be substantial, depending on the Service Provider and Plan you choose, and your normal phone usage. Other advantages include feature rich Plans (caller ID, call forwarding, voicemail, call waiting etc), portability (you can take your phone adapter with you and in theory use on any high speed internet connection), and if you have a broadband internet connection you don’t have to maintain and pay the additional cost of a phone line just to make phone calls.

One of the main disadvantages of a VoIP phone service is that it may not work during power outages or outages in your high speed internet connection. Other disadvantages include, emergency dialing may not be provided by some Service Providers, you need a high speed internet connection (DSL, cable etc.), and you may not get a directory listing. It should be noted however that VoIP technology is progressing rapidly, and many of the disadvantages of a VoIP phone service compared with a traditional phone service are being addressed through enhancements.

Typically yes, but our service will only be able to be used from middle of February 2008.

Yes.

No, not if you are using a phone adapter or a special VoIP phone. However, your high speed internet connection must be active for your VoIP service to work.

Most VoIP Service Providers now offer the option to keep your existing phone number if you wish (referred to as number portability). This may vary between VoIP Provider, so check this before signing up for service. This type of information can be found under the Plan Search page for your convenience

Yes. Some VoIP Service Providers provide a Number for Life feature. This means that as long as you stay with your Service Provider you can keep your number, if required, even when you move house locally or to another city/state

Some VoIP Service Providers now offer the customer the option to change their phone number themselves via their Provider web site or by phoning customer service.

Set-up is very simple. We use either iBurst or ADSL to provide you with a phone adapter (if using your existing phone). You simply plug this adapter into your internet connection and your phone into the adapter.

There are four possibilities for adding multiple phones onto your VoIP phone service.

• Using a multiple jack extension connector: You can plug this into your Analog Telephone Adapter (ATA). This will allow you to have multiple phones on a single line, at the location of your ATA device.
• Using cordless phone systems that come with a base unit and additional handsets: The base station of the cordless telephone plugs directly into your ATA. The additional handsets can then be placed anywhere in the house, distributing your VoIP phone service to your required locations.
• Using wireless phone jacks: The base unit connects to your ATA and the wireless jacks plug into your household electrical outlets, in the locations where you want your additional phones. You can then connect each of your additional phones to a wireless jack.
• Using the existing telephone wiring and extensions in your home: This involves disconnecting your phone wiring at the Demarcation Point in your Network Interface Device (typically a grey or black box located on the outside of your house). Once you have disconnected your existing phone line to your home, you can plug your ATA into one of your existing phone extensions. This will then distribute your VoIP phone service to all other phone extensions in your home. It is recommended that you seek advice from an electrician or someone who is familiar with internal telephone wiring on how to best connect your VoIP service to your current wiring to take advantage of your homes multiple extensions. It is also advised that you pre-check the wiring on the jacks to make sure you don't have live PSTN voltage on the jacks before connecting them to the ATA. A simple telephone line tester device can be used for this purpose.