The May Weekend spot looked at making telephone calls using Voice over
IP. VoIP is a great idea and can save you money but there are a few
traps to watch.
When choosing a VoIP provider you need to look at what their plans
offer. Some will give cheap local calls, others will give cheap international
calls. Before entering into a plan, make sure it meets your needs.
We've put together a page explaining VoIP
and what you should look for.
One of the biggest traps is choosing the wrong Internet provider. Voice
over IP requires a good quality and reliable connection. So it's important
to get your ISP right and we show what to look for on our Choosing
an ISP page.
Listeners questions
As usual we had plenty of callers. If you missed out asking a question
about a computer problem, you still can at our IT
Queries website.
Poor office VoIP
A good example of not choosing the right Internet connection was John's
office. John asked why his office connection was so bad.
The reason for this is almost certainly because the office Internet
connection is inadequate for the task. It's important to choose an Internet
connection with the right speed and capacity.
All too often we find businesses try to struggle along on a domestic
connection that simply doesn't cut it, put Voice over IP into the mix
and the problems soon become apparent.
VoIP on satellite
Ryan asked about using Voice over IP on his farm using a generator
and a satellite connection.
The inverter with a generator shouldn't be a problem. Just make sure
the equipment is protected by a UPS.
The bigger problem is the satellite connection. Satellite Internet
has a long latency, the time to get a reply from the other end. As a
consequence the performance of VoIP may be pretty poor.
We'd suggest taking up a plan with a 30 day money back guarantee and
seeing how well it works.
Computer rebooting
Alan asked about his computer rebooting. This has started after he had
his graphics card and memory upgraded.
This almost certainly indicates a problem with the upgrade, it could
be something as simple as a part not properly plugged in.
Generally though, this sort of problem is often due to overheating.
It's worthwhile getting your computer tech to
clean out your computer on a regular basis.
Upcoming shows
Our apologies to callers we couldn't get to, if you'd still like to
ask a question visit our IT Queries website.
The next ABC 702 Weekend spot will be on June 29 at 10am.
