Many of us subscribe to expensive phone plans which do nothing but provide us with a phone service in our own homes. The recent interest of consumers in VoIP based solutions instead of PSTN ones for cost reasons has made people wonder just how far one can go in replacing the traditional home phone experience. Services such as MagicJack have become more and more popular and many companies such as Vonage are showing an interests in providing VoIP services to the masses.
The problem is that VoIP requires a fundamentally different type of phone compared to the one required by the plain old telephone system. This is because VoIP runs on Internet connectivity instead of the dedicated phone lines provided by the telephone service. While the old phone is an analog device, the Internet is digital. So VoIP phones are designed to handle digital voice data and not analog data. However, many people already have phones which they like and VoIP phones are expensive. There are two different ways to get a cordless phone working with VoIP so you can roam around your house without paying huge monthly fees.
The first method is to subscribe to a VoIP service that includes a complimentary cordless phone. This might be the easiest way for you to go. Skype for example has a cordless phone that specifically works with its service and its proprietary protocols. Of course, given the closed nature of the Skype protocol, this is the only way to use Skype by roaming around on a dedicated handset.
The second method is to purchase an ATA adapter for your cordless phone which then plugs into your Internet connection thereby allowing you to seamlessly use VoIP without any problems. Of course, not all ATA adapters are the same and you should use one that is compatible with the VoIP service you're using. Most VoIP services these days have settled on the SIP protocol so if you get an adapter that works with that you should be ready to go.
This is a great way to harness your home Internet connection for use with your cheap cordless system that always sits at home. Smartphone users can of course piggyback on their wi fi connection which most likely exists throughout the house so there's no need for any special equipment.
Ultimately VoIP is about flexibility. There are multiple ways to achieve the same thing and this is in keeping with the nature of the Internet itself of which VoIP is a byproduct.
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