What is Residential VoIP and is it right for your home?

What is Residential VoIP and what are the benefits?

When we talk about Voice Over IP (VoIP) most of us will be thinking about a business phone service rather than the use within the home. But with the majority of homes having high-quality broadband internet connection, your home has a pre-running data network to easily adopt this exciting technology. With the right provider, you can reap the huge benefits associated with a residential VoIP solution. You gain far more features than an old fashioned landline along with reduced costs to keep you in touch with friends and family. By transmitting your conversation through the internet, home VoIP call quality is also usually crisper and clearer.

What call features can you expect with home VoIP?

Standard home VoIP call plans provide homeowners with a variety of leading calling features beyond what a traditional hardware phone package can offer including:

• Video calling
• Address Book
• Call Forwarding
• High voice quality
• Answer phone/voicemail
• Incoming Caller ID
• Number Porting
• Mobile App
• Online Call Log
• Affordable international calling

As you can see the traditional landline phone is a simpler solution but with decidedly fewer features. You may question why you may need VoIP at home. One reason could be for international calling for instance. Calls overseas can rack up your phone bill with hidden fees as well as expensive service charges if you are not signed up to an international calling plan. Another obvious benefit is cost savings; If you decide on a VoIP calling solution for your home, you can benefit from robust features at a fraction of the cost, compared to a traditional landline. The standard VoIP subscription fees are often on a rolling basis and often end up saving you money in the long term by providing free or lower cost calls as part of a price plan deal. If you have friends or family who require you to make international calls or you call at peak times, then residential VoIP is a sensible, affordable and reliable communication solution for you.

But how do you find the right home VoIP provider?

There are numerous guides to help you find the right Residential VoIP provider, and it is important to not be oversold. Some VoIP plans can be expensive with add on features that simply are not required for home use. You should select a supplier that is reliable, experienced and provides a simple solution that is affordable. Ensure you look at all the listed features against each potential provider. Review and understand whether the countries you need to call have an unlimited calling plan. International calling plans are often stated on each supplier’s website. Those suppliers who don’t clearly advertise their calling and minute plans should potentially not be considered as a reasonable VoIP solution for you. You can always review testimonials and review sites for feedback against your chosen shortlist.

Why should you consider VoIP at home?

If you want to feel closer to loved ones and see your family members while you are calling them, then VoIP at home offers you that benefit through video calling or conferencing. Zadarma is a popular home VoIP solution as it is simple to use, very well priced and offers a range of additional features such as call forwarding and recording, all free of charge. It is simple to make voice calls, video calls or send texts to any friend or family wherever they are in the world. You, of course, will need to get used to your new device and communication set up with VoIP at home, as you would through any new technology switch over. However, once users have fully adopted residential VoIP and got familiar with using it, users say they never look back! The use of VoIP at home for calling family and friends is a low cost, efficient phone service that all the family can enjoy allowing you to feel closer to your friends and relatives through high-quality communication.