Getting Started with VoIP

Here are some useful notes to get you started with VoIP. If there's anything you'd like us to add, please let us know.

What Equipment Do I Need?

You do really need a broadband connection to get started with Voice Over IP.

If you have a PC you can use a softphone like xten-lite but really you do need to get a usb headset too. You can get away with an ordinary headset with mini jack sockets, but it's better if you use a usb headset as the sound processing is carried out on the headset and not on the computer's sound card.

If you don't have a machine but have an internet connection then you can get an IP phone, or two. Really an IP phone, which looks just like a traditional phone, is better than a softphone if you have room for it, as it can be "always on" and doesn't get used for other things!

A good phone to get started with is the Linksys 901 or 921, see Linksys VoIP Phones and Accessories.

If you only have wi-fi access then you could get a Wi-Fi SIP phone, or else use a wi-fi connection on your computer.

Who do you want to talk to?

If you want to talk to yourself or prove that you can get two phones connected then you need another phone, hard or soft. Some hard phones can be daisy-chained together so you might not need another ethernet connection. If you have no spare ethernet sockets then you might need to get a small router.

To be able to talk to others on the dial-up network then you need to sign up with a SIP provider, for a list see UK VOIP Providers. Usually you can sign up for nothing and be able to register a phone or phones with them. You will be able to make free calls to anyone registered with them, or possibly with other providers with whom they have an arrangement. Some providers will give you an incoming 0870 or 0871 number for nothing too, which can be useful for experimentation. In order to make outgoing calls to the PSTN network you will have to make a payment - some providers will allow you to do this on a "top-up" basis.

Most providers will have instructions on their web-site telling you how to set up your phone. They may even have an auto-provisioning feature to help you to get started even more quickly!

If you want to be more ambitious see our "Setting Up a VOIP Lab" page.