Residential Virtual Phone Service
What equipment is needed with your broadband telephone service
Residential Virtual Phone Service: What equipment is needed with your broadband telephone service
To place a phone call using a virtual phone service you only need a couple of important pieces of equipment, in most cases one of which is provided by your chosen residential broadband telephone provider when you sign up for your VoIP service and the other by your Internet service provider (ISP).
- Analog Telephone Adaptor (ATA) – enables you to use your existing standard telephone to make and receive phone calls using residential virtual phone service. The ATA converts the analog signal sent over traditional telephone wires (copper or fiber optic) into the digital signal that can be transmitted over a broadband telephone connection. Cordless phones are easier to hook up to a VoIP ATA than wired phones as the cordless phone’s base station can plug directly into it.
- Broadband Modem – the device that sends and receives that digital signal over the Internet. If you already have broadband Internet service, then you already have a broadband modem too.
Not Quite Equipment, But…
While not an actual tangible piece of equipment, it’s worth mentioning in this article that you cannot have virtual phone service without also having an active broadband Internet connection. That can be DSL, cable, or satellite, but not dial-up.
The Difference in VoIP Equipment
Quite possibly, you’ve visited several residential broadband telephone service websites and seen a jolting array of complicated-sounding equipment. If so, you may be doubting our assertion that all you need that you probably don’t already have is an ATA. But it’s true.
Most of the VoIP “equipment” you see for extra cost for business and residential broadband telephone alike are different types of ATAs. (The exception to this is VoIP phones, which, like smartphones, are a whole other story.) Just as there are different kinds of printers, with different abilities, characteristics, and levels of quality and durability, so are different ATAs geared towards increasingly higher powered telephone users.
So, when signing up for residential virtual phone service, ask yourself how much oomph you really need from your VoIP equipment. In most cases of residential VoIP service, the one included upon sign up with a residential broadband telephone provider should suffice.
And, incidentally, just as you would with buying a printer, think long and hard before you succumb to buying used VoIP equipment.
VoIP Phones
A brief word on the subject of VoIP phones – they’re neat and nifty, but they’re being upgraded and outdated every day. One day we’ll telecommunicate using virtual phone systems more than we do using wireless cellular service. When that day comes, and VoIP phones start coming into their own, the time will be ripe to own one. Until then, you can enable any cell phones and smartphones with broadband Internet capability or Wi-Fi to make and receive VoIP calls just fine.
When Your VoIP Equipment Arrives
Even the most technologically-challenged person can get a residential virtual phone service up and running in no time. In fact it’s literally as easy a 1-2-3!
- Connect your ATA to your broadband modem or broadband router.
- Plug your phone into the ATA.
- Use your phone as normal.
Optional Equipment
You can enjoy broadband telephone service just fine with just the equipment listed above, though for added comfort and convenience, you can also consider the following optional add-ons:
- Additional handsets
- Headsets/hands-free VoIP phones
- Computer – for placing and receiving VoIP calls over a PC or laptop instead of a phone
- Router – to connect a single broadband Internet connection to both an ATA and at least one computer (PC or laptop)
- Battery backup – you can buy a battery backup for your ATA or purchase an ATA that has a battery backup built in. Either way, you protect yourself from power outages, the only circumstance in which VoIP calls cannot be made or received.
Beyond all that, the only other thing you need to get up and running with VoIP is service with a residential virtual phone provider!
View our list of the best VoIP providers