Using the internet to make phone calls instead of using your standard traditional telephones to male calls can save you a fair bit of money but does bring with it a requirement for some technical know how. Before you jump right in and start using the internet to make phone calls you should look in to the pros and cons of using the internet to make phone calls before you spend to much of your money and time on VoIP internet phone alternatives.

Here are some important things to consider:

1. The better/faster your internet connection the better and clearer your internet phone call conversations will be. If you plan on using internet to make phone calls you really need to have a broadband level internet connection and at the very least you must have a minimum speed of 28.8Kbps. Your ISP (internet service provider) and/or dialup modem will have the details you need to find out what speed your internet is running at.
2. In order for you to be able to use the internet to make phone calls in the first place your computer will need a sound card in order for you to hear the conversation. Most computers these days come with soundcards built in as standard. If you are using an older computer you may need to check if it has sound capability. The sounds cards should ideally be at least 16 bits and should also allow recording to take place.
3. You will need speaker & a microphone that are compatible with your computer & sound card. Most sound cards use a 3.5mm jack for most of their inputs and outputs which is compatible with most standard speakers and microphones. If you want to go the extra mile while using the internet to make phone calls you can get yourself a combined headset which is essential a pair of headphone but with a built in microphone that can be positioned in front of your mouth from the headphones themselves. This frees up your hands whilst in a conversation.
4. You need to get yourself VoIP internet telephony software which you can download from the internet. There are many great services that provide this software for free. One such company is Skype. You can read about them and others in our VoIP Phone service reviews section. The software you choose needs to be same or compatible with the software the other people are using that you intend on making the internet calls with.
5. When calling up others with your VoIP intent telephone setup you need to make sure they are online so they will answer your call. You can arrange for them to be online at specified times. Many VoIP intent phone software’s allow you to have a ‘buddies list’ just like in text messenger program where you can see all your buddies online status. You can then use their internet ’status’ to make phone calls to them when they are online.
6. Using internet to make phone calls is fairly straight forward and with most of the VoIP intent telephony software available you get supplied with details instructions on how to go about it. Normally this is simply a process of accessing a certain online server and finding a name from a list of currently-online users.

Some useful VoIP tips:

• In most situations using the internet to make phone calls is done with two individuals who have PCs, internet and compatible VoIP software. However, certain software and services can enable you to make calls to normal offline-telephones like the ones you already have in your home. Some internet telephony services even enable normal telephones to make calls to your computer as it would a normal phone! Usually in order to make these internet to land-line phone calls you will usually incur service charges, however they are very small in comparison to normal telephone call costs.
• To get the best performance and audio quality when using the internet to make phone calls try to get a full-duplex sound card for your computer. Most sound cards will be more than adequate but for the perfectionist in you a full-duplex sound card is the answer for top clarity internet phone calls!

I hope this has helped you to get a better understanding in to using the internet to make phone calls.