VoIP, not the sound your corduroy pants make

VoIP actually stands for "Voice over Internet Protocol" also known as Internet telephony. VoIP turns analog telephone signals into digital signals which can be sent over the Internet. Phone calls using V0IP can be made cheaply or in some cases freely over the Internet with the only charge being the one from your ISP (Internet Service Provider).

• VoIP Wiki - What is VoIP
• How VoIP Works (Howstuffworks)

That last link has a marvelous description of the three different ways to take advantage of this technology. You need either an ATA (analog telephone adapter) which connects your analog phone to your computer, an IP phone (which I saw for the first time yesterday in a local gadget store) or a computer with speakers, a microphone and a sound card. Being the geek that I am, I decided to purchase a PC headset (headphones with a boom microphone) instead of the microphone only. These can be had quite cheaply from most computer stores. My husband, a sound geek, says that you get what you pay for with this technology so spend more if you can afford it. If you're really keen, I'm happy to give you the specs from my headset as an idea of what to look for in the mid-range between super cheap - broadcast quality. I've known about this technology for some time. My mother became interested in it as a cheaper way to place long distance phone calls to family. I was quite skeptical about this technology as something a library might be interested in until I started noticing blogging librarians with posts entitled "Skype Me!". Steven M. Cohen - Librarystuff.net - Skype Me Michael Stevens - Tame the Web - Skype Sherri Vokey - shwagbag - Skype Me (updated links. thanks Sherri) Skype is free Internet Telephony software. It also has a fee-based component which allows you to use this technology to call ordinary telephones. I have been waiting to purchase my headset before joining in! My Skype nickname is cacemlis (click on my nickname to contact me if you are already a Skype user). Caveat Telemarketers and spam will find you where ever you are! Check out these articles before you think all is rosey with this technology. VoIP to Fuel Plague of 'Dialing for Dollars' By Michael Singer of internetnews.com [link via Slashdot] Skam artists usher in Skype spam by Barb Dybwad from engadget