VoIP Functionalities: Starting With The Basics

Having an advanced device like a VoIP phone can bring you a lot of advantages. You must know that you can use your VoIP device in the same way that you can use your land phone line or your mobile phone. VoIP phones are designed with integration of all the major functions of a phone, be it a cell phone or a land line phone.

Such features can be found in VoIP phones, as well as in other types of similar devices. You can find out who calls, with caller ID, you can use functions like call waiting, call blocking or call forwarding, you can redial the last number with a special command, you have access to voicemail, fax and special number services like 911.

The good news is that you do not have to specifically ask for all these, as they are included in any VoIP package. Usually, you do not get charged extra for obtaining access to them.

Here are the basic features contained in a VoIP package:

How Does Caller ID Work?

When you get a call from someone, the caller ID function will show you who calls, with details like name and number. All this information is shown on your screen and it is easy to read. If you have the caller’s name in your phone book, saved on the telephone, you will see the name and the number. If the person is unknown, you will only see a telephone number. Some networks allow to see the name of the person calling, if you two are part of the same network.

This feature is usually named caller ID, but there are many variations that are used in different parts of the world. For instance, in Canada, it is called call display, while in other regions, terms like CLIP – or Caller Line Identification Presentation-, CLID (Call Line Identity) and Call Capture are more usual than caller ID. Different networks suggest different names for caller ID. The ISDN network users prefer the term CLI, or Calling Line Identification.

Why You Need A Voicemail

If you are too busy to stay on the telephone all day, but you still have to receive important calls that cannot be missed, then the voicemail is the answer for you. With this feature, you no longer have to worry about that. With usual phone devices, when you do not answer your phone, an answering machine will take over the call and it will record what the persons on the other end wants to transmit to you. With VoIP devices, the things are a little different. All the voice messages are saved in the network. When you want to listen to them, you also use the network where they are stored.

The voicemail activates after the caller lets the phone ring for several rings. If you do not get to the phone or you cannot answer for various reasons, the call will be redirected to your voicemail.

How To Send And Receive A Fax With VoIP

Faxing important documents or is not something unusual. Businesses and even regular people use it, through the means of telephone networks. With VoIP technology, this feature can also be used and it is called IP Faxing. This works like this: your VoIP phone will get the fax message through the Internet or it will send it in the same fashion. From there, the fax signal is taken over by the fax servers. They are responsible for transferring the data forward to a telephone network and into a faxing machine.

Using 3-Way Calling With VoIP

For many years now, the possibility of talking over the phone to more than one person in the same time changed the way communication works between people. You can actually hold a little conference of your own with the 3-way calling capability of your VoIP phone. You can speak to up to three different persons in the same time and they can speak to each other, as well. A more advance feature is telephone conferencing that allows the participation of more than three people.

This is the same road that 3-way calling is following. It is expected to have multiple-way calling capability in the future.

Keep The Unwanted Away With Call Blocking

Keeping away the people that you do not wish to call you is quite easy when you use VoIP. The feature allowing you to do that is called call blocking and it is very useful when needed. What you need to do is to add the name and the phone number of the caller you wish to keep away into a blocking list. Your phone will never ring again when called by that person.

Filtering calls is nothing unusual for people that are very busy and that cannot speak to anyone that wants to speak to them.

Another Basic Feature: Call Waiting

Another basic feature for VoIP is call waiting. This is a classic feature, that has already helped a lot of people. Whether is a case of pure coincidence, or you are on the phone talking for long periods of times, you may miss important calls. So, call waiting is for those that need to avoid missing calls. What call waiting does is to keep a person on the line, while you talk to another.

All these basic features are encountered in land networks and mobile phones. VoIP is known for having extended capabilities, which are granted by the relation between VoIP and Internet.