FAQs
- About VoIP
- VoIP Terms
- About Us
- Our Service
- Our Plans
1. About VoIP
1.1 What is VoIP?
1.2 Why would I want VoIP?
1.3 What is the quality like?
1.4 How does it work?
1.5 What do I need to make it work?
1.6 Do I need a Router if I want to use
VoIP?
1.7 Do I need a special ISP to use VoIP?
1.8 What if I want a PABX and VoIP?
1.9 How much does VoIP cost?
1.10 How much bandwidth does it require
and/or use?
1.11 Will I get a new phone number?
1.1
What is VoIP?
VoIP stands for "Voice over Internet
Protocol"
and is simply using your Internet connection to make and receive
telephone calls rather than going through wires via a Telephone
Exchange in the traditional manner.
1.2
Why would I want VoIP?
It costs much less than standard Telephone
services, particularly if you make a lot of Interstate and
overseas calls*. As an example most VoIP providers in Australia
consider calls between most capital cities as local (some
even count these as untimed). My office makes lots of these
interstate calls and switching to VoIP has reduced my phone
bill by around 60%.
Also bear in mind if you regularly call the same numbers, most
VoIP providers do not charge for calls between users on the
same service so it can be worthwhile to encourage your regular
contacts to join up with the same provider.
*If you're not a heavy phone user or use it mainly for local
calls and calls to mobile phones then it may be difficult to
justify the setup costs of switching to VoIP even though you
generally will still save money on call charges.
1.3
What is the quality like?
Most of the time (better than 90%) you wouldn't
pick it from a standard phone line, but it's not always perfect.
Sometimes you can experience lag (slight time delay), dropouts
or crackly sound as if you're talking to someone on a mobile
phone driving through tunnels etc, and occasionally one party
may have difficulty hearing the other.
1.4
How does it work?
A traditional phone converts sound to a
electronic pulses via the microphone which then go down a
copper phone line to be reconverted back to sound at the
other end via the telephone speaker*. VoIP takes the process
a step further by converting the electronic pulses to computer
data which can then be sent over the Internet using the TCP/IP
protocol and then reconverted back to an electronic signal
to the telephone. The encoding and decoding process is performed
using an algorithm called a Codec.
A VoIP phone call can be done in two ways:
1. Call other PCs across the Internet directly by IP address.
This can be done with either a softphone or ATA and
doesn't necessarily require a VoIP service provider.
Advantages: free (apart from your ISP).
Disadvantages: You won't have a phone number, you can't make
or receive calls from regular land lines, and most home users
have dynamic IP addresses which change fairly regularly so
it can be a bit of a pain finding your contacts when you need
them.
2. Exactly the same as you make a call now, even using the
same phone that you have now by using a device called an ATA (Analogue
Telephone Adapter) that links your telephone to your Broadband
Internet Connection.
* Quick trivia: To save on the amount
of electronic signal that has to go over the phone lines,
all sound waves below 400 hertz and above 3,400 hertz are
removed which is why voices sound different over the phone.
1.5
What do I need?
First of all you'll need a Broadband Internet
connection. (While it has been done over dial-up the results
are usually pretty ordinary.)
Next, while you can make calls across the Internet connecting
directly by IP address (note: this requires technical knowledge & ability),
most people would want to be able to use their VoIP service
to make and receive calls to and from standard telephone numbers
and use it in exactly the same manner as a normal telephone
service. To do that you'll need a VoIP service
provider.
Finally, you'll need a device to talk into and something to
allow you to hear the person on the other end:
1. Softphones: don't necessarily require
a Router and work using software on your PC and your PC's speakers
and a microphone or a USB Phone or Headset plugged into your
PC.
2. ATAs (Analog Telephone Adapters): plug
into a Router equipped computer network* on one side and accept
a standard analog phone (like the one you're using already
on your copper line) on the other side. ATAs do not require
a PC in order to function but using a PC is usually the easiest
way to configure them when they're first plugged in.
3. IP phones: plug directly into your
Router equipped computer network* and can be thought of as
a phone with an ATA built-in. Like ATAs, IP Phones do not require
a PC to be on.
4. Routers with an ATA built-in. These
are the cheapest option if you need a modem and/or Router as
well.
* Many IP Phones and ATAs can work without
a Router if they're plugged into a modem connected to an
ISP that uses a DHCP connection type like Optus Cable. Mind
you, this would mean nothing else would be able to be plugged
into it (like your PC) at the same time so I can't see that
option suiting too many people.
Some other ATAs and IP phones even have PPPoE clients to connect
to ADSL through a non-routing modem, but again, why bother
when most ADSL modems available now are Routers anyway.
1.6
Do I need a Router if I want to use VoIP?
It depends on what type of VoIP hardware you plan
on using. For softphones, if you just have one PC online and
don't mind using a microphone with the PC's speakers or a USB
phone/headset then a router is optional. However, if you'd
like to use your existing phone (eg cordless) then a Router
with an ATA is the way to go.
If you plan on connecting to VoIP sooner or later then choosing
a Router with a built-in ATA up front will
usually save a few dollars over buying a separate ATA. But
if you'd prefer to use a separate ATA, for example to take
advantage of a better feature set, then I recommend choosing
a Router with QoS to
get the best results. In most cases VoIP will work fine with
just about any Router but QoS provides the ability to give
the VoIP traffic priority so any downloads that might be occurring
at the same time won't interfere with the voice quality.
1.7
Do I need a special ISP to use VoIP?
No, VoIP will work over any Internet connection
that is fast enough to carry the data (ie a Broadband connection).
The only thing to watch is some ISPs that might block some
traffic on low
end ports that might be required by the VoIP protocols.
That being said I am not aware of any ISPs doing this at the
time of writing and since VoIP is a strong selling point for
Broadband Internet connections they'd be shooting themselves
in the feet if they prevented it.
1.8
What if I want a PABX and VoIP?
My office uses an Engin SPA-2000 ATA with
its two lines feeding into an Analog PABX along with two
standard copper lines so we have 4 lines in all to make and
receive calls from. Sweet and simple.
For a larger or more complex situation there's solutions like
the freeware Linux based Asterisk PABX
which can be installed on a PC using hardware from Digium for
the physical interfaces.
Then there's ready made equipment to suit just about any size
and application such as that available from Vodtel.
1.9
How much does VoIP cost?
When looking at costs its important to consider
the costs of getting connected as well as the ongoing charges
once you're up and running.
Getting connected:
1. If you're not on Broadband yet, your Broadband ISP might
charge a connection fee.
2. Signing up with a VoIP provider also usually
draws a connection fee of some sort which varies depending
on whether there's any included hardware.
3. Broadband Router and any VoIP hardware you
would like to use.
Ongoing charges.
Aside from your Broadband Internet connection you'll also have
ongoing charges with your VoIP provider. These are usually
charged in a similar style to Mobile Phone plans with a
rate per call and/or plans that include a certain amount
of calls for a set rate per month.
1.10
How much bandwidth does it require and/or use?
Speed wise, I would generally recommended
that a minimum of a 512/128 kbps connection is used for a
single VoIP line. Any lower and the quality can drop, particularly
if downloading or surfing the web at the same time. For more
than one line, a good rule of thumb that I've found is to
allow around 128kbs upload per line. 128k works fine (using
the light G.729 codec) for one line but when two lines try
to use it I find they both start getting crackly with lots
of dropouts*.
In terms of how much data is consumed per call there are quite
a few variables that make it difficult to gauge accurately.
Different codecs have different consumption rates, the length
of calls vary and times where you're not actually speaking
means that there's no data to transfer. For a very rough idea,
one of the most popular codecs, G.729, has a consumption rate
of just 8kbps which would roughly make a one minute phone call
around 200 Kbytes once all the background traffic and so on
is factored in, which means you'd manage several thousand of
these theoretical one minute calls (or around 80 hours) to
use one gigabyte of data.
Newport Networks have an
excellent WhitePaper on this subject here.
*Note: I came to this conclusion
while using a Sipura SPA-2000 on Telstra Cable which was
capped at 128K upload and the problem went away after switching
to a 256K upload on an ADSL plan. However, I have since learned
that the SPA-2000 can only cope with one G.729 call at a
time. While they can be configured for both lines to use
G.729, in reality once the 2nd line is picked up it doesn't
have the processing power to cope with two G.729 calls at
once so it will switch to a different (and more bandwidth
intensive) codec on that line. So, in reality it just might be
possible to get away with less than 128k per line if you
have an ATA that can cope with two or more simultaneous G.729
calls but without further testing I can't say that for sure
at this stage.
1.11
Will I get a new phone number?
Yes, if you sign up with a VoIP Service
provider you will get a new phone number.
If this will be somewhat of a disadvantage, choose a VoIP Router
or ATA with an FXO port that can receive
calls from both your old number and new VoIP number to the
same handset.
2. VoIP Terms
2.1 What's a softphone?
2.2 What's an ATA?
2.3 What is FXO?
2.4 What is FXS?
2.5 What is SIP?
2.6 What's a Codec?
2.1
What's a softphone?
A softphone doesn't necessarily require
a Router and works using software on your PC with either
your PC's speakers and a microphone or a USB Phone or Headset.
2.2
What's an ATA?
Analog Telephone Adapter. These plug into
a Router equipped computer network on one side and accept
a standard analog phone on the other side. ATAs do not require
a PC to be on to function, although using a PC is usually
the easiest way to configure them when they're first plugged
in.
2.3
What is FXO?
Foreign Exchange Office. Looking at the
phone cable that runs between a phone socket and a phone,
the FXO port is the one that the cable plugs into on the
phone itself.
Routers and ATAs that feature FXO ports allow your existing
copper line to access the same telephone handset so if the
Internet is down or the power is out it will "fail over" to
the old copper line. Many of these products will also allow
an incoming call to either your copper phone number or your
new VoIP phone number to make the same telephone handset ring.
2.4
What is FXS?
Foreign Exchange Subscriber. Using the same
phone cable mentioned above that runs between a phone socket
and a phone, the FXS port is the wall socket. On a Router
or ATA, the FXS port is the new "wall socket" that
you'll be plugging your phone into.
2.5
What is SIP?
Session Initiation Protocol. A protocol
that links phone numbers to IP addresses which allows VoIP
users to call and receive calls using just phone numbers.
2.6
What's a Codec?
Codec is short for Encode/Decode and is
what is needed to convert sound to electronic data and back
again so voice can be sent and received across the Internet.
3. About Us
3.1 Who are we?
3.2 What do we offer?
3.3 What infrastructure do we use?
3.4 What codecs do we use?
3.1 Who are we?
That’s a fairly easy question. Shut
Up is brought to you by the same minds behind www.chompit.com.au, www.oztechnologies.com and www.ozcableguy.com. We
have put together some of the best minds in the business to
make a cost effective business model for a VoIP company.
3.2 What do we offer?
We offer a simplistic service for your home or business with
a personalised edge. A lot of VoIP companies are offering
simply a VoIP service with Voicemail. What we offer is
a completely customisable service based on what you or your
business requires. We have the simplified plans for your
home user right up to plans for your Business that requires
multiple incoming lines and multiple handset extensions.
3.3 What infrastructure do we use?
Our servers are hosted in some of Australia’s leading data
centres. With PIPE backhauls between each of our servers
we have managed to maintain a 99.9% uptime in all states. Our
servers use the well known Asterisk software to provide services
to our customers.
3.4 What codecs do we use?
We use all of the available codecs and you can change these on
each of your extensions in your member area (feature still
to be added and not available to customers as yet). By
default we use G729.a as our standard codec. Please
find below a list of codecs supported.
g723, gsm, ulaw, alaw, g726, adpcm, slin, lpc10, g729, speex,
ilbc
4. Our Service
4.1 How do I signup?
4.2 What payment methods do you accept?
4.3 Do I need a credit card to use your service?
4.4 How do I access the member’s area?
4.5 How do I view my balance and add credit to my account?
4.6 How do I connect my device and start making calls?
4.1 How do I signup?
Signing up is easy. All you need to do is review our plans
and decide which one is best for you and visit our signup
page and follow the prompts from there.
4.2 What payment methods do you accept?
We have two payment methods available.
Direct Deposit – Please note that this service will take
between 12-48 hours for your account to be credited with the
value chosen as we have to wait for your funds to clear to our
account.
Credit Card – We use PayPal to process our credit card
transactions. We currently accept all major credit cards.
4.3 Do I need a credit card to use your service?
If you are signing up for one of our Free accounts, then No you
don’t. If you are signing up for one of our paid
accounts then Yes you do as your card will be charged a monthly
fee associated with costs for your chosen plan.
4.4 How do I access the member’s area?
When you signed up and your account was verified and setup by
a Shut Up team member, you would have been emailed with a username
and password to access our member area. The login box for
our member area is located at the top right-hand corner of every
page on our website.
4.5 How do I view my balance and add credit to my account?
Once you are logged into the members area you will be able to
see your current balance in the black navigation bar just below
the login box. Too add credit into your account you will
need to be logged into the member’s area and then in the
black navigation bar click the link named “Payments”. Once
in the payments page click “Make Payment”. Choose
Credit Card/PayPal or Direct deposit and enter the amount you
wish to credit to your account then click Submit.
Please note that if you choose Direct Deposit you will receive
an automated email with instructions on how to make your payment.
*** IMPORTANT *** - On the automated email there will
be a reference number. You need to enter this number EXACTLY
as it is provided on the email when making your payment through
your financial institution or we may not know where the payment
is coming from.
4.6 How do I connect my device and start making calls?
We have a full list of connection and support questions available for
review on our support page located here.
5. Our Plans
5.1 What are your Home Plans?
5.2 What are your Business Plans?
5.3 I require a Dedicated IP PBX system, can you help?
5.4 I have a specific need for something that
isn’t listed
on your site, can you help?
5.1 What are your Home Plans?
We have two home plans; they are Home 1 and Home 2. Both
of these plans are designed for your average home user that requires
a fantastic quality and cheap VoIP service but without the overheads
charged by some providers.
Home 1 is Free, that’s right Free. All you have to
do is top up your account with credit and start making calls.
Home 2 has a fee attached and offers all the same features as
Home 1 with the added bonus of having a DID (Inbound Telephone
Number) attached to your extension and normal PSTN users can
ring you on.
5.2 What are your Business Plans?
We have a few different Business Plans. Business 1 and
Business 2 are identical to their Home Plan counterparts, with
the exception that they are to be invoiced out to a business
name rather than a personal name.
Business 1 and Business 2 are different in the sense that they
are identical to every other plan we provide in the sense that
they have the same level of service and are fully loaded with
the same features with a few exceptions.
Business 1 has two DIDs (Inbound Telephone Numbers) and up to
5 internal extension numbers in a private pool. The private
pool option means that no shut up member from our normal pool
of extension numbers can contact your private extension numbers. This
is great for businesses that don’t want to be hassled by
other Shut Up members unknowingly ringing your extensions and
tying up your staff. Extra extensions can be added to your
service on request at a small fee.
Business 2 has all the same features as Business 2 with the
exception that is has four DIDs (Inbound Telephone Numbers) and
up to 10 internal extension numbers in a private pool.
5.3 I require a dedicated IP PBX system, can you help?
We most certainly can. We are all about providing customers
with a more customised level of service than the other providers. Feel
free to contact us for a quote for your
setup.
5.4 I have a specific need for something that isn’t
listed on your site, can you help?
We most certainly can. If we don’t have something
listed that you need or have any suggestions for products that
we should offer as standard, let us know. Feel free to
contact us.
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