VoIP allows you to make phone calls differently, with numerous benefits. However, you still need a phone. It encloses both input and output for voice and is the primary interface between the user and also the technology. There are many kinds of phones you'll be able to use with VoIP:

Your existing phones

You might have already invested with serious money in the current phones you employ over PSTN. You can continue to use them for VoIP if you're equipped with an ATA (Analog Telephone Adapter). The essential principle is that the adapter empowers your phone to work with VoIP technology, that merely uses the web to channel the voice data into digital packets.

IP phones

The best phones you'll use with VoIP are IP phones, also known as SIP Phones. These are specifically designed to be used with VoIP, and that they have options and functionalities that typical alternative telephones do not have. An IP phone includes the function of an accessible phone and those of a telephone adapter.

Soft-phones

A soft-phone is a phone that isn't a physical one. It's a software system installed on a PC or any other device. Its interface contains a keypad that you'll be able to use to dial numbers. It replaces your physical phone and doesn't need an adapter to work with, because it is already designed to be used with the web. Example of soft-phone is Zoiper. Communication software system like Skype for Business or Microsoft Teams also have soft-phones included in their interface. Soft-phones may be organised to be used with SIP accounts.

IP handsets

An IP handset is another sort of phone created for VoIP. It's not independent, within the sense that it's designed to be connected to a laptop, to be used with a soft-phone. An IP handset resembles a portable phone and is provided with a USB cable for laptop connection. It has a computer keyboard for dialling numbers. IP handsets are rather pricey and require some configuration to work.

Smartphones and tablets

Nearly all VoIP apps that you install on smartphones and tablet PCs have soft-phones integrated, with a dial pad to compose numbers. Android and iOS are the two platforms that have a lot of VoIP apps. However, there also exists a decent quantity of these apps on alternative platforms like BlackBerry and Windows Phone.  

 

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