VoIP has exploded in popularity over the past year, and there are no signs it will be slowing down anytime shortly.
There will be more and more VoIP companies springing up and giving your phone company and long distance carrier a run for their money. Within the United States, many of the VoIP service providers work on a small either monthly or yearly fee and will give you a little box about the size of a credit card to plug into the USB port of your computer. This is the VoIP jack. Usually, you are assigned a phone number that can either be your primary or a secondary line. This number is the VoIP number people can either call you at or you will be making calls from. You just connect to the VoIP service and then make your phone calls. You do not have to sit in front of a computer. As long as that VoIP jack is connected - you can make all the long distance calls you want within the United States and Canada and talk for as long as you want. This is excellent for both individuals as well as people who work out of the home; you can save thousands of dollars in long-distance and international phone charges.
Another thing to look for when you're shopping around for a VoIP service is if they are available over WiFi. This is great if you travel internationally or in areas where there are limited access phone lines. You simply use the WiFi feature on your cell phone to access the Internet, surf over to your VoIP service provider's WiFi site and make your calls.
If you have friends or family overseas that you want to keep in touch with many VoIP service providers, offer the ability for you to get the VoIP jacks, have a local number assigned and then send them to your friends and relatives. They simply plug in the jack, connect to their Internet connection and using the VoIP jack; they can make a "local" phone call to you. This negates the international calling charges and makes it very easy to stay in touch and talk for longer than a few minutes. You can now afford to remain in the phone until your new baby niece does say something cute, your nephew can sing you the song he learned in kindergarten, and it won't cost you an arm and a leg any longer to keep in touch and talk as long as you like.
Worried about static and those phone connections that sound like the other party is a tunnel shouting? Not an issue with VoIP. Rarely is there any difference between the connection you get over VoIP and your standard land line in fact, most people report the VoIP connections are even clearer than what they are used to hearing on international phone calls placed in the traditional manner.