Going Mobile

The world loves technology- mobile technology that is. Everyone is in a hurry, on the go, and very busy. People were thrilled when the pager hit the market, and people were notified that they needed to stop what they were doing, find a payphone, and return an important call. Those days seem long gone, replaced by the mobile cellular phone. Mobile phones were a great improvement to American life, and life worldwide, where now not only did you have a device that replaced the pager, but you could save yourself a trip, and return a phone call at your choosing.

Cellular phones have seen their own evolution throughout the years. Today's cell phones contain many more options then the original versions. For instance, you can use your cellular phone as a digital camera, play video games, browse the Internet, read E-mail, listen to MP3 music files and radio music, and now you can even watch movies. You can do all of this with your mobile phone, as well as use your phone for it's main purpose- communication.

Today, many people are tired of the high cost of using mobile phone service and they are continually looking for more cost effective ways to get the most out of their mobile experience. As computers have embraced wireless technology, and laptops can travel online in major cities, people have been looking at applying the same wireless technology to mobile phones.

Telephone services have long existed as circuit switched networks that ran off of electric circuits. Today, with the onset of High Speed Internet, people have changed the way they use telephones. One of the biggest changes to ever hit the telephony industry is VoIP. VoIP is the technology known as Voice Over Internet Protocol. VoIP enables consumers to access the Internet and conduct phone calls. When VoIP first hit the market, no one was sure how it would fare. The audio quality wasn't the best and people weren't sure if anyone other than tech users and programmers would be interested in using their computers to make phone calls. However, VoIP offered a feature that could not and would not be overlooked and ignored- the ability to make unlimited free long distance calls.

When VoIP first appeared on the web, there were many programs available that would allow users to make free, unlimited long distance calls. As people explored these options it became apparent that there was indeed a valuable market for VoIP. Slowly, the free VoIP services gave in and began to charge monthly fees. Today, there are only a few truly free VoIP services available on the Internet and most of the Internet free VoIP programs have been reserved for various Instant Messaging programs.

Slowly but surely, VoIP providers began gaining recognition and respect and people began dropping their local telephone provider in favor of the new and more cost efficient VoIP. Commercials began to appear advertising how people can lower there monthly telephone bills, make unlimited free long distance calls, and also receive all of the usual "paid" features bundled with their VoIP plans, again at no extra cost. Business began booming and VoIP customers began to embrace this new era of telecommunications.

As with any telephone service, the idea of VoIP being limited to indoor use only was not user friendly or profitable. Currently, many VoIP providers are offering, or in the stages of providing mobile VoIP services. The technology is still relatively new and there are some major issues to work out. For instance, overall VoIP has redefined the nature of the meaning "telephone". The US Government is racing against consumer demand to try to regulate VoIP- yet they haven't even addressed the issue that VoIP is by its infrastructure, completely different that Public Switched Telephone Networks (your local telephone service).

As these issues become more apparent, more regulations and demands are being placed upon VoIP, and yet through it all, the technology continues to advance, and more products and services are being developed. What the future holds for VoIP is exciting and thrilling as we see 100 years of technology being redefined before our eyes. A central core issue relating to VoIP is the fact of how users can be integrated into the 911 systems.

While that is still being looked at, products that will increase consumer's mobility by combining cellular and VoIP are being developed.