A VoIP phone is one that works with a VoIP phone service to make calls over the internet. VoIP, or voice over IP, is a telephony technology that standardizes the way phone calls are broken into pieces (packets) and transmitted over networks that follows Internet Protocol (IP) rules.

Any VoIP phone must have the built-in intelligence to identify itself on the network and be able to encode and decode calls per the VoIP standard. A VoIP phone may be a piece of equipment sitting one a desk (a hardware VoIP phone), it may be made up of software running on a computer that turns the computer speakers and microphone into a phone (software VoIP phone or softphone), or it may be an application running on a cellular phone that make Wi-FI calls.

A VoIP phone service is an integral part of using a VoIP phone. A VoIP phone must be registered with some VoIP phone service provider in order to work. VoIP phone service providers may specialize in basic phone service or they may provide full business-level PBX functionality, allowing multiple phones to work together in a business environment. Some only do VoIP, others are mainly dedicate to traditional telephony using the copper-wire Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), and others fully embrace both technologies.

At Virtual PBX, we believe in flexibility. The choice to use a VoIP phone or a traditional analog phone should be left up to the user. We support and endorse both technologies. We also believe in the power of open standards. Our clients can use a VoIP phone registered to Virtual PBX or another provider, analog phones on landlines, cellular phones, or any other type of phone.