Been using Skype for a while and have a USB phone, but have been told that VOIP is free to use, unlike Skype which is only free to another PC.

Can anybody shed any light? Best system to use?

VOIP means Voice Over Internet Protocol, so Skype is a version of VOIP. Not sure about other ones, but Skype is only free to other Skype users, plus UK, US and French freephone numbers. I think most of them charge for PC to "real" phone numbers

I have a SIP gateway by Linksys. I also have an account with SIPdiscount which for 10 euros a quarter (which can be used against non-free calls) I can call pretty much any landline number in the world for free day and night.

As it is a gateway attached to the BB router I don't have to touch a PC and in fact I have attached a second DECT base station to mine so I can select the free VOIP line at will from any of the cordless handsets in the house.

VoIP is Voice over Internet Protocol. Its a generic term for turning your voice into data, and then sending the data over the internet to the other party, where it is turned back into sound. And visa versa.

There are lots (and I do mean LOTS) of ways of doing this, some of which are proprietary (eg Skype) and some of which are standardised by various international bodies (eg SIP, and its associated protocols).

SIP is a whole lot more capable than things like Skype, but its a whole lot harder to get set up properly. You tend to find big businesses using SIP, and home users using things like Skype.

Either way, it tends to be cheaper than normal plain old telephony systems :-)

Cheers
Richard

Thanks chaps - I'll look into it some more.