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Voice over internet protocol (VoIP) is going to be a key aspect of 4G monetisation, it has been claimed.

According to Wireless 20/20, 4G operators may be able to win a financial advantage over traditional telecoms firms by pushing ahead with the widespread roll-out of wireless VoIP solutions.

The company claimed that network operators could see a huge return on investment if they introduce cloud-based communications applications, however, many operators may want to implement an in-house solution so they have more control over its ultimate direction.

In its Maximising Operator Value from VoIP Services report, Wireless 20/20 noted that 4G operators will also have to introduce a number of value added services if they are to compete with more established industry players.

'Operators deploying VoIP over 4G networks are faced with a critical decision as to whether they should build and manage an in-house VoIP platform or partner with a cloud-based, hosted VoIP solution provider,' Wireless 20/20's principal consultant Haig Sarkissian said.

Alex Ferdman, Telinta's chief executive officer, recently told TMCnet.com that cloud computing has helped fuel the mobile VoIP market and the trend is only set to continue as VoIP becomes the de facto communication tool of the future.

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VoIP or internet phone is a not a new technology. However, there are different types of VoIP providers that offer their services to the internet phone subscribers. Today we will be having a look at all the different available options to see which one is the best for you. Let us go through all the different VoIP phone service types out there.

Free VoIP services

Free VoIP services fall into two different categories. The first ones are the free VoIP services that are offered by the chatting services of big messengers. This type of phone service needs you to have their software installed on both computers from which you want to communicate with each other. This service has been around for many years now and is commonly used by many people. However, you need to have a computer and the software to use it. The other category of VoIP service, which is offered free of cost is just named as a free VoIP service, but instead it is not difficult to determine that under the surface both of these free VoIP services are the same. These services try to attract the phone subscribers by their free offers but they have many different limitations, which make them less ideal to be used as regular phone services. They may be beneficial for a limited type of use but again they also don't deliver in terms of the quality that they promised to their subscribers. Another serious drawback is that the free VoIP services usually work in some countries and you won't be able to use them to make phone calls worldwide.

Dedicated VoIP services

There are different dedicated VoIP services out there. In order to understand what each of these VoIP providers will offer, we will have a look at each, one by one.

By Rajani Baburajan
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While recent research from In-Stat finds that small business spending on wireline voice services will approach $16 billion by 2015, that number may be threatened by the increased use of VoIP services and VoIP equipment purchases.

According to In-Stat, the figure represents nearly 50 percent of the entire wireline voice services spending. Small businesses that have five to 99 employees account for around half the GDP and more than half the employment in the U.S.

Among these businesses, the hospitality and food vertical will spend the most on wireline voice services, reaching $2 billion by 2012, according to In-Stat's research titled, "US Business Spending by Size of Business and Vertical, 2010-2015: Wireline Voice Services.

However, wireline voice services could be hit by alternate technologies like VoIP, which reduces the costs of international long distance communications.