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Telephone bills can add up, especially if a person makes a lot of long distance calls. Fortunately, thanks to advancing Internet technology there is an excellent calling alternative when people want to save on long distance. This alternative is called VoIP, (Voice over Internet Protocol). With VoIP voice travels through one's Internet connection rather than the phone line.

VoIP's main advantage lies in its extremely discounted price, if the service even charges anything. Free VoIP setups are typically the case when computer-to-computer communication is used, though there are a few computer-to-phone services available that are also free. In a VoIP arrangement where a price is charged, the fee is nominal, though can vary in payment method. For example, some VoIP services will work like a calling card or a prepaid cell phone. Users buy a certain number of minutes, with the amount being significantly higher than what would normally be available through calling cards or prepaid cell phones. Minutes for international calls might be slightly more expensive, but not much more. Other VoIP payment arrangements involve a person paying a monthly or annual subscription fee. These fees can range from $20 to $200, though the average price is around $25. In a subscription arrangement users get an unlimited number of long distance calls.

So, how does one go about finding a VoIP provider? They can start by investigating the VoIP services offered by their Instant Messenger. This is because most of the major messengers, (including Yahoo, AOL and MSN), will allow for some form of VoIP communication. Yet, if a person is not satisfied with what is available with their messenger, they could do a greater search by making inquires on a search engine. The best keywords to use are 'VoIP', 'free Internet calls' or 'Internet calling.' The quotation marks should be included, since they help tell the search engine to look just for these specific phrases. Alternatively, they could do searches on some of the most well-known VoIP services, such as Skype, Vonage and Ooma.

Once a provider has been found, a person will need to set up their computer for VoIP communication. There are two ways this is done. The first way involves using a microphone or headset for communication. The second way involves getting a VoIP telephone. Both methods work the same way when it comes to setup, at least if a person is using USB versions, (which is the most common format for modern-day computer devices). Anyway, with a USB connection, all a person has to do is plug in the device and it is automatically ready for use. Some additional configurations may need to be done within the VoIP service itself, so that the phone or microphone are detected, but this usually isn't hard to do.

In conclusion, if a person is interested in saving money on their phone bill, they should look no further than VoIP communication. The service is cheap and pretty much easy to use and set up. The only downside is that sometimes the voice quality is not as good, but this can be greatly improved if a person uses DSL or cable Internet.