• General Information About VoIP
• What is a DID and why might I need one?
• Do I need a special phone?
• CODEC notes
• Services / Resources which Support the use of SIP standards based VoIP.
• Voxalot (HISTORICAL)
• Sipsorcery (we now use this provider in place of Voxalot)
• VoIP Peering via Sipbroker
• Sipbroker PSTN to VoIP gateway services
• ENUM and e164.org
• Services / Resources which do not support the use of SIP standards based VoIP.
• Problems / Issues / Concerns with Skype
• Recommended Service Providers for VoIP

These ones are known to work well with Sipsorcery and Sipbroker.
• FreeCall –– Australian Based
• Faktortel –– Australian Based
• Callcentric –– American Based
• Other Recommended Service Providers for VoIP

In a nutshell, a DID is a direct in dial number that looks and basically acts like a standard fixed line telephone number.

Most people do not require a DID as they use their existing telephone number for incoming calls. Usually VoIP calls will show up on the receiver's phone as 'private' calls without presenting the calling line identifier (CLID) –– this is due to the call originating from common gateway services of the VSP.

You may want a DID if you do not have a normal landline number (perhaps you have a cable or wireless Internet service instead of ADSL). Or you want to have an additional number or numbers available for incoming calls. A DID effectively provides additional virtual 'lines' without the traditional cost of extra line rental.

NB: having a DID does usually involve some kind of extra fee or at least a montly fee by your VSP.

The short answer is no.

Most VoIP hardware has one or more FXS or ATA ports, these are provided to replace the standard wall socket connection. The ATA equipment acts like a local telephone exchange. Note that a standard analogue phone does include the digital cordless phones that are used in standard household environments.

There are special IP phones, such as the Grandstream BT101, BT102 and GXP2000. These are not the only IP phones out in the real world by they are the most popular at this time. Having a special IP phone can offer addtional features that may not be available using a standard phone with an ATA.

If you do require (or want) an IP phone, please contact us with the make / model details if known and we will see what we can do for you.

Reference: Whirlpool Post G.711 vs G.729 by User: Markovich

G.711 is a lossless compression using approx 90kbps in each direction. For high bandwidth, smooth connections it delivers the same quality as ISDN/PSTN, but can often even seem "better" than PSTN due to reasonably common PSTN quality reduction issues over long line lengths. The downside is that with tighter bandwidths, poor QoS and/or un-smooth connections it drops out more easily and quickly reduces perceived "quality".

G.729 is a lossy compression (eg, I find telling the difference between "f" and "s" can be much harder, and can be problematic with inband DTMF transmission) which uses 1/3 of the bandwidth compared to G.711 and improved error correction. Often delivers "better" quality than G.711 over tighter bandwidth and/or less-smooth connections due to more headroom and superior dropped packet concealment.

The data comparison is that the SIP overheads of both types consume approx 24kbps, while the audio media itself is: G.711 - 64kbps, G.729 - 8kbps (hence the expected difference in audio quality under ideal conditions).

What is VoXaLot?
Voxalot has ceased operation of their VoIP service.

Thankfully, they are maintaining the Voxalot forums as a public resource as well as continuing to operate the Sipbroker service.


The following note is currently on Voxalot's own website:

We are sorry to inform you that due to the rising cost
of operations, we have been forced to discontinue the Voxalot VoIP service.
This change will be effective from December 31st, 2011.

The FORUM and SIP Broker services will remain available to the community.

What is Sipsorcery?


More to be filled in here......

Sipbroker had very close links to Voxalot and continues to operate despite the Voxalot loss of service.

Scroll down on the Sipbroker Whitepages to see potential calling opportunities at zero cost

Indicates peering problems
Notable ones that DO NOT work include: GoTalk, Engin, iiNetPhone, NodePhone

Indicates peering okay, so likely to work fine;
Notable ones that work include: Sipsorcery, FreeCall, Callcentric


ENUM Lookup tool

Sipbroker PSTN to VoIP Gateway Numbers

Allows local access numbers in a huge number of International locations to use this fantastic facility.

About e164.org

• In a nutshell, you can register or find registered numbers which map PSTN numbers to VoIP service numbers;
• any found and matched number may potentially be called via VoIP for zero call cost;
• Also covers some non-geographic number mapping to standard fixed line numbers and/or VoIP service numbers (SIP URI numbers); consequently, calling a 1300 number in Australia which would normally cost 25 or 30c suddenly becomes either a zero cost call or at worst one that is charged at standard fixed line VoIP rates.

• Once you have an account at e164.org you can then help populate the non-geographic lookup database,
• or perform manual lookup tests of the database here.

Sipsorcery and some other service providers do ENUM lookups transparently, thus making savings for you with little or no effort required by yourself directly!

• Proprietary, P2P based, license basically says they can use your Internet connection as they see fit;
• Here is an article on the dangers of Skype [and download quotas]:
  Beware Skype!

There really are better options than Skype, unless you need to call Skype users and can benefit from this 'free' option; but keep in mind the risk of excessive network traffic is not an issue.

It is much better to go with an industry standards based product.

FreeCall has a membership fee of $5 per month, the initial 6 months is paid for upfront during the account setup.

• Calls to Australian fixed line numbers at 1c per minute – excellent particularly for those quick calls!
(option to choose 10c per call also)
• Calls to Australian 13 and 1300 numbers cost 25c per call ...
NB: this was different previously, it is no longer 1c per minute for these call types
 See here for extra information.
• Calls to Australian mobiles at 22c per minute (was previously 25c/min.)
• UK, USA, China at 1 cents/minute (was previously 2c/min.)
• Others please check rates on main page

• There are many signup options, you choose what suits your needs.
• Multiple lines is a significant choice here as well as post paid options.

• Can be used with standard SIP services (including Sipsorcery)
• Provides affordable options for US DID numbers and much more
• Can use as registered Sipsorcery provider without need for software phone.
• Can use used to provide voicemail facility with Sipsorcery