WHAT TO WATCH OUT FOR
Despite many advantages, Internet-based calling faces technical and political roadblocks that may affect you if you opt to go with it.

Technical
First of all, plugging in to Internet phones requires gear that not every household has. You must have an always-on broadband connection, either DSL or cable, and you need a spare Ethernet port on your hub or router to plug the Internet phone gateway into.

If your network connection goes out or the power to your network equipment fails, your Internet phone dies too. You can insure against power outages with an uninterruptible power supply, but if your ISP is less reliable than your phone service, keep that in mind if you'll be relying on your VoIP phone. New products, such as Actiontec's Phone Wizard, can help you bridge the gap between VoIP and traditional telephone services. Actiontec's device lets you manually switch back and forth between VoIP calls and standard telephone calls from a standard phone.

Since VoIP phone numbers move with your phone, not with the jack the phone is plugged into, calls to emergency services (911) won't automatically go to a local emergency call center. Until recently, in fact, 911 calls were not available on many hosted VoIP services. Today, 911 handling can be turned on, although you need to register your phone so that the call is routed to the right location. Also, when you make an emergency call, you will still have to say where you are, since that won't pop up on the operator's screen. All this may change soon--a number of Bells and Baby Bells are looking into opening their 911 calling infrastructures to VoIP providers. In particular, Verizon announced plans to test this setup in New York City this summer, the outcome of which will determine whether Verizon opens up the rest of its network.

If you have DSL and want to keep your phone number, you might have a challenge because DSL usually has a phone number attached to it. You can't typically turn off the number without interrupting your DSL service. You can, of course, get a new number from your VoIP provider, and this may be what you want to do anyway if you're looking for a VoIP line to expand your phone system. Today, Qwest and Covad offer DSL without a phone number attached (this is called naked DSL). If you're a cable-modem customer, this isn't an issue.

Political
The FCC greased the way for Internet phone service by exempting VoIP from the regulations and the taxes applied to regular telephone service. That's why Internet phone calls are cheaper than regular calls: Internet phone carriers don't have to pay the same taxes for 911-center or federal wiretap-access maintenance.

The reasoning behind the FCC's platform is sound: innovation grows more quickly when regulations and taxes are kept at bay. And there is a lot of innovation ahead in Voice over IP.

But vast and powerful forces are arrayed around telephony, and the current state of affairs is being maintained, in part thanks to ongoing hearings in Washington, D.C., as well as pressure from technology lobbies. Facing off against them are players in the telephone industry that claim that VoIP has an unfair advantage because of its regulatory exemptions. And taxation isn't the only roadblock Internet telephony companies will have to navigate: as of this writing, the FBI has proposed that Internet providers, including VoIP companies, provide wiretap access, which could require rearchitecting how these services work.

For an up-to-the-minute look at the status of Internet telephones and how this could affect you, see News.com's ongoing coverage of this topic.

The future
Though Internet phone service gives you features and performance that traditional phone systems can't offer now, this disparity won't last forever. Already, IP is used by the major telephone companies to carry an increasing amount of voice traffic on their own networks, and a number of them have already rolled out Internet phone service directly to their customers, including AT&T, Qwest, and Verizon.

Moving voice to a fully digital platform means that innovation will continue to accelerate, and small, nimble companies will continue to come out offering new communications services. Teleconferencing, videoconferencing, and collaboration applications may soon be available as part of your integrated IP-based voice communications package.