Discuss “How Things Work: Voice over Internet Protocol”

When was the last time you tried shopping for a phone card to get in touch with a loved one abroad? As the digital age continues to rise, you can wave goodbye to long distance analog phone calls and turn your attention to a cheaper and easier way of communication. Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, is a method for taking analog audio signals, like the kind you hear when you talk on the phone, and turning them into digital data that can be transmitted over the Internet.

How is this useful? VoIP can turn a standard Internet connection into a way to place free phone calls. The practical upshot of this is that by using some of the free VoIP software that is available to make Internet phone calls, you are bypassing the phone company and its...