Let?s be honest, if you?re still using a pink Princess rotary phone, the explosion in communication technology has really passed you by and you?ve got a major learning curve to overcome. But if your only association with the Princess phone is viewing it in faded pictures from your on-line ffamily photo album, VoIP could have a place in your life.

For those new to this acronym, VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol ? which means nothing more than sending your call through your Internet connection instead of through telephone lines. What takes place behind the scenes is complicated, but for you the changes are pretty simple: Yank the phone cord from the jack in the wall and plug it into a port on your computer, install some software, and start saving money. That?s right ? SAVE money.

The biggest selling point for VoIP is its lower cost. You save money because your provider is sending your calls over the Internet using software that sends your call along the least congested and least exppensive route. They pass these savings along to you. For many, the cost of VoIP for both local and long distance can be less than the cost for local service alone. In addition, you save money directly because calls sent over the Internet are not subject to communication taxes. To see what you can save, check your last telephone bill.