In the past couple of years, I have done a lot of traveling, as do so many people in our industry. There is one technology that stands out in my travels, and I would like to share it with others in the industry: VOIP.

Simply put, VOIP is telephone calling over the internet. You need a broadband connection, but most hotels these days are either offering free broadband internet, or broadband for a low cost, so high speed internet is becoming ubiquitous. I have even experienced locations that did not offer either land or cell phone lines, however had a wireless internet connection. VOIP can save production and crew hundreds of dollars on location. Voip rates are much lower than both traditional telco lines, and much, much lower than hotel rates.

Internet phone companies usually act either as a traditional calling card company, a traditional land line company, a video phone company, or a combination of these.

I have been an early adopter, even a pre-release product tester, for some of the VOIP companies out on the market. Here are my favorites:

Regular VOIP phones for people on the go. There are two here that I like: 

The packet 8 system mentioned below - requires a router to use in your hotel room.

http://www.packet8.net/about/video.asp 

http://www.packet8.net/about/bplans.asp#virtualoffice