Hooking up VoIP is no cakewalk

Hooking up a traditional telephone is pretty easy. Your house is wired for it. You can buy a standard telephone at the store of your choice and then plug it into the jack that is already in the wall. VoIP is different. Installing your first VoIP line is less difficult than replacing the wiring harness in a 1966 Buick Electra, but somewhat more difficult and even less intuitive than programming your 1986 VCR. You will probably have to disconnect your existing phone wiring from the phone company at the demarcation point and connect your Analog Telephone Adapter to the nearest telephone jack. This should work, but it might not because sometimes telephone jacks are wired improperly because early phones were so forgiving. Look to the guy with the most pencils in his pocket at Radio Shack for the connectors and advice you will need.

About Phil Yanov

Phil Yanov is a Technologist, Columnist and Public Radio Commentator.

He is the founder of Tech After Five as well as the founder and President of the GSA Technology Council and the IT Leadership Council.

His personal technology column appears in Greenville Business Magazine and the Columbia Business Journal.

He co-hosts the Your Day technology shows heard on NPR radio stations across South Carolina and is a frequent contributor to technology stories appearing on radio and television.