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VoIP Services
Most services today that exploit VoIP use the name of VoIP as part of some sizzle or secret sauce. In this market it is easy to get confused. No sooner do you think you know what VoIP service is than you hear of something different. It is confusing even to those who know VoIP, so don't feel bad about being confused.
Broadband Telephone Service
One of the most visible telephone service options is broadband telephone service. You can probably hum the Vonage theme from Kill Bill (maybe there is a double meaning there?). It is presented as a replacement for your traditional telephone service. There is literally no end to market entrants with this concept; 8x8/Packet 8, Broadvoice, Sunrocket, Viatalk, Lingo, AT&T Callvantage, and on and on. Vonage is clearly the advertising leader, but in a market with few barriers to entry that may be the difference.
The basic proposition is plug your phone into an adapter that connects to your DSL or cable data service. Of course this can also be offered with adapter technology built into phones or into your Internet router box. These services operate over the same Internet connection that is your data connection.
The adapter converts voice into data packets (VoIP) and connects to the service provider's equipment, somewhere on the Internet. From there the service provider generally connects into make any number of network terminating providers. Wholesale operators on the network side have no end of service options available to complete calls.
These services depend entirely on your broadband Internet connection whether cable, DSL or other. You get a monthly bill just like the phone company with the expected reduction in cost, especially including added features typically included.
Cable Telephone Service
Cable operators have long targeted users' telephone services as a good revenue market. Unfortunately for them they calculated the opportunity based on the telephone service prices of the past. The cable telephone offers truly use VoIP to transport your voice over the cable system, but then it typically goes right back into the same telephone network you had before, similar to broadband telephone service.
Comcast, Cablevision, Time-Warner and others are all offering telephone services, typically pitching a service bundle-the so-called triple play. Some may use an adapter and are really the same as the broadband service discussed above.
Service from cable operators better be very good. Except for concerns about cable network reliability it is very nearly the same service as you get from the phone company. The only difference is that your voice is digitized and sent over the cable system, but this is a network that is controlled by the cable operator and not subject to Internet variations. Typically at the cable provider's "head end' (their network location) the calls enter the telephone network.
Cable VoIP services are often compared to broadband telephone services, but usually are very different. The best cable offers are direct and complete replacements for your traditional phone service. This means that every phone plugged into the wall at your home is still plugged in and no change is required. With some rewiring magic this can be accomplished with other solutions, but is rarely part of the bundle.
Enterprise VoIP
Business VoIP is growing rapidly in acceptance. Users of such systems installed today will not generally observe any differences in voice quality and basic operation. Depending on the phones and features enabled new integrated functions may be part of such systems. There are many resources available to enterprise managers and that is not the purpose of this site.