There is really no stopping VOIP (voice over internet protocol) and internet telephony in general. This technology has rapidly and relentlessly spread its' tentacles right across the net within a very short period of time and now stands as a clear threat to the old established phone companies around the world and the world of communications and telecommunications as we knew it. In the process VOIP has helped change web hosting in many ways.

Mostly it has placed demands on web hosting that were previously just not there. VOIP requires a stable and extremely reliable link and excellent service from a web host to be able to work efficiently. The fact that the corporate world has quickly embraced VOIP, saving colossal fortunes in phone company bills and associated costs has meant that only the better web hosting enterprises have benefited from the windfall.

With non-VOIP web hosting it is extremely easy to get away with shoddy and unreliable service. But with VOIP, and especially where most corporate companies require communications lines to be left open all the time, shoddy or poor quality web hosting enterprises are usually quickly identified and abandoned. This is a far cry from the early days of web hosting where many web host servers were situated in cellars somewhere and school dorms. They were mostly run by hobbyists as an extremely profitable part-time enterprise that virtually required very little attention that could occasionally be given during their spare time.

They mostly got away with this level of service because the Internet was still relatively new in those days. Besides with the lack of awareness in those days most people hardly cared, let alone fully understood the impact web hosting has on any ecommerce or online venture. Not being able to get through to a website was really not such a big deal.

We have indeed come a long way because these days' webmasters spend fortunes in cash and time to attract traffic and usually get very upset when their hard won traffic cannot access their site for any reason. It means that they are losing money and at the same time damaging their reputations and public image.

Lois S. is a Technical Executive Writer for http://www.websitesource.com and http://www.lowpricedomains.com with experience in the website hosting industry.