Want to sip and surf the net at the same time? Tired of waiting for your coffee to arrive since you have nothing to do? BT recently announced to provide WiFi connections to Starbucks Coffee Companies in UK and Ireland. This service will be available to more than 650 Starbucks coffeehouses. Customers now can enjoy their coffees and also make VOIP calls from their laptops.

This recent announcement made by BT will allow 4.6 million BT broadband customers to email and surf the net and also allows them to make VOIP calls at affordable prices. This service is not only available for BT customers, but also to iPass, Boingo and other roaming partners. Starbucks will make use of this service network to support both its public and stores operations systems.

According to Chris Bruce, CEO of BT Openzone, Starbucks is the perfect place to work or catch up with your mails or friends. The use of WiFi in coffee shops is gaining a lot of popularity and is becoming a third place to work or log on to the internet. He also added that efforts are being made to make WiFi available in places where they are most needed by the customers.

The Starbucks stores in UK and Ireland will have the WiFi service installed by the end of the summer 2009. With the help of this WiFi service, customers will be able to make use of the latest VOIP technologies to make international calls at affordable rates. This is also a favorable option for businessmen to connect with their clients or associates and close important business deals.

The Director of Starbucks Mr. Robert Teagle is very thrilled with this service. He states that the main objective of Starbucks has always been to look for new ways to develop the in store offerings for their customers. He further states that the new collaboration with BT can help the company gain new customers and also satisfy their existing customers.

Now customers can not only relax with a cup of coffee, but can also access the net and catch up with their pending works or simply browse the net. This new relationship with BT will bring in more revenues for Starbucks. It will also make it a popular location for customers. VOIP is not only advancing in the telecommunications industry, but is also setting its mark in the non IT sectors.

Wondering whether this is actually possible? Yes it is. With the development of new technologies and devices VOIP is all set to make its mark in the market. All the user needs is enough disk space that can hold any VOIP softphone programs like Skype, Google Talk etc. Softphone are software versions of VOIP clients. It uses the power of a normal PC as a replacement for hardware.

In order to make VOIP Calls, users also need a microphone on their iPods or Mp3 players. This facility is available in the latest versions of all Mp3 players and iPods. IM communities like Skype, Google Talk, and MSN allow users to make VOIP calls for free or at reasonable rates. For instance Skype allows users to make calls to other Skype customers for free. If users need to make calls to non Skype users, they can make use of the Skype Out service to purchase credits to make VOIP calls.

Another major detail that needs to be taken into consideration while making VOIP calls from iPods and Mp3 players is that users need to have a PC to connect their players. Without the PC one cannot access the internet to make calls. The greatest benefit of this is that the PC does not have to be owned by the user.

Users can make VOIP calls from internet cafes by making use of a USB port to plug their Mp3 or iPods into.

Once the devices have been plugged in, softphone clients like the ones mentioned above need to be downloaded onto the devices. This can be done by saving the program into the player drive instead of the C drive of the PC. One thing that should be kept in mind is that the installation process should occur on the player. Once the setup for installation begins, a windows appears asking where to install the program. Users can save the program to the drive designated in their players.

There are a lot of VOIP providers available on the net that offer VOIP calls for free or at affordable prices. Users can browse the net and choose softwares or programs that best suit their needs. Some of the popular softphone programs allow users to view their online friends and maintain their contact lists. Mp3 players like MPlat offers a small device that comes with many features and benefits. Users can also purchase this device and download programs to make VOIP calls.