Considerations before switching to VoIP – Part 2
A few years ago we switched to VoIP, which means Voice over Internet Protocol and haven’t had a problem with it since we switched, but before you decide if it is the right move for you, you need to take a couple of things into consideration.
The first thing you need to think about is what type of Internet access do you currently have. If you have a dial up connection then you need to decide if you want the added cost of switching to a cable modem. If you already have a cable modem then you need to determine how good of a connection do you have. If the cable company you use has quite a few outages then it wouldn’t be feasible for you to get VoIP because if your Internet connection is out then so is your phone. If you have both a cable modem and a good connection then you need to think about your current telephone provider. Do you make long distance calls? Do you have a lot of extra services? Do you want to lower your phone bill?
If you said yes to any of the above questions then you might want to look into getting VoIP because it will lower your phone bill, provide extra services and offers unlimited long distance to the United States and Canada.
Then you have to decide on a provider. The most widely known provider is Vonage and they are a good company with good service but they are having legal problems and it is iffy if they will stay in business for long, so if you decide to go with them you need to keep in mind that they might not be in business for long. Another company is Packet8 and while I don’t know very much about them, they seem similar to Vonage but don’t seem to have the same legal problems. Another company you can look at is VoIP, they are a similar company to both Vonage and Packet8 and also don’t seem to be dealing with the legal problems that Vonage is and actually have some patents pending.
You don’t want to jump into a decision concerning VoIP, but you need to think through how it will affect you. Take your time, research the different companies and then make your decision.
How To Pick a Great Voice Over Coach
Your voice is your instrument and is also the main component of your business.
That being said, it is crucial that you find the right teacher for you to study with as the decision made will directly impact the outcome of your goals.
For our purposes, I am going to assume that you are a working professional or are on the brink of starting out as a novice voice actor who wants to study with a teacher to aid in the preparation of recording a voice over demo.
While a great deal of your success is reliant upon your actions and level of dedication a significant amount of weight is held where private study with a teacher of voice over is concerned.
We’ve all had teachers along the way, whether in public school or through private lessons, who have had left an imprint on our perspectives, goals, and potentially the directions taken in our lives.
Teachers have the ability to inspire or to deter depending on how you interpret their methodology, or bedside manner if you will.
This is why you need to select the best fit for you as a student of voice over to succeed.
For every person, there is most definitely an instructor who can open you up, develop, and refine your skills. The challenge is finding these individuals and having the ambition and humility to become a student of voice over.
Depending on your needs and aspirations, you will discover that certain coaches will make a better fit for you than others, particularly if you are working within a niche of voice over. The narrower your niche, the fewer qualified coaches there will be that meet your needs.
What do I mean by that?
Let’s say you are specifically interested in studying with a teacher of audiobook narration.
Now let’s add a few variables:
This teacher also needs to have at least 20 years experience, lives within a two to three hour drive of your home, and is a voice acting specialist in the field of audiobooks.
That’s not even hitting on personality, teaching style, or educational facility.
To be certain you will have your own set of criteria that will need to be met that may be completely different from the example I’ve used above.
More options are opened up to you if you are interested in studying over the phone, Internet, or through reading books, so keep those avenues in mind if you cannot locate someone within a 200 mile radius of your home.
After you’ve settled on what your criteria is for studying with a voice over coach, it’s time to start doing some research.
My advice is to ask your colleagues about their experiences with a particular coach (one with whom they train with on a regular basis) and get the inside scoop from them on why they love studying with their teacher.
They’ll have specific reasons why they chose and continue to work with the coach they are presently training with.
Don’t just ask one of their students, though, ask several.
Each person will have their own unique reasons for studying with that coach and you may also find that students in a given studio share similar thoughts on why studying with them has improved their performance.
What to look for in a voice over coach?
- Honesty and Integrity
- A Genuine Interest in You
- Positive Referrals from Past and Current Students
- Recognized by their Peers
- Education and Degrees
- Practical Experience
- National or International Credits for Voice Work
- Awards Won
- Community Involvement
- Good Business Ethics
One of the ways that the team at Voices is assisting you to find voice over coaches is by offering the Voice Over Experts Podcast.
Each week, you’ll have the opportunity to freely sample the teaching style and expertise of a different voice over expert, helping you to learn more about the instructor before making a commitment to study with them.
You’ll also find that each coach has provided a biography for you to review and a link has been provided to their websites directly from the Voice Over Experts website making it easy for you to peruse a variety of voice over experts and acquire more information.
Now that you have the tools to find a voice over coach, you can start your quest to voice over excellence.
