If you haven’t heard much about VoIP before now, you certainly will in the future due to its rapid emergence as a major communications technology. VoIP stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol, and it basically is the ability to make telephone calls over the internet to either a receiving computer or telephone.
For years standard telephone lines have used a circuit switching network to transfer telephone calls, but VoIP technology uses something called packet switching instead where audio is converted into packets of data that are sent over the internet and reassembled on the other end by the person’s computer or telephone. If a high-speed internet connection is used, a conversation can take place that easily compares to a regular telephone call in sound quality.
All of this may sound like a very new technology, but in reality it’s not. Programs that make use of VoIP technology were springing up on the internet more than ten years ago, although they were much less capable than those that are available today. Also every year continues to bring higher standards of quality for VoIP applications, and it will no doubt be a viable technology for many years to come.
A good example of the use of VoIP technology is instant messaging programs. If you have used an instant messaging program that is voice enabled, where you can communicate by audio, video and chat, it is in large part due to VoIP. This is because VoIP is able to integrate audio, video, data, e-mail, and more simultaneously. Although most consumers will use VoIP for telephone calls initially, many businesses are already finding expanded uses for VoIP technology.
Several telephone companies are realizing the potential for VoIP services and so companies like Sprint, Verizon, AOL and others are now offering VoIP plans to consumers. One of the distinct advantages of buying a VoIP solution is that it costs significantly less than most standard telephone services. In fact, most service plans will allow you to make unlimited long-distance telephone calls on your VoIP plan for very inexpensive rates. And the subscription rates are usually free of many of the taxes and regulatory fees that often accompany your local telephone bill.
Another major advantage of many of the current VoIP subscription plans that are available is that they often include extra features such as call waiting, call forwarding, three-way calling, voice mail and much more. Quite often, these extra services cost more when included by your local telephone service, but VoIP plans usually include them at no extra charge. Another interesting side benefit is that many providers will allow you to select a new area code and phone number for your VoIP calls, so if you have family or friends in a distant town, they can call you for free on a number that is local to them.
Hopefully this information on VoIP technology will help you understand more about how it works and how it can be beneficial for you.
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What You Need To Know About VoIP Broadband Telephone Service
December 19th, 2009Voip – Future Developments for Users
December 17th, 2009VoIP is a telephony term for a set of facilities for managing the delivery of voice information using Internet Protocol (IP) and is the future of communication.
Here we will look at changes that are coming that will increase what is already substantial growth in the industry.
With Voice over IP — businesses have the ability to manage calls at the IP layer which enables operational and productivity benefits that have never been available before at such affordable price.
Worldwide revenues from Internet voice technologies are expected to grow from about $13 billion in 2002 to nearly $200 billion by 2007.
The Future Of VoIP Projected Growth
When it comes to VoIP technology already available long-distance phone calls, conferencing, e-mail, and other communications are now affordable and flexible.
VoIP technology however is developing and some of the developments that will ensure the future of VoIP are outlined below
The Future Of VoIP SIP
Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) retrieves server responses and handles client requests.
This technology is able to determine the end system that will be used for a communication session, automatically sets the relevant parameters of the communication at receiver and user ends and then manages call transfer and call termination.
In addition, SIP allows users to initiate and receive communication from any location and networks are also able to identify users, wherever they are.
This technology is an alternative to H. 323, which is the protocol, used for IP videoconference transmissions for VoIP up to now.
SIP has taken VoIP technology forward in terms of operational efficiency and many VoIP vendors are now including SIP as standard, bringing SIP to a growing audience.
VoIP The Future – VoIP Gateways
Another influential element in the future of Internet-telephony is improvements VoIP gateways.
Gateways are developing from PC-based platforms to more robust embedded systems, which will be able to handle an increased amount of call traffic.
The economies of scale of placing all traffic- data, voice, and video-over an IP-based network is highly attractive to corporate users.
The reason for this is:
IP will act as a unifying agent, regardless of the actual underlying architecture (i. e. , leased lines, frame relay, or ATM) of a companies network.
VoIP The Future – Corporate Intranets & Commercial Extranets
Currently, the most promising areas of development for VoIP are corporate intranets and commercial extranets.
Their IP-based infrastructures enable operators to control who can use a network.
Commercial extranets, based on conservatively engineered IP networks, will deliver VoIP and facsimile over Internet protocol (FAXoIP) services to the general public, by guaranteeing specific parameters, such as packet delay, packet jitter, and service interop.
Companies are already looking to remove fax traffic off the PSTN and relocate it on to the Internet and corporate Intranet, through FAXoIP gateways and via IP-capable fax machines.
Video conferencing
Another area of growth will be video conferencing.
Video conferencing (H. 323) with data collaboration (T. 120) will become a popular method for corporate communications in the future, as network performance and interoperability increase.
VoIP The Future Expanding Services & Lower Cost
More user-friendly devices and increased promotions are starting to be seen by wider audience and this education, combined with ease of use of VoIP technology is needed for any new technology to gain trust and grow.
For instance, new VoIP telephones are being offered at cheaper prices in a variety of colours, with touch screens that are getting easier to use.
Prices in all VoIP services will continue to drop, as the market grows and competitivness increases.
The future of VoIP as a major communication method over the coming years is therefore assured. VoIP Telecommunications are here to stay.
The True Power of VoIP Technology
November 9th, 2009VoIP, more formally known as voice over internet protocol, is a system widely used by larger companies that involves the transmissions of voice communications over IP networks that comprise of either the internet or other packet-switching mediums. VoIP systems are highly favorable to businesses because the transmission of voice data over bandwidth-efficient networks can drastically reduce company phone costs as opposed to the traditional copper-wire telephone systems. Some of the technological advantages of VoIP is that it can amalgamate various types of communications services – treating otherwise external communication channels, such as facsimile, telephone, cell phone, e-mail etc. as separate but identical units giving them the capability to be transferred to any handset, including mobile phones – these benefits can be attributed to the internet’s inherent packet-switching ability. As for the advantages of packet switching, these aptly justify the cost cutting claims of those who promote the use of VoIP because it allows for several telephone calls to occupy the amount of space occupied normally by one single data entity on a circuit-switched network.
So you now understand the basic concept of VoIP technology, but you want to understand just how exactly packet switching works, right? Easy. Packet-switched phone networks are said to be the new replacements for conventional circuit switching systems. Normal telephone calls involve a continuous stream of data flow, most of it being wasted data as there are often intervals of silence in your average phone conversation. Packet-switching involves the compression of voice data into packets, and these packets are subsequently transmitted in extremely fast intervals. Your voice within a singular data packet is called a payload, and the receiving module reassembles the packet data to unlock the contained payloads. This skillful data compression technique unique to VoIP technology means that from a fiscal point of view, you are only effectively being charged for the data contained in the payloads. Don’t worry too much about the efficiency of packet-switching either – most companies use broadband networks with an extremely powerful bandwidth, so in comparison to your standard copper-wire (PTSN) phone call, you can guarantee that the cost of your VoIP call will be halved, possibly even one-third of the original cost of a conventional phone line.
VoIP is a technology that has still not been perfected, however many companies are starting to integrate this new technology as more and more companies initiate their businesses around online telecommunications. For example, Skype has established itself as the premier free to use VoIP network for businesses. International calls can be made via programs such as Skype for minimal cost. It is only a matter for time before the vast majority of developing
By: Mark
