A Few Things to Know About VOIP

VoIP is a term used in IP telephony for a set of facilities for managing the delivery of voice information using the Internet Protocol (IP). This means sending voice information in digital form in discrete packets rather than in the traditional circuit-committed protocols of the public switched telephone network. A major advantage of VoIP and Internet telephony is that it avoids the tolls charged by ordinary telephone service.

Voice-over Internet Protocol allows telephone calls to be transmitted via the Internet using a broadband connection. Broadband is the common term for a high bandwidth Internet connection that can transmit or download information up to forty times faster than a traditional telephone and modem. VoIP sound quality has also developed with higher bandwidth, equaling a carrier-grade connection. VoIP will provide you with all the standard amenities of a traditional phone line, but also features additional functions rare to analog lines, depending on your chosen service provider.

VoIP uses the real-time protocol to help ensure that packets are delivered in a timely way. Using public networks, it is currently difficult to guarantee Quality of Service. Better service is possible with private networks managed by an enterprise or by an Internet telephony service provider.

VoIP derives from the VoIP Forum, an effort by major equipment providers, including Cisco, VocalTec, 3Com, and Netspeak to promote the use of ITU-T H.323, the standard for sending voice and video using IP on the public Internet and within an intranet. The Forum also promotes the user of directory service standards so that users can locate other users and the use of touch-tone signals for automatic call distribution and voice mail.

Around fourteen million Americans (eleven percent of Internet users), have made some form of phone call over the Internet. The survey also found that approximately four million people have considered getting the service at home. The results in the report are based on telephone interviews conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates between February 3 to March 1, 2004, among a sample of 2,204 adults.

Back to Main Articles

Request a Quote

VoIP Services for Business:

A Few Things to Know About VOIP