It would be silly to say, that most individuals have not heard of VoIP by now. VoIP technology is being widely advertised both on the Internet and television. If your still wondering what VoIP is or how it works?VoIP allows the user to communicate by phone over the Internet which is becoming hughley popular with both businesses and people at home.
Even though VoIP technology has been around for a fairly long time, it is not till recent that VoIP has matured enough to be able to replace everyday standard telephone use. As VoIP technology allows for cheaper calls between local and global networks businesses have started to use it to drastically reduce costs in call centers and to communicate by fax, video and other means of technology.
As VoIP is a technology that is benefiting the user, it is probably the case that at a household level you are now interested in embracing the technology for your own home. But like all others, there are many questions to ask. This article will hopefully be able to answer your basic questions on price, difficulty and necessity.
To use VoIP technology an Internet connection is needed. As explained in this article, the necessity of a good Internet connection for data transfer is vital. Though don’t worry, you don’t need some outrageous connection just to use VoIP. As I expect, most of you already have a broadband connection which is capable enough to handle your phone calls.
A Gateway is also needed to make and receive calls. Gateways act as a point between your phone and the Ethernet connection and also act as a point for your phone line to be plugged into. Gateways act as a safety point to your phone calls. As computers can often malfunction, it may be the case that you are in a phone call at the time. Gateways prevent computer malfunctions such as crashes from interrupting your phone calls.
As for home convenience, it is often best that you check with your VoIP service provider for functionality in the services they offer. At home, it is best that 911 emergency calls can be made and that some of or at least all of the services below are available.
Your own local VoIP telephone number Call waiting Voice messaging 3 Way Calling Online account managment Redial Caller ID identification
At VoIP we have generated a list of individual VoIP service providers for you. These are our recommended choices which we have all personally reviewed and written about for you.
By: Joseph Victory
Posts Tagged ‘Telephone Technology’
The Use of VoIP at Home
January 21st, 2010VOIP Disadvantages
January 15th, 2010
Voice over internet protocol (VOIP) is changing the way that the average consumer makes long distance phone calls. The technology is rapidly advancing because companies all over the world are now competing to be your VOIP provider. However, there are still some disadvantages of VOIP – especially when it comes to using the technology for functions beyond the one caller to one caller scenario.
The disadvantages of VOIP can be annoying, but are relatively limited for the consumer. The main complaints regarding VOIP have to do with providing the level of quality of service that customers are accustomed to with regular telephone technology. The reason for this is multifold. VOIP requires a large amount of data to be compressed and transmitted, then uncompressed and delivered, all in a relatively small amount of time. Problems develop in VOIP conversations when this process takes too long and the callers experience one of two problems; echo or over-talk.
Standard phone calls function with a delay of no more than 10 milliseconds. But one major disadvantage of VOIP is that there have been delays of up to 400 milliseconds, meaning that the callers won’t hear each other fast enough to make the conversation flow easily. They will either hear themselves talking or they will start talking again before they have heard the other person respond. Although these problems won’t necessarily happen every time a call is made, it can happen often enough to be annoying.
The disadvantages of VOIP are usually tolerable if the callers are using a free service and the calls are for individual, personal communication. But once a network of users, such as a business, wants to use VOIP, the problems become a little more complicated. Part of the reason is that most networks have a firewall; and most firewalls don’t know how to route a VOIP call once it is received – which phone does it go to?
Plus, multiple users create a problem when judging what amount of bandwidth can be and should be used at any time. If multiple users need to make VOIP calls, it can be difficult for the company to know exactly how much bandwidth to provide – especially if internet access, video conferencing or other data transmission services are using the same path.
Overall, the disadvantages of VOIP aren’t significant enough to dissuade the average consumer from using the technology; especially with the fact that they know that the calls they are making are free. But we can rest assured that the technology will only get more reliable as time goes by.
By: Van Theodorou
VegaStream’s Introduction to VoIP
January 13th, 2010
Internet Telephony is used to describe a service that enables people connected to the public Internet with a suitably equipped PC to have voice conversation; examples of Internet Telephony providers include Skype. VoIP is the generic term for the technology that enables phone calls to be made over networks running the Internet Protocol, be that the public Internet or private IP networks. It is also the term that is used to describe the technology in a business to business context. One could say that the consumer will use Internet Telephony while businesses use VoIP.
Voice over IP (VoIP) converts the analog signals of sound when using a telephone to a digital format for transmission across a data network and then back into analog when it reaches the receiver. In a VoIP network, digitized voice data is highly compressed and carried in packets over an IP network. The phones can be purpose-built devices for the IP network (e.g. SIP phones) or standard everyday analog telephones. VegaStream core product range allows users of existing phones to take advantage of VoIP networks.
What’s all the hype about?
The reason for VoIP’s popularity is a simple matter of physics. You can put more traffic over the same physical network using IP than you can with traditional telephone technology, Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) as used by the public switched telephone network (PSTN). This simple law is driving many PSTN network providers to migrate their existing TDM networks; that have served them well since the invention of the telephone, to the new IP technology. BTs 21st Century Network is a classic example of this migration.
With VoIP, IP allows us to use a single high-speed Internet connection for all voice, video, and data communications. This is known as convergence and is one of the primary drivers for corporate interest in the technology. The benefits of convergence are obvious. By using a single data network for all communications, it is possible to reduce overall costs.
Furthermore, the business model for data networks, including the Internet allows the customer to remain permanently connected at a fixed price. Meanwhile, when using traditional PSTN, the meter starts running every time you pick up the phone.
The idea of VoIP communication dates back over 20 years however, a greater interest in the applications of VoIP emerged in the 1990’s, with the growth of the Internet. The Internet made it possible to interconnect every home and every business with a packet-switched data network, this saw a rapid growth in VoIP technology. Today, with broadband connectivity the norm not just in business but also at home and even over the mobile, the platform is set for an explosive growth in VoIP.
VoIP Changing the Way We Communicate
VoIP offers a great deal more than cost savings in telephone calls. VoIP technology allows devices to recognize and communicate with each other as if they were connected over a dedicated wire (like the TDM model). It therefore enables video, instant messaging and data conferencing as well as voice. Furthermore all these communications techniques can be used simultaneously allowing people to share images and information as well as hear each other speak – all on the same call.
VoIP communication therefore allows us to actually change the way we communicate with each other. Communicating over the phone with VoIP will be more immediate, collaborative, visual and cost lest. No wonder the market for VoIP equipment and services is the fastest growing sector in the IT industry.
By: Helen Upsher
