Voice Over IP

Internet Voice, also known as Voice over Internet Protocol (Voice Over IP), is a technology that allows you to make telephone calls using a broadband Internet connection instead of a regular (or analog) phone line. Some services using Voice Over IP may only allow you to call other people using the same service, but others may allow you to call anyone who has a telephone number - including local, long distance, mobile, and international numbers. Also, while some services only work over your computer or a special Voice Over IP phone, other services allow you to use a traditional phone through an adaptor.

Voice Over IP allows you to make telephone calls using a computer network, over a data network like the Internet. Voice Over IP converts the voice signal from your telephone into a digital signal that travels over the internet then converts it back at the other end so you can speak to anyone with a regular phone number. When placing a Voice Over IP call using a phone with an adapter, you’ll hear a dial tone and dial just as you always have. Voice Over IP may also allow you to make a call directly from a computer using a conventional telephone or a microphone.

Voice Over IP lets you make toll-free long distance voice and fax calls over existing IP data networks instead of the public switched telephone network (PSTN). Today businesses that implement their own Voice Over IP solution can dramatically cut long distance costs between two or more locations.

Let’s go back to see the history: For the past 100 years people have relied on the PSTN for voice communication. During a call between two locations, the line is dedicated to the two parties that are using it. No other information can travel over the line, although there is often plenty of bandwidth available.

Later, as data communications emerged, companies paid for separate data lines so their computers could share information, while voice and fax communications were still handled by the PSTN.

But this is no longer a problem now as today, with the rapid adoption of IP, we now have a far reaching, low-cost transport mechanism that can support both voice and data. A Voice Over IP solution integrates seamlessly into the data network and operates alongside existing PBXs, or other phone equipment, to simply extend voice capabilities to remote locations. The voice traffic essentially “rides for free” on top of the data network using the IP infrastructure and hardware already in place.