What is it?
VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is a way to make phone calls using the internet as the transmission method, rather than a landline. You can make and receive calls from other VoIP users, mobile users, and people with ordinary landlines. The integration between any ordinary line and VoIP is complete and undetectable to callers.
How does it work?
Just like a modem converts digital signals from the PC into analogue (voice) traffic for transmission over a phone line, a VoIP-enabled phone or VoIP adaptor converts your voice into digital packets (using the special SIP protocol) for transmission over the internet. If you make a call to another VoIP phone, the opposite process occurs at the other end, and your voice emerges intact from the ether. If you make a call to a mobile or landline, your VoIP providers gateway decodes the call and sends it on as an ordinary voice call to the telephone exchange (PSTN).
Calling another VoIP line
See the user A dials the number for user B. The VoIP adaptor logs onto the routing server, which looks up the destination and sets up the call. Thereafter, the voice traffic passes directly over the internet between A and B.
Calling a non-VoIP (standard: landline or mobile) line
See the When A calls C, who has a conventional landline or mobile, the VoIP adaptor logs on as before. The routing server looks up the destination and finds it is a PSTN (standard) number. The call is routed via the providers PSTN gateway into the PSTN network as a normal call. Thereafter, traffic passes directly via the gateway.
Why use it and who benefits?
Small to medium-sized businesses with several employees, especially those with distributed offices and teleworkers, are likely to get the maximum benefit from VoIP. It cuts your business telephony cost; all calls to other VoIP phone users are free and other calls are usually competitively priced.
You can configure your system to give whatever impression you want to customers. For example, if you have associates or employees in other areas of the UK or even abroad, you can give them all extensions on the same number, or their own numbers with the same area code as your head office. No-one need know whether you have city centre offices, or a virtual office!
What will you need?
1. A VoIP enabled telephone: This can be an all-in-one handset, or a normal handset plugged into an adaptor, or a softphone: a computer program that uses a microphone and headphones attached to your computer to emulate a real handset. A good solution is an adaptor, which allows you to connect one or two handsets, and has the advantage that you can connect other analogue devices like fax machines. It also has a number of useful inbuilt functions, including call waiting, caller ID, and call back if busy.
2. An internet connection: A leased line or ADSL/cable broadband is ideal; dial-up (ISDN or ordinary telephone line) or a satellite internet connection will likely cause a reduction in sound quality. A standard 256Kb ADSL connection can accommodate 2-3 simultaneous calls; if you expect to need more frequently, you may wish to upgrade to a higher-bandwidth package.
3. An account with a VoIP service provider: This gives you a VoIP external number which is what other people dial to call you.
What will it cost?
Costs vary from between VoIP service providers. In general there will be a one off set up charge and monthly rental per number (for which you will usually receive one incoming and one outgoing line and a varying number of internal extensions.)
VoIP to VoIP call's are free and calls to landlines and mobiles can vary across providers but are usually lower than landline service providers charges. Some VoIP providers offer monthly all inclusive packages combining monthly rental charges and unlimited calls.
VoIP Features
The biggest advantage of VoIP is that the customers can make calls from anywhere in the world where a broadband Internet connection is available. The customers can take their IP phones or ATA's with them on national and international trips and still can manage to access what is essentially an individual's domestic phone line.
Then there are the softphones, which a software application that loads the VoIP services onto the desktop or laptop. Some even simulate an interface that looks like a telephone, with which you can place VoIP calls to anybody around the world, through a standard broadband connection.
Most VoIP services come with the caller id, call waiting, call transfer, repeat dialing and three-way dialing features. For additional features such as call filtering, forwarding a call, or sending calls directly to the voice mail, the service provider may assess an additional fee. Most VoIP services also allow the user to check his/her voicemail over the web or attach messages to an e-mail that is sent to his/her PDA or PC.
Generally, the facilities and components provided by VOIP phone system suppliers and service operators may vary in significant ways. It is advisable to check the pros and cons before subscribing. Make sure that you have available technical support for the possible compatibility issues that could arise between the existing and new hardware components.
Conclusion
VoIP is still in its infancy. While it holds great promise, it has some major technical hurdles to jump, such as emergency calling, and the need for an uninterruptible power source (i.e. PC battery backup). However, as VoIP is set to become more widely available, let's hope there will be reliable solutions in place for the existing problems in the coming years. Who knows? In another five years, we may have VoIP system sans a router and the VoIP service being more common than conventional phone networks we rely on so heavily today.
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