An Introduction to VoIP

If you have an ear for the latest computer craze, technology fad, or nifty gadget, then you've probably heard about VoIP. What is VoIP? Let's start by defining what exactly "VoIP" means. VoIP stand for Voice over Internet Protocol. It comprises an emerging set of applications and protocols that allow you to make telephone calls over the internet. The popularity of VoIP has really been catching on and is already starting to replace existing telephone networks. Some people have cancelled their traditional phone service and now exclusively use VoIP.

You may have thought that VoIP only worked from computer to computer, and that was the original intent. Of course, you can use it this way, but VoIP has been further developed into a telephone network in its own right. Using VoIP, you can call any phone anywhere in the world, and can receive calls with phones connected to the internet or a LAN (local area network).

Background

VoIP was born back in the "stone age" of the internet, that is, 1995, when Israeli computer enthusiasts made the first voice connection between two computers.

That same year this technology was developed into a software package called Internet Phone Software. All you needed to talk to another computer was a modem, sound card, speakers, a microphone, and, of course, a computer. VoIP was born.
This software compressed and digitized the audio signal and then sent the data over the internet in discreet "packets". These voice connections could only occur between computers that had the software installed. Like many new technologies, it wasn't very pretty at first. Sound quality was poor and vastly inferior to the audio quality of a standard phone network, which, by the way, isn't really that good either, in "hi-fi" terms.

But of course, this was just the beginning. The technology continued to be developed and by 1998 gateways had been established allowing PC-to-phone connections. Later that year, phone-to-phone connections were possible using the internet to transmit the audio. The phone-to-phone connections still required a computer to initiate the call, but once the call was established, callers could use a regular phone set.

VoIP Today

VoIP is fast becoming a big business, with the major telcom's getting on board offering VoIP service. Service is available for both commercial and residential use, ranging from PC-to-PC service, all the way up to phone-to-phone.

Internet phones (or "ip phones") are available that plug into a USB port or directly into the PC's sound card. These phones look much the same as that old thing sitting on your desk, with number pads and customizable ringers. It's even possible to bypass the computer entirely by plugging the phone into your broadband or cable modem. We find it especially ironic that to bypass the traditional phone network you can plug an ip phone into your broadband modem which is connected to, of course, your phone line.

How does VoIP Work?

The first thing that needs to happen is that your voice needs to be converted into bits and bytes, otherwise known as digitized. Your voice is “sampled”, a process that divides the analog sound into discrete bits of data that are assigned a numerical value. Once digitized, the data can then easily be compressed.

This digitized and compressed data is then split up into packets of about 1500 bytes for easy transmission over the internet. Along with the raw voice data, these packets contain information about the packet's origin, the intended destination, and a timestamp that allows the packet to be reconstructed in the correct order. Once these packets arrive at their destination, they are put back together (in the right order) and converted back into analog sound so the party at the other end will understand what you're saying.

Now, this is a lot of stuff that needs to happen at, essentially, the speed of light. To avoid significant delays from occurring, a broadband connection is required to use VoIP. Since more and more businesses and residential customers are now using broadband, converting to VoIP should be relatively simple for many computer users.

And there you have it! A quick introduction into one of the latest hot new technologies! You can save a bundle in long distance charges by utilizing your broadband connection and an ip phone to make and receive calls over the internet with VoIP.