Introduction: Voice over IP

Prior to the advent of internet interactive communications were only made by telephone at PSTN line cost, which was very expensive especially over long distances. With the advent of highly advanced network technology and computers being massed produced and available to consumers at a lower; people begun to communicate with new services like email, chat, etc. These services were extremely cheap and easy to use but lacked the personal touch provided by telephone. Therefore big corporations began to fiddle with the idea of allowing people to have real-time vocal communication and thus beginning a totally new chapter in internet history: VoIP phone service.

Definition of VoIP Phone Service

VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol and is a technology for transmitting ordinary telephone calls over the Internet using packet linked routes.

VoIP phone service is also referred to as IP telephony. VoIP involves the transmission of telephone calls over a data network like the Internet. In other words, VoIP can send voice, fax and other information over the Internet, rather than through the (PSTN) or regular telephone network.

Generally, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) refers to the use of the Internet for making telephone calls. The main advantage for users of VoIP connections is that they generally only have to pay their usual (local) Internet connection charges regardless of where they are calling anywhere in the world. VoIP telephony hence threatens the traditional distance and even time-based pricing model upon which all major voice line telephone services are currently based.

A major advantage of VOIP and Internet telephony is that it avoids the tolls charged by ordinary telephone service. VoIP telephone calls (voice) bypass the typical public-switched telephone network and transmit voice calls over a private network (the same network that carries web, e-mail and data traffic).

How Does VoIP Phone Service Work

VoIP generally work on the established methods of sending packed digitized data over the internet. TCP/IP networks are made of IP packets containing a header (to control communication) and a payload to transport data: VoIP use it to go across the network and come to destination. While sending information analog data is digitized with the help of an ADC (analog to digital converter), transmitted and then at the other end the data is again transformed in analog format with DAC (digital to analog converter) to use it. VoIP also works in very similar manner. VoIP digitalizes voice in data packets and then sends them to the destination and reconverting them back to voice at destination.

Article Information

by Hope Ocampo

source: goarticles.com