VoIP Overview

VoIP Overview

The world of telecommunications is going through rapid and radical changes, as the VoIP technology is fast growing in quality and popularity. Instant messaging programs such as Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, and AOL Messenger have already added Voice over Internet Protocol to their standard features, following the success of Skype and other VoIP applications. All you need is a microphone and a set of speakers (or a headset with a microphone) that you can connect to your PC, and you can start making free PC to PC calls. For a very small fee, you can also make PC to phone calls, so that you can get an idea of what VoIP is. If you like it – and chances are you will –, you can contact one of the major VoIP providers and get a subscription which will enable you to take advantage of all the facilities offered by this technology.

Downloading one of the above mentioned programs is quite easy – and free of charge. Once you’ve installed the program and connected your headset or microphone and speakers to your PC, you can start using VoIP to call your friends for free. Instant messaging programs allow you to transmit video information as well: by adding a web cam or a digital camera, you can be closer to your faraway friends than you ever thought you could be.

This is all the more exciting if you consider that VoIP is still at its dawn. It’s not only instant messaging programs that are adding it to their features, but major telephone carriers are also diversifying their services and offering Internet telephony. This is proof that the VoIP technology has reached the stage where it is likely to become a competitor for traditional circuit-switched communications.

The first VoIP programs were offered free on the Internet. While instant messaging and PC-to-PC calls are still – and will probably always be – free, the most attractive application of VoIP – making calls between a computer and a phone, or between two phones – is now usually available in exchange for a fee. The charges, however, are very small, so that you’ll be impressed to see how much money you can save on long distance or international calls. The quality of the service is gradually increasing and glitches are being removed.

Cost is, however, not the only benefit. It is quite convenient to integrate your audio, video, and data communications in the same unit. Add to that such facilities as phone conferencing and the ability to make unlimited calls anywhere in the world, and it’ll be easy to understand why VoIP is fast becoming a viable – and often preferred – telecommunications alternative.

Still, some issues remain that make some people hesitate before signing up for VoIP services and giving up their current phone subscription. One of the major problems of VoIP is the difficulty – and often, impossibility – of tracing a call originating on an IP phone or a computer. In some cases, locating the caller can be of critical importance. Imagine someone calling 911 and being unable to tell the dispatcher where they are. The Federal Communications Commission has required that VoIP providers find a solution for this issue. Still, only partial solutions have been found. One of them would be registering with 911, so that they will know your name and address – but that doesn’t work if you have a VoWiFI phone or a laptop, which you can connect to any wireless access point anywhere. A better solution is to keep your landline phone available for such cases, and the best solution is probably having a mobile phone with you, so that your location can be traced when you’re away from home as well.

VoIP development continues at the current speed, it is not an exaggeration to predict that the near future will witness more and more people signing up for these services, thus changing telecommunications as we know them.

News

technology voip

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VoIPshield Uncovers Security Flaws in Microsoft VoIP Products - PR Newswire

- snom technology AG Christian Baier, +49 30 39833-106 Baier@snom.de or Elevate Communications John Gates/Stacey Klein, +1 617-861-3651/3652 john@elevatecom.com/sklein@elevatecom.com snom technology AG, developer and manufacturer of Voice-over-IP ...

snom introduces New Business VoIP Phone for North American Enterprise ... - PR Inside

SAN FRANCISCO , Nov. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- VOICECON -- Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) TXN today announced that Yealink Network Technology CO., Ltd has selected TI's field-proven digital signal processing technology and software to enable its new IP ...