Carroll County Times Articles
What Is VOIP?
by Michael Shelah – September 3, 2006
Voice Over Internet Protocol, or VOIP as it is known in geek-speak, is a technology that allows you to make and receive phone calls over a data network instead of the traditional telephone network. Furthermore, you need to know which VOIP is right for you. What's that? You didn't know that there is more than one way to VOIP? Let's back up and discuss.
Public Switched Telephone Network
Probably the most common VOIP is when you, as the user, already have some kind of high speed Internet (DSL, Cable Modem, etc.), and you purchase an additional service from another company. You will be provided with an interface device that allows your regular telephones to work over the data network.
In this example, the interface is taking your call that normally runs over the local phone company's analog network (this network is called PSTN: Public Switched Telephone Network – more geek speak) and converts it to the Digital Network (or IP: Internet Protocol). The shortcoming of this style of service is that there really is no QOS or Quality of Service. What this means to you is that the Internet does not prioritize your call packets over other packets that may be running internet items (email, CAD files, audio and video files, etc.).
This is why these users can sometimes sound "digital" or "clipped." This is a result of packet loss, meaning that your basic greeting, "Hi Tom, how are you?", which normally takes 10 packets, lost three of its packets due to any number of reasons along the way, and may end up sounding like, "..i Tom, ho.. are ..ou?") Because of this lack of quality, this product is more geared toward residential service. However, the big plus to this product type is unlimited nationwide, and even some international, calling for a low fixed monthly price of approximately $20 to $40.
Multiple Locations
The second most common VOIP is equipment based. This scenario typically is utilized by a company with two or more locations. At each location is an IP enabled telephone system. Each location also has some kind of dedicated Internet. The phone system at each location can utilize the existing Internet connection to make interoffice calls. This allows companies with multiple locations to have one central phone #.
For example, your company may be based in Westminster, but have offices in New York, California and Texas. Personnel in one location may call any of your other offices without incurring usage charges. If the Sales Office is in Westminster, but Human Resources is out of New York, and you get a call inquiring about a job opening, it's no problem! You can transfer the call to New York, and the person calling in has no idea that they are now talking to someone in another state.
These VOIP phone systems also have QOS built in. That is, they can recognize the voice packets and prioritize them so that the quality of the conversation does not suffer. This product is beneficial to business with multiple locations, or for employees who work from home.
Competitive Local Exchange Carriers
The Third style of VOIP has come into popularity in the last two years. Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLEC's) have developed and marketed the "Dynamic T-1." Until recently, T-1 came in two styles: dedicated and integrated. Dedicated meant it was just for Internet usage. Integrated meant that it was partly used for telephone calls and partly used for Internet. This usage was fixed. For example, if you have 12 telephone lines, this would allow up to 12 channels (or 768kbps) of Internet speed.
Now, however, the Dynamic T-1 runs every thing as VOIP and prioritizes your calls first. With the Dynamic, if you have 12 lines, but only four are currently in use, it opens up another 8 channels (or 512 kbps) of internet speed, so your internet could work faster.
In this style of VOIP, the QOS is managed by the carrier, and it doesn't matter what type of telephone equipment you have. Plus, it allows your Internet to move faster if call volume decreases. Since this is 100% VOIP connection, it is not subject to many of the telephone access charges found on a regular telephone bill. This allows the customer much better pricing by eliminating fees. Another benefit is that this network is less expensive to maintain, so the CLEC can charge lower prices.
Budget and Usage
So when you look into VOIP, it's important to determine what your needs are, and then purchase the right type of VOIP to fit your budget and usage.
About the Author
Mike Shelah is an Account Executive for Teltek Systems, Inc., and a member of the Carroll Technology Council, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating businesses, government and residents about technology issues. Questions are welcomed and may be addressed in future articles. Email advisors@carrolltechcouncil.org or go to www.carrolltechcouncil.org for a list of Advisor categories.
Article content is the view of the author, and not necessarily the viewpoint of the Carroll Technology Council.
