Voice over IP

I hear allot about VOIP what is it?

VOIP stands for voice over internet protocol. Basically it means making phones calls over your local area network (LAN) or even across the Internet.

VOIP is normally cheaper than your PSTN that’s public switched telephone network i.e. your local carrier.

VOIP is a good choice for businesses as well to save money on long distance calls if they have many satellite offices. VOIP service providers usually have lower fees because they are not a government regulated currently as the phone systems which at one time were a monopoly. VOIP can even be free if you connect directly to another VOIP client.

VOIP routers can send your incoming phone calls to you anywhere thus cutting down on the number of lines and you can be reached anywhere you have a Internet connection.

This and the combination of technologies like WiFi are going to make for one huge network. That voice, data and video will be sent everywhere and from anywhere. With this VOIP technology you have allot more features as well such as Caller ID, Call Forwarding and answering services all from your computer or PDA.

There are some issues to still be worked on.

Here are some:

The amount of band with required.

Security issues- what type of encryption should be used and how much is going to slow down the call and network?

This is a exciting and new technology which I will be writing more about.

Benjamin Hargis