Does Voice Over IP Telephony Spell The End For Traditional Telephones

D

oes Voice Over IP
Telephony Spell the End for     Voice over Internet Telephony
Traditional Telephones?         isn't widely used in office
                                      networks, let alone in the home,
Just What is Voice Over IP            however if you make international
Telephony?                            phone calls then you are probably
                                      being routed through IP
Voice over Internet Telephony is      infrastructure because of the
technology that means you can         lower costs of calls. What this
hold telephone calls over the         does mean, though, is that the
Internet or an IP network. It         infrastructure is quite obviously
eliminates the need for having        already in place and anyone who
separate lines for your Internet      chooses can do so easily. This
connection and dedicated voice        means that you can â€˜call'
transfer lines. There are many        friends, family or associates
advantages to VoIP but because it     using your own VoIP without the
is still an advancing technology      need for them to have the same
you need to shop around to find       technology installed.
the best deal. No cumbersome
circuit switching is required and     The costs are phone calls that
there is no depletion in the          are reduced dramatically by using
bandwidth associated with normal      VoIP and once the infrastructure
dual line systems. VoIP protocol      is in place there are usually
means that voice data is only         little or no additional
sent over the network when it         infrastructure charges required
needs to be, freeing up that          making it a cost effective and
bandwidth when you aren't making      affordable telephony solution.
â€˜calls'.
                                      Because VoIP is a new technology
What are the Advantages of VoIP.      you get the usual advantages of

employing a new technology;           connection. This means that you
increased technological advances      won't face any call charges
and new technologies are employed     whatsoever, and all you will have
meaning you get a state of the        to pay will be the cost of your
art system. Telecommunications        Internet connection.
providers have been regularly
using IP networks to transfer         Is VoIP available for me to use
voice data and so most of the         now?
teething problems have been
thoroughly investigated and           Companies like Vonage, VoicePulse
ironed out and all the                and Packet8 are already offering
advancements made have been           flat monthly fees for their VoIP
integrated into a system you can      services meaning you can call
have installed in your home,          anywhere in the country
office or business.                   (sometimes even to other selected
                                      countries around the world) and
You don't necessarily have to         only ever pay one flat monthly
transmit your calls over the          fee.
Internet, and for more secure
calls you can use private IP          Vonage offer a service for $24.99
networks. For this reason many        a month that allows you to call
large businesses already have IP      anywhere in the US or Canada.
systems in place making               They also offer similar plans for
inter-business calls much             small businesses.
cheaper.
                                      Are there any disadvantages to
Electronic numbering makes it         VoIP?
possible to dial traditional E
164 phone numbers connected           VoIP, as a technology, is still
entirely by your Internet             in it's infancy and new

developments are being found          The advent of the Internet and
every day. However, there are         improved telephone technology has
limitations to the service and        seen the introduction of VoIP. It
the technology which need to be       means you can make phone calls
addresses before it can become a      through your broadband
complete replacement for your         connection; this in turn means
standard phone line.                  that for a set monthly fee you
                                      can call anywhere in your country
Because the Internet knows no         and selected international
geographic boundaries it means        countries for as long as required
that, for example, calling the        and only pay one flat monthly
emergency services would not          fee.
necessarily put you through to
your local emergency dispatch         The advantages of VoIP are still
centre.                               significant for homes and
                                      business users alike. Big
In addition, you can't send or        businesses are already saving
receive faxes and you can't route     substantial money by installing
traditional modems, alarm systems     IP networks and using VoIP
or satellite systems through your     protocol to transfer voice data.
VoIP connection, because they         This essentially makes the calls
require access to a voice grade       themselves free, only having to
phone line. For the moment VoIP       pay for the Internet connection
is a compliment to your               and the monthly VoIP fee.
traditional phone line, rather
than a replacement, until these       VoIP looks like it's here to
problems can be ironed out.           stay. As the technology rolls
                                      out, it's impact can only become
Summary                               greater.

About the Author:

Nick Carter is editor for www.voice-over-ip-insider.com , a key web resource for VOIP information.

Read more articles by: Nick Carter

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