Introduction
Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) is a technology
that offers voice communications using the existing
Internet protocols. Over the years the Internet
has developed as a very cheap medium that has
been used to send electronic mails and files across
the globe. VoIP extends this concept and provides
the facility to send voice data between people
using the IP framework. Since the Internet is
a cheap medium, enabling voice services through
it will effectively cut costs that are normally
encountered in making calls through normal telephone
lines. This would mean that people across the
world can talk to each other at a fraction of
the cost that they could be spending when they
use normal telephone lines. This is exactly what
makes VoIP interesting. However, until now the
transfer of voice through the available Internet
infrastructure has been beset with problems and
the data quality of most applications using VoIP
is far inferior when compared to the conventional
telephone lines. This may be attributed to the
non-uniform Internet services that are available
throughout the world. This paper will look at
VoIP technology and analyze some of its strong
points, and how it may be considered as the technology
of the future.
Analysis
VoIP is essentially the transfer of voice over
the IP network. Integrating existing Internet
protocols with real time voice and sound is a
big problem mainly because the Internet was not
designed for handling interactive content to the
extent that we use them today. However, market
demands have put enough pressure on vendors to
create technologies that can effectively use the
existing infrastructure in the best possible manner.
On top of it, the urge to combine real time communication
with the universality and lower costs of the Internet
is too strong a factor that cannot be resisted
by many technology vendors today.
How VoIP functions
At the basic level, VoIP functions much like the
common Internet services that are available today.
Voice data is received at one end of the IP network
and is compressed, digitized, and broken down
into data packets with unique serial numbers.
A universal lookup table or an IP reference table
helps the server at the call originating end to
find out the IP of the receiver to whom the call
is placed. Once the IP is resolved, data is sent
to the destination IP much in the same fashion
that emails and web data is transferred across
the network. The data packets that are received
at the destination end is collected, arranged
according to sequence numbers, and converted back
to analog signals so that the receiver can hear
the voice. VoIP is possible between two computers,
between two telephones that are connected to a
network or even between a computer and a telephone.
This means that a person with a PC can originate
a call to a landline or vice versa [Jain, 2004]
The advantages of VoIP
• Voice and Data Integration
VoIP is a definite step towards integration of
voice and data; a need that has been increasingly
researched since the last few decades. Integration
of voice and data would mean that data transfer
can be controlled effectively thereby making data
manipulation faster and more secure. VoIP will
use a host of technologies like voice encryption
in future to ensure that data transfer across
voice sensitive servers happen in the most efficient
manner.
• Fault tolerant design
Once more technological advancements are made
on the efficient transfer of voice over IP, the
need for massive infrastructure maintenance and
installation routines would be automatically reduced.
This would mean that the fault tolerant designs
will become more popular and ubiquitous in the
future. A network that can handle all types of
data will be very much appreciated by existing
systems that needs to implement multiple solutions
to solve its immediate needs.
• Network Efficiency
Advanced VoIP solutions will ensure that networks
will be used in the most efficient manner. For
example, it is interesting to note that more than
fifty percent of the time spent during a conversation
between two people is used for listening. In such
scenarios applications that can use flexible bandwidths
can make effective use of the network by increasing
or decreasing the throughput as required. This
is a very important advancement in the integration
of voice and data.
• Cost reduction
Once VoIP becomes common, the role of the Public
Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) can be reduced.
This means that almost all the voice requirements
can be routed through the Internet. This would
be a tremendous cost saving when we consider the
fact that PSTN requires costly equipments and
manpower to maintain itself. As far as the user
is concerned, it would mean tremendous savings
in terms of cost because long distance calls would
become cheaper since the voice is routed through
the Internet. In future communication costs will
be so less that people across countries will be
able to talk at very nominal rates. Independent
statistics indicate that international VoIP could
cost only less than 15% of the current PSTN tariffs
[Jain, 2004]
Routing voice over IP will offer many advantages
to other business sectors as well. For example,
companies that rely on the telephone to conduct
their business will experience a significant reduction
in costs once VoIP gets its rightful share in
the market. Call centers, data centers, and big
industrial establishments will all benefit from
the cheap medium that the Internet is. In addition
to reducing costs on voice calls, VoIP will also
enable fax services through the net which would
be another tremendous saving in terms of operational
costs to companies and individuals.
• Data integrity
One important strongpoint of the IP architecture
is the importance that is given to data integrity.
Since VoIP uses the basic architecture of IP,
data transmissions including fax transmissions
will operate in a highly reliable environment
and will incorporate a self validating feature
in them.
[Kulathumani, 1999]
How the customers are benefited
Most of the ordinary customers do not know the
technical details that work behind VoIP. For the
ordinary person, VoIP offers effective and cost
saving solutions to place calls, especially long
distance calls. Similarly, for businesses the
integration of various technologies that could
operate on a single platform will be a great cost
saver. It must be said that economic advantages
are the most important factor that makes VoIP
attractive [Avaya, 2004]
VoIP Applications
There are many applications that use VOIP to transfer
calls across the network. While there are many
free software like Skype and Microsoft Net meeting
that can transfer voice across networks, there
are also services that require customers to pay.
Similarly some countries and service providers
have systems that block VoIP applications unless
specifically paid for.
Skype
Skype (http://www.skype.com/products/ ) is a
popular software that can place voice calls through
the Internet. The software is free and one can,
after installing it, call any person running the
same software in any part of the world for free.
The free edition is used for PC to PC communication.
To call mobiles and land lines, one would need
to use a paid service called Skypeout. Skypeout
is similar to a prepaid mobile service where one
can start talking after depositing a particular
sum of money with the company. The deposit can
be renewed once the talk time gets exhausted.
The features that are offered in Skype are pretty
useful considering the fact that it is free software.
Essential features like clarity of sound, echo
reduction, connectivity, and most importantly,
data encryption capacities are built into the
software. In addition, Skype can also be used
for conferencing and even instant messaging applications.
Skype can also be used for data transfer and huge
files can be sent between users using Skype. Similarly,
Skype also has a massive directory with which
one can search for contacts. Another very important
fact is that the software services almost all
parts of the world, and so getting connected to
someone in any part of the world is not a big
issue.
Conclusion
VoIP is one of the most happening sectors of telecommunication
technologies where people can send voice and data
at relatively cheap rates. Considering the applications
and economic benefits of the technology, and the
fact that more companies are joining the VoIP
bandwagon with their own neat little applications,
it may be expected that the future belongs to
VoIP
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