An Overview Of VoIP ? JoshStine's Blog

As part of my Networking class, my team took a deep look at VoIP:?

Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP is changing the way we are able communicate with others around the world in a big way. ?Many of us rely on VoIP services every day to make phone calls over the Internet to our friends. ?Without the flexibility of VoIP we simply would not be able to use services like Skype, Google Voice, and Vonage. ?VoIP is a group of communication protocols that work together to allow people to communicate through broadband Internet. ?Traditional phone companies have taken notice to the emergence of VoIP telephone solutions because it?s the future of the telecommunications business. ?VoIP is very attractive to many types of customers as an alternative to traditional land-line telephones because of its cost-effectiveness, security, and portability. ?Of course with any new technology there are advantages and disadvantages and it?s something that we will have to investigate when deciding if VoIP is a viable option for everyone. ?Taking the Internet and combining it with the telephone was not an easy task. ??It can take years to work out the flaws in any product and when it comes to VoIP there is no exception to this. ?Despite VoIP?s drawbacks, there is no denying its impact and bright future in the telecommunications business.

You might be asking how does VoIP work? ?An end user must first gain access to a TCP/IP based network and be able to connect to the Internet using at least broadband quality Internet service. ?Once there, the user has to decide what solution works best for them. ?The decision comes down to the use of ATA boxes, IP Phones, or Peer to Peer connections. ?ATA boxes are converters that companies like Vonage use to convert analog signals into digital signals, which in return allow us to send these digital signals over the Internet using VoIP. ?IP Phones eliminate the need for an ATA box by using traditional networking standards such as built in RJ-45 Ethernet and Wi-Fi. ?IP Phones have become very popular in the enterprise because of there flexibility to hook into existing infrastructure. ?Peer to Peer connections using VoIP has become very popular to many users because of applications such as Skype, AIM, and Google Talk. ?The fact that you don?t even have to own a telephone to participate in Peer to Peer connections over VoIP is very significant. ?In the end no matter which of these configurations you decide to use your communication will ultimately be routed through a VoIP gateway. ?The VoIP gateway breaks down the digital signals into tiny data packets where they will finally be sent off to the person you are communicating with over the Internet. ?VoIP is smart enough to reconvert the data packets being sent back into analog signals, which assure compatibility for the person you plan on communicating with over the phone.

Residential customers who want to use VoIP services first need to decide what service provider to use. ?Vonage tends to be the most popular VoIP residential provider so we will focus on what happens when you sign up for Vonage.? Vonage allows customers to use their existing land-line phone number to pair with the Vonage Phone Adapter. Vonage?s phone adapter is just a simple name for an ATA box, which converts analog signals into digital signals. ?Vonage provides each customer with a phone adapter that is plugged into the customer?s home phone, a computer, and a high-speed Internet connection. ?Once this connection is established you can take full advantage of the great features that Vonage provides. ?Vonage continues to add functionality to their VoIP solutions and their newest feature is something that anyone with a smart-phone might be interested in using. ?Vonage Extensions allow you to use your Vonage calling plan on the go using either an Android or iOS device. ?This feature attempts to compete with the mobile telecommunications companies like Verizon and AT&T because they charge for different levels of calling plans. ?Mobile telecommunications businesses use a few conditions to keep users on their calling plans, which also prevent the growth of VoIP companies. ?Vonage Extensions would use your smart-phone?s data plan and almost all of the mobile operators have stopped offering unlimited data plans to their subscribers. ?Along with limited data plans, most mobile operators offer unlimited calling plans as the basic calling plan to their subscriber, which gives them no significant reason to make use of VoIP services on mobile phones. ?VoIP services like Vonage are great, long term solutions for residential phone subscribers, but we cannot help but notice the mobile operator?s plans when it comes to VoIP solutions.

Residential use of VoIP solutions has some very significant advantages and disadvantages when being compared to traditional land-line services. ?Cost savings, portability, scalability, and the advanced features offered are some of the most well-known advantages that VoIP solutions provide. ?Let me explain how VoIP can save you a whole lot of money. ?VoIP providers offer unlimited calling in the U.S. and Canada, while also offering cheap international calling rates to subscribers. ?Vonage for instance also bundles advanced features into their calling plans to give customers more functionality over traditional land-line phones. ?Caller ID, Call Waiting, Call Blocking, 3-Way-Calling and many other features are included as standard features for no extra fee. ?Portability is another reason why VoIP has advantages over traditional land-line phones. ?With most VoIP providers you can check your voicemail and missed calls from anywhere in the world as long as you have access to a high-speed Internet connection. ?Accessing your VoIP provider is nearly as convenient as checking your email when traveling. ?The convenience of making calls for free using your home phone number could be fairly useful. ?

The scalability of VoIP services can be another determining advantage when upgrading from traditional phone lines. ?From an enterprise perspective it could potentially save an organization thousands of dollars to switch to a VoIP solution. ?Not only is it easier to maintain, but it?s was built to be used by the enterprise. ?Of course VoIP isn?t perfect and it carries a few limitations. ?Power outages, call quality, and emergency calls are three major issues facing VoIP.

The most significant issue facing VoIP services is the inability to place calls during power outages. ?If the power goes out you most likely won?t be able to connect to your high-speed Internet provider nor your VoIP provider. ?Backup power generators are a solution to power outages, but how many people actually own one? ?Another issue associated with VoIP services is call quality. ?VoIP calls use a digital signal, which means you either have a connection established or you don?t. ?Unreliable Internet connections can cause bad call quality over VoIP because data packets could be dropped in transit. ?The last major issue with VoIP deals with how emergency calls are handled. ?For instance when you call the police dispatcher, they see your phone number and your location if the call is from a land-line telephone. ?VoIP calls can be made anywhere the caller has an internet connection, which means it could be very hard to track the callers location in an emergency.? When traveling it?s very important that you update your VoIP account address because 9-1-1 services are better able to track your location in emergency situations.? For emergencies it?s best to always try to use a traditional land-line telephone when possible.

Most VoIP users have experienced issues relating to ?delay? and ?lag?.? We must remember though that VoIP services are routed through the Internet protocol and sometimes problems arise between networks. ?Packet delivery is never perfect and sometimes there is a delay with the delivery of packets. This could be caused by your ISP, the amount of bandwidth you have, or your router could be overloaded. Also, a packet could have been dropped or sent somewhere else and when that happens, a packet is usually resent. However, VoIP doesn?t resend packets. So instead of there being a delay, there is just a gap in the voice. Another type of delay is called jitter. This is when the packets all arrive at irregular times to the server. So since voice is continuous, the receiving router has to work out the packets so that there is no disruption with the voice. It could be worse for a cell phone or residential VoIP service because they are all using shared lines. A cell phone uses the same cell tower as thousands of cell phones and if everyone accessed it at the same time, such as at a Penn State football game, the tower gets overloaded and there is a heavy delay. The same type of issues can happen with residential services as well. Everyone in the area uses the same shared phone lines. If everyone is using it at the same time, there could be a huge delay in telephone service.? Many times a user will experience lag when dealing with off-shore VoIP service lines because these international support centers have an unreliable ISP.? In many parts of the world, countries do not have the same reliable broadband connections or infrastructures that we are blessed with in the United States.

It is possible to design a corporate installment of VoIP that maintains all the advantages listed above, while also eliminating limitations. The disadvantages listed above, quality of phone service, power outages, and emergency calls all have remedies that can be put in place to provide a more secure, reliable, and overall smoother, VoIP service. To begin with, a power outage can be detrimental to business when using VoIP simply because it will be difficult, if not impossible, to connect to the high-speed Internet connection or VoIP provider. ?Any business, in any design, should be operating with the safety of a background generator. If the power were to go out, calls will be saved, potentially saving clients and business. Another limitation of VoIP is the danger of emergency calls. Due to the fact that VoIP calls appear with a landline number and area code, it is difficult for authorities to track your location unless you constantly update your location. A solution to this problem is DECT VoIP phones, Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications. These phones have the ability to plug into a computer using a USB cord and/or telephone socket. This will result in the base station functioning as VoIP and the hand held phone is DECT, a normal hand held phone. To create a corporate design with a few DECT VoIP phones would extinguish the concern for making emergency calls. The last limitation is the actual quality of the service. A new corporate deployment of VoIP should include upgraded software and optimizing computers for broadband. With installations of applications that allow computer operating systems to handle larger and faster transfer rates the quality of service will greatly improve. In addition, the amount of extraneous downloads/streaming should be limited, if not discontinued. The downloading of large files will take away from data transfer rates, which may lead to dropped calls and slower connections. If large files must be downloaded, an allotted time to do so would be wise. With these improvements to limit VoIP imitations, the advantages of cost savings, portability, stability, and advanced features will still be maintained.

As a team we feel very strongly that VoIP services are the future of communication.? Despite some of the disadvantages of VoIP services on the market currently, we believe that they will eventually be solved.? VoIP gives people more options and features for a lot lower cost and it?s something all businesses need to invest into to.? As budgets continue to be cut in IT departments, VoIP services are continuing to mature and grow. ??The Internet is extremely powerful and there?s no denying VoIP services are an example of that.? There is simply no denying VoIP is the future of how we communicate over telephones and around the world.

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Source: http://joshstine.wordpress.com/2012/02/05/an-overview-of-voip/

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