A Marvel Called VoIP | The Communication Blog

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

A Marvel Called VoIP

By Wesley Jenkins

Many people have made overseas calls, and through the years a lot of development has been made to make this more effective and cost-effective. Now there is a remarkable new way for us to communicate, through VoIP or Voice over IP. In the most basic essence, VoIP converts analog audio signals into digital data, transmits it over the Internet, and converts it back to whoever the intended receiver is.

There are various kinds of VoIP calling methods which are currently available. An example may be the ATA (Analog Telephone Adaptor) which serves as a converter/adaptor for our standard phone. It enables our phones to connect directly into our computers Internet connection. Another is the IP phones. These look more like your standard telephone set. The only difference is that rather than plugging it into your telephone jack, it's got Ethernet jacks that could be connected directly into your router. Lastly the most typical and popular would be the computer to computer call. All that's necessary for this is the voice calling software, microphone, headset, and an Internet connection. It is usually a totally free service supplied by popular chat and instant messaging software providers like Skype and Yahoo.

So how does VoIP differ from traditional telephone lines? The response lies in how they transmit voice both to and from the calling parties. With the telephone line, voice is transmitted through circuit switching. This circuit is "switched on" whenever all parties are utilizing the telephone. This could be very wasteful as it is always open whether or not the speaker is talking. In VoIP, voice is transmitted through packet switching. In this method, voice is transmitted in "packets". These packets carry data (in this case voice) over the Internet. Regardless which path these packets take through the Internet because it's going to end up with the receiver. The receiving computer will reassemble these packets and convert it back to voice. In this instance the connection is not always on, it'll just turn on if it sends and receives packets. This really is very efficient because the packets are transmitted through the least congested and cheapest lines in the network.

Obviously, the glaring selling point of VoIP over traditional telephone service is the expense of making a call. This is so because telephone companies need to develop physical infrastructure to support their services. Unlike VoIP which revolves round the connected virtual world which is the Internet. VoIP offers flexibility because you could literally make a call anywhere in the world if you have an Internet connection.

On the other hand, VoIP is subject to disruptions together with your connection to the Internet, which is definitely an ordinary occurrence in our everyday connected lives. To put it simply, no web connection no VoIP. Also voice clarity continues to be a concern; this can be caused by instability in Internet data transfer. It's also susceptible to power outages mainly because it usually draws power from your wall outlet.

VoIP is not going to replace the standard telephone anytime soon. But if the kinks and hiccups could possibly be addressed it might go mainstream and become our telecommunication standard of the future.

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