Voice Over Internet Protocol

Look At The Types Of VoIP And Their Advantages

2009-04-21T10:43:00.000-07:00

1. The consumer VoIP.

Many of today's consumer-based VoIP services provide free voice calling within the same provider. This is made possible by that of using a certain kind of adaptor which connects to a program or a broadband service which functions like an ordinary main telephone line or a home computer.

2. The small up to medium sized company VoIP.

Typically, small scale businesses prefer to apply the methods that will allow them to save more money on their operations. That is why, a VoIP system proves to be very practical in this line.

Centrex Explained

Centrex is yet another type of a phone service which is utilized by most of the VoIP operated services. It has the full control over the central calls and the switching is conducted inside a box that is usually placed on the wall which then acts as the remote Internet hosting center. The Centrex services have something to do with the desk phones of the customers who connect the calls via the broadband Internet towards the PBX servers.

Cheap International Calls

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If you find that this plan is well within your budget and you like the overall plan, you can sign-up and continue to use Tel3 Advantage. After the trial period is over, you can use the account. In case you do not like the plan, you can stop after you have exhausted all the free calls. With this plan, you need not provide any credit card number or any personal information. Other than offering the email address, the company will not ask for any personal details. The email address is needed to activate the account. After the account is activated, you can start making the calls.

If you thought that cheap international calling is a dream, then you have not probably heard about Tel3 Advantage. Among all the prepaid schemes, this is one of the best-known deals. You can make a long distance call from anywhere and you can use any phone to make the international call. You can use the card through the landline number, a cell phone, VoIP or any hotel phone. When you need to talk to your loved one from a distance, time flies and so does money and you end up with no balance in your account.

Through Internet lines, VoIP services connect people in a number of ways:

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Computer to computer applications is perhaps the easiest way of availing VoIP services for free, no matter the distance. There are also companies that offer free and very low long-distance call fees. All it needs is a computer with a microphone, speakers, sound card and Internet connection that also runs software that supports VoIP applications.

• Computer to telephone VoIP calls, similar to computer-to-computer calls, requires a software client. It allows a person to call anyone from his computer. While the software usually available for free, the calls may require minimal fees. Call rates depend on the software provider or on the VoIP service setup provider.

Business Telephone Systems-Reach the Next Level With VoIP

2009-04-17T00:22:00.000-07:00

Business Telephone Systems have come a long way since the days when Alexander Graham Bell paged Watson to come into his office. These days, a string connected to two tin cans just won't get it done when it comes to handling heavy call volumes and maintaining outstanding customer service. That is why Voice over internet Protocol (VoIP) can help you meet the demands of doing business in the 21st century. By harnessing the power of the World Wide Web and implementing it into your phone system, you can have state-of-the art technology that will elevate your business to a whole new operating level.

The biggest advantage of business phone systems using VoIP is an important one, especially in the current economy. It can save money. The efficiency of the VoIP bandwidth when compared to traditional phone systems means that monthly phone costs can be reduced. Also, the cost per extension phone is lower. Another advantage is in the flexibility it allows for. These systems can provide for more than one phone call to be carried over a single broadband connection, so extensions can be added easily. And if your business is a call center, the technology allows for an employee to work from a remote location since all that is required is a reliable Internet connection.

Choosing a VOIP provider for your home: points to consider

2009-04-17T00:17:00.000-07:00

If you're ready to try VoIP for your home, there are several points worth thinking about before you choose your VoIP provider. That way you can be sure you pick the set up that's right for your family's needs and your particular set-up.

Do you already have broadband? You need broadband at home in order to be able to make phone calls using VoIP technology. It's a good idea to make sure you know whether it's cable (such as Virgin) or ADSL (such as BT), as this may affect your options.

Do you want to make calls from your PC? Or from a regular telephone? You can make free PC-to-PC calls if you use a VoIP provider such as Skype. This might be just right for you, as long as you don't mind being tied to your computer. The person you're calling must also have broadband, must also have signed up to the same provider, and must also be at their computer. This set-up suits many people. You can also make calls from your PC to other people's phones, but you will be charged for these. And you will still have to be sitting at your computer, of course.

Voip Basics

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VoIP is a revolutionary technology that has the potential to completely rework the world's phone systems.The ATA, IP Phones and Computer-to-Computer are three different ways of VoIP service in common use today. The ATA (analog telephone adaptor) allows person to connect a standard phone to computer or Internet connection. To handle the IP call, IP Phone is connected to router and have all the hardware and software necessary right onboard. Also Wi-Fi phones allow subscribing callers to make VoIP calls in Wi-Fi network areas. Computer-to-Computer is certainly the easiest way to use VoIP. There are several companies offering free or very low-cost software that can use for this type of VoIP. All the need is the software, a microphone, speakers, a sound card and an Internet connection, preferably a fast one like a cable or DSL modem. Except normal monthly ISP fees, there is usually no charge for computer-to-computer calls, no matter the distance.

VoIP Services

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Most VoIP companies provide the features that normal phone companies charge extra for when they are added to service lan.
VoIP includes:
Caller ID
Call waiting
Call transfer
Repeat dial
Return call
Three-way calling
There are also advanced call-filtering options available from some carriers. These features use caller ID information to allow a person to make a choice about how calls from a particular number are handled. One can:
Forward the call to a particular number
Send the call directly to voice mail
Give the caller a busy signal
Play a "not-in-service" message
Send the caller to a funny rejection hotline
With many VoIP services, person can also check voice mail via the Web or attach messages to an e-mail that is sent to your computer or handheld.

Circuit Switching

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Circuit switching is a very basic concept that has been used by telephone networks for more than 100 years. When a call is made between two parties, the connection is maintained for the duration of the call. Because you're connecting two points in both directions, the connection is called a circuit. This is the foundation of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN).

Here's how a typical telephone call works:
1.You pick up the receiver and listen for a dial tone. This lets you know that you have a connection to the local office of your telephone carrier.
2.You dial the number of the party you wish to talk to.
3.The call is routed through the switch at your local carrier to the party you are calling.
4.A connection is made between your telephone and the other party's line using several interconnected switches along the way.
5.The phone at the other end rings, and someone answers the call.
6.The connection opens the circuit.
7.You talk for a period of time and then hang up the receiver.
8.When you hang up, the circuit is closed, freeing your line and all the lines in between.

Packet Switching

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A packet-switched phone network is the alternative to circuit switching. It works like this: While you're talking, the other party is listening, which means that only half of the connection is in use at any given time. Based on that, we can surmise that we could cut the file in half, down to about 4.7 MB, for efficiency. Plus, a significant amount of the time in most conversations is dead air -- for seconds at a time, neither party is talking. If we could remove these silent intervals, the file would be even smaller. Then, instead of sending a continuous stream of bytes (both silent and noisy), the packets of noisy bytes can be sent.
Data networks do not use circuit switching. Internet connection would be a lot slower if it maintained a constant connection to the Web page you were viewing at any given time. Instead, data networks simply send and retrieve data as you need it. And, instead of routing the data over a dedicated line, the data packets flow through a chaotic network along thousands of possible paths. This is called packet switching.
While circuit switching keeps the connection open and constant, packet switching opens a brief connection -- just long enough to send a small chunk of data, called a packet, from one system to another.

VoIP Routing

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E.164 is the name given to the standard for the North American Numbering Plan (NANP). This is the numbering system that phone networks use to know where to route a call based on the dialed numbers. A phone number is like an address:
(313) 555-1212
313 = State555 = City1212 = Street address
The switches use "313" to route the phone call to the area code's region. The "555" prefix sends the call to a central office, and the network routes the call using the last four digits, which are associated with a specific location. Based on that system, no matter where you're in the world, the number combination "(313) 555" always puts you in the same central office, which has a switch that knows which phone is associated with "1212."

VoIP Signaling

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Let's say that two friends both have service through a VoIP provider. You both have your analog phones hooked up to the service-provided ATAs. Let's take another look at that typical telephone call, but this time using VoIP over a packet-switched network:
1.You pick up the receiver, which sends a signal to the ATA.
2.The ATA receives the signal and sends a dial tone. This lets you know that you have a connection to the Internet.
3.You dial the phone number of the party you wish to talk to. The tones are converted by the ATA into digital data and temporarily stored.
4.The phone number data is sent in the form of a request to your VoIP company's call processor. The call processor checks it to ensure that it's in a valid format.
5.The call processor determines to whom to map the phone number. In mapping, the phone number is translated to an IP address (more on this later). The soft switch connects the two devices on either end of the call. On the other end, a signal is sent to your friend's ATA, telling it to ask the connected phone to ring.

VoIP Call Monitoring

2009-04-12T10:23:00.000-07:00

VoIP has its distinct advantages and disadvantages. The greatest advantage of VoIP is price and the greatest disadvantage is call quality. For businesses who deploy VoIP phone networks -- particularly those who operate busy call centers (customer service, tech support, telemarketing, et cetera) -- call quality issues are both inevitable and unacceptable. To analyze and fix call quality issues, most of these businesses use a technique called VoIP call monitoring.
VoIP call monitoring, also known as quality monitoring (QM), uses hardware and software solutions to test, analyze and rate the overall quality of calls made over a VoIP phone network. Call monitoring is a key component of a business's overall quality of service (QoS) plan.
Call monitoring hardware and software uses various mathematical algorithms to measure the quality of a VoIP call and generate a score. The most common score is called the mean opinion score (MOS). The MOS is measured on a scale of one to five, although 4.4 is technically the highest score possible on a VoIP network. An MOS of 3.5 or above is considered a "good call".

VoIP Phones

2009-04-12T10:20:00.000-07:00

VoIP-enabled cell phones are just entering the consumer market. In the United States, only T-Mobile's HotSpot@Home service allows customers to make cell phone calls over a VoIP network. HotSpot@Home relies on a device called a dual-mode cell phone.
Dual-mode cell phones contain both a regular cellular radio and a Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g) radio. The Wi-Fi radio enables the cell phone to connect to a wireless Internet network through a wireless router. If you have a wireless Internet router in your home, or if you're sitting at a Starbucks with wireless Internet access, you can use your cell phone to make VoIP calls.
Another method for call monitoring is recording VoIP phone calls for later analysis. This type of analysis is limited, however, to what can be heard during the call, not what's happening on the actual network. This type of monitoring is usually done by human beings, not computers, and is called quality assurance.