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VIOP - VOICE OVER INTERNET PROTOCOL
In this issue I am having a look at VoIP and what exactly it is. I have been asked by some friends, who know that I am acquainted with most new things of an electronic nature, what it is and if it's worthwhile getting. Well, I can tell you what it is but it's up to you if you think it is worthwhile or not.
What is worthwhile to one person's needs may be useless to another. So, let's have a look at what it is and what it can do.
Very simply, it's like having a phone on the internet. That's exactly what the term means. Rather than hearing the voice transmitted by means of a circuit-switched transmission line (telephone) you hear through a packet-switched network, i.e. the IP (Internet Protocol) network. Protocols which are used to carry voice signals over the network are called Voice over IP (VoIP) Protocols.
What Does it Do?
VoIP can do some stuff better than a land or mobile phone can, and other stuff which they can't do. For example:
You can take your ViOP phone with you anywhere you go, for example on a business trip, connect it to the internet, and your incoming calls are rerouted to your ViOP phone. You can therefore receive incoming calls anywhere in the world.
They can integrate with internet services such as audio conferencing and video conversations while exchanging data files and messages at the same time.
They are very useful for call centers, where employees need not be restricted to home base. They can work from home while still having the services available they require straight from the internet.
If you travel, say, to Europe from Los Angeles and someone calls your Los Angeles phone number, it will ring in Europe. If you make a call to Los Angeles it will charged as a local call, not long distance.
What are The Limitations
There are lots of limitations at the moment while VoIP is still in its infancy. One problem is in how the internet works. Internet files are broken up into small 'packets' of information which are sent over the internet to other sites on the World Wide Web. These individual packets can take any route depending on the volume of traffic at any one time: they pass from computer to computer till they reach their destination, and due to the different routes they can take, they do not arrive at the source all in the right order. Normally this does not cause a problem, since they are put back into their correct order once they reach the source computer.
However, as with streaming video and streaming audio files, this can be a problem with ViOP which is essentially a streaming audio system rather than using discrete files. This problem is tackled using what is known as a 'jitter buffer', but the technology has not been perfected yet.
Calls to the emergency services can also be a problem. You cannot make a 112, 999 or 911 call using ViOP since it is difficult with IP to geographically locate network users. You are not guaranteed to locate a local call centre. This is currently being looked at but is still a problem.
Standard telephone systems are protected from power interruptions at the exchange. This is not the case with ViOP which relies on internet connections. In the event of a power outage, the ViOP system would fail unless the user has a back-up power system on the premises or the service provider has one. Most do not as yet provide this.
There are many other drawbacks at the moment, but the technology is improving rapidly and it will not be too long before ViOP and cellular become the only two normal means of telecommunication.
RECAP
To recap, then, you make a ViOP call either from your computer using a microphone and modem, or a regular telephone and adapter, the message is passed over the internet to the selected number, and received on a PC or a regular telephone which rings as normal.
It does not do a lot which a regular mobile phone cannot, though should be less expensive. Calls from computer to computer can be free if both are subscribers to the ViOP service, and long distance charges can often be avoided.
However, the technology is still being developed and is not yet at a stage in its development that I would consider using it. Like any other new technology, it will rapidly improve until it is the the normal means of telecommunication, and land-lines will be used only for broadband and cable connections until wireless technology takes over altogether and renders land lines and cables obsolete.
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