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Monday, July 12, 2010

VoiP Set to Change Face of Communication

The era of telecommunications is evolving so rapidly that newer technologies are displacing the old, transforming the way businesses and enterprises operate. As they grow and expand globally, voice communication over long distances becomes a costly affair. VoiP was developed in order to facilitate cost-effective voice communication to anywhere in the world. With everyone slowly veering towards this technology, it is bound to become the primary form of communications in the near future.

When compared to the good old telephone line, where local and international calls can cost quite a packet, VoiP wins hands down. As all you need is a high-speed broadband Internet connection, which most of us have these days, the cost will only be what you normally pay monthly for your Internet bill. The duration of the call doesn't in any way affect the cost.

That being so, is it any wonder then that VoiP is set to innovatively transform the way we communicate, and interact with each other? Let's take a closer look then and see how VoiP actually works.

VoiP actually stands for Voice over Internet Protocol and to understand what this means, one needs to comprehend the principle behind this technology. When a standard phone is used, analog-audio signals, the human voice, are transmitted over the closed circuit that make up the network.

VoiP systems however, convert these analog audio signals into digital signals and these signals come in the form of digitized packets of information that are transmitted over a high speed Internet connection. The amount of data that can be transmitted per second is more than 100 times the data that can be transmitted over standard PSTN lines.

There are basically three ways that VoIP calls can be made. Depending on their individual needs, users can adapt any method they choose to.

In the first method, a standard phone is plugged into an analog telephone adapter socket just as is done when it is plugged into a wall socket. This is connected to a computer and a software application is activated. This will allow phone calls to be made over the VoIP network.

IP phones look very much like the ordinary phones except that they use a different connector. Standard phones use RJ-11 connections, while IP phone use RJ-45 connectors. The latter is also used in Ethernet connections. VoIP calls can be made wherever there is a Wi-Fi hot spot or an Ethernet jack available, as the required software is already built in.

PC users can communicate with one another regardless of the distance. The only criteria is that the other person should also be a VoIP user, with the requisite software and a broadband Internet connection. The calls made are literally free of cost. A head-set with built-in headphones and a microphone are all that is needed to listen and talk.

Using VoIP networks, it has now become extremely easy for anyone to make cost-effective calls for personal or business use without any bulky hardware or initial expense. There are additional features like call forwarding, call tracing, reminders, caller ID that can be installed to enrich the communication experience.

Gear up then for a better tomorrow, where VoIP will become as common as making an ordinary phone call. PSTN may just be on its way out, but it will be sometime more before VoIP dominates the world of communication.

Mini Swamy is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Erin Monda

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