Voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) is a remarkable technology
that lets us talk to one another from our home computers. It
provides an efficient and flexible way for us to communicate at
work and at home, and the cost savings versus conventional
telephone services are incredible. It requires little upfront
investment, and you have the ability to travel with your phone
number all over the world. It is a technology that almost seems
too good to be true. As with any relatively new technology,
though, there are technical kinks with VOIP that continue to
need refining and development in order for the technology to
reach its fullest potential as a replacement for the current
telephone systems that we are accustomed to using.
At the beginning of a VOIP phone call, there is an analog phone
(in use with an ATA), an IP phone, or software that converts
data from analog to digital and routes the call to an endpoint.
Along with these pieces of equipment, there are protocols that
are employed to get the job done efficiently. A protocol is a
set of rules that control data transfer between two points, in
this case, from the placement of a phone call to the
destination. Protocols are put into use by any combination of
hardware and software to define real-time communications
performance.
There are several VOIP protocols used at this time that mark out
which programs (that transform the data) connect with one
another along with the network. The most common protocol being
used for VOIP is know as H.323, which was created by the
International Telecommunication Union for the purposes of
videoconferencing. This protocol is actually a group of several
specific protocols that provide provisions for
videoconferencing, data sharing, and audio transmission (VOIP).
However, since it was not expressly designed for VOIP, there are
often compatibility issues with its use.
A newer protocol has come out known as Session Initiation
Protocol, or SIP. SIP was developed specifically for VOIP, and
it is less complex than H.323. Yet another protocol used for
VOIP is known as Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP). It
focuses on destination control, and is intended to be used for
supplemental features such as Call Waiting. A big problem arises
because these three protocols do not always work together very
congruently. This is often a problem when placing VOIP calls
between different networks that use different protocols. And
since there has not been yet developed a uniform set of
standards for protocols to use for VOIP, problems are likely to
continue until they are established.
Despite the technical glitches that can be encountered in using
the technology to place phone calls, VOIP is still far more
efficient, accommodating, and cost effective to what we are used
to in telephone communications. The direction in which VOIP is
heading hints that it is poised to one day replace our
traditional telephone technology altogether. As with any
technology-driven product or service, developers of VOIP will
likely continue to improve upon current standards of VOIP and
its protocols, further improving the technology for widespread
use. This will provide users of VOIP even greater efficiency and
reliability when they want to make a telephone call.
|
Categories 
