Introduction

The mode of voice communication started when Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. Since then, the standard telephone has undergone many changes. The telephone was the undisputed leader in voice communication, until the birth of the Internet changed the way people were connected forever. Emails became the cheapest and fastest way to convey a message over long distance. But now VoIP has emerged as a complete solution for communication, offering voice, data transfer and video conferencing. VoIP phones offer all the functionalities of a telephone service and are slowly replacing them.

What Is VoIP?

VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol, a technological innovation that allows you to make long distance phone calls using a computer or notebook over high speed Internet access. One of the main considerations for using VoIP is that it is less expensive than telephone and mobile service providers. The cost for VoIP is almost nothing; all you need is an Internet connection and your usage is free.

History of VoIP (or if you just want to know how to use it, skip ahead)

VoIP is, relatively speaking, not a new technology. Transmitting voice through the Internet was achieved during the early Internet ages via the popular Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). VoIP was opened to users in the early 80’s and in 1995 a real breakthrough happened when a small telecommunications company named Vocaltec Inc. released Internet Phone Software. The software was designed for home PCs and had similar requirements to modems, microphones, speakers and sound cards.

The Internet software introduced by Vocaltec Inc used the H.323 protocol and was well accepted by consumers. In 1996 Vocaltec Inc released version 4 which had many features including voice mail and caller ID. By 1998 VoIP occupied 1% of the total voice traffic in the United States. The heat was on and software companies started to work on VoIP software that would allow PCs to call phones. In the year 2000, VoIP had 3% of voice traffic and it is expected to account for 25-40% of all international voice traffic by the year 2012.