Internet Telephony Basics
If you’re new to the world of Internet Telephony (or IP Telephony) then you’ve come to the right place. It seems like Internet Telephony is almost a buzz word by now and all the coverage and hype it gets in the media.
So what is Internet Telephony, really, and how can it affect your small business or home based business?
At the very basic level, it means telecommunication services and devices that use the Internet as a medium. Imagine all the phone services you use now, all the long distance calls, voice message services, call forwarding, etc.
Now imagine all these happening on the Internet, with or without the need for any physical phones, voice recorders and telephone lines… that’s IP telephony in a nutshell.
Definition of Internet Telephony
Here’s how the experts define it:
“Internet telephony is the conversion of analog speech signals used on current telephone systems into digital data, allowing calls to be sent over the Internet, bypassing long distance charges. While the Internet was first devised as a way of transmitting data, it is now being used to make voice calls. Internet telephony is projected to explode as the costs plummet.” [source]
“IP Telephony, also called ‘Internet telephony’, is the technology that makes it possible to have a telephone conversation over the Internet or a dedicated Internet Protocol (IP) network instead of dedicated voice transmission lines. This allows the elimination of circuit switching and the associated waste of bandwidth. Instead, packet switching is used, where IP packets with voice data are sent over the network only when data needs to be sent, i.e., when a caller is talking.” [source]
Internet Telephony and VoIP
Although these 2 things are often confused to be the same, there’s actually a difference. VoIP or Voice Over Internet Protocol is the technology that enables Internet telephony. VoIP is basically sending and receiving voice (phone conversations) through the Internet.
IP telephony, however, is more than just sending voice. It also covers fax messages, sending data, multimedia and other applications that combine all these components.
Using IP telephony for you business has its advantages and disadvantages, although the latter seems to be reducing with time, as more complex and stable technology evolves to replace the feeble, unreliable ones.
Types of Internet Telephony
There are basically 5 types of Internet telephony, which are:
PC to PC
Internet telephony that operates 100% online and only between two PCs that are connected via the Internet.
PC to Phone
Making phone calls from your PC to a land line (fixed) phone number, a mobile phone number and toll-free numbers.
Device to Phone
Making phone calls from PDAs to a land line (fixed) phone number, a mobile phone number and toll-free numbers.
Phone to PC
A reverse of PC to phone, this type of Internet telephony enables people to make phone calls to your PC, without the need for a physical phone line or phone.
Phone to Phone
Basic telephony between two or more physical phones. This can be done either by using VoIP PBX, IP phones, or IP phone adapters.
