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The possibility of voice communications traveling over the Internet, rather than
the PSTN, first became a reality in February 1995 when Vocaltec Incorporated
introduced its Internet phone software. Designed to run on a 486/33-MHz (or
higher) personal computer equipped with a sound card, speakers, microphone, and
modem, the software compressed the voice signal and translated it into IP packets
for transmission over the Internet. This PC-to-PC Internet Telephony worked,
however, only if both parties were using Internet phone software.
In the relatively short period of time since then, Internet Telephony
has advanced rapidly. Many software developers now offer PC
Telephony software but, more importantly, gateway servers are
emerging to act as an interface between the Internet and the PSTN.
Equipped with voice-processing cards, these gateway servers enable
users to communicate via standard telephones.
Originally regarded as a novelty, Internet Telephony is attracting more and more
users because it offers tremendous cost savings relative to the PSTN.
Users can bypass long-distance carriers and their per-minute usage rates and run
their voice traffic over the Internet for a flat monthly Internet-access fee. Several
factors will influence future developments in VoIP products and services. Currently,
the most promising areas for VoIP are corporate intranets and commercial extranets.
Their IP-based infrastructures enable operators to control who can and cannot use
the network.
Another influential element in the ongoing Internet Telephony evolution is the
VoIP gateway. As these gateways evolve from PC-based platforms to
robust embedded systems, each will be able to handle hundreds of
simultaneous calls.Consequently,corporationswill deploy largenumbers
of them in an effort to reduce the expenses associated with high-volume
voice, fax, and videoconferencing traffic. The economics of placing all
traffic
—
data, voice, and video
—
over an IP-based network will pull
companies in this direction, simply because IP will act as a unifying
agent, regardless of the underlying architecture (that is leased lines,
frame relay, or ATM) of an organization’s network.
Basically what we are now saying is that Internet Telephony, once a bad word in
the Indian telecommunications lexicon, may become a good word much faster
than expected. What we’re also saying is that as far as this technology is concerned,
the best is yet to come.
n
The garden of net telephony has
countless serpents, who have been
luring users to take the quick, easy
and zero-cost route to long distance
voice communication.
