See You Online
Internet telephony is the next best thing to the regular phone calls
By Cecilia C. Cortez

Worrying about the increasing cost of getting in touch with friends and family abroad through phone? Try using the Internet for a change. After the birth of the Internet, one of the promising technologies the market welcomed with huge interest is the so-called Internet telephony or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). It has taken the IT and telecommunication industry by storm.

VoIP is a form of telecommunication that allows data and voice transmissions to be sent across a wide variety of networks such as the Internet. The technology paves the way for telephone calls, fax messages, and voice traffic to be disseminated over the Internet and Intranet as well. During the conversation between the two talking parties, the system converts the sender’s digitized voice into data packets. As soon as the packets make its destination, the receiver’s software restores the packets and converts it back to its original form.

Regarded as the next best thing to regular phone calls – where only voices are exchanged – VoIP offers its users opportunity for a face-to-face conversation.

The setup is simple – one only needs to have a computer equipped with the required program or Internet phone program, a set of speakers or headsets, a microphone, and of course, access to the Internet.

VoIP’s Beginnings
VoIP traces its roots way back in 1995 when Vocaltec, Inc. introduced its Internet Phone software. The software – designed to run on a 486/33-MHz (or higher) personal computer with a sound card, speakers, microphone, and modem – compressed voice signal and converted it into IP packets for transmission over the Internet.

VoIP works to the advantage of both consumers and businesses due to cost effectiveness. It allows you to talk all the time with every person you want (provided he is connected to the Internet at the same time), and for as long as you want. One can also talk to many people at the same time using VoIP. Internet calls can be supported from one personal computer to another (PC to PC), personal computer to a telephone (PC to phone) and vice versa, or phone to phone.

To ensure inter-operability between products of different vendors, they follow a certain standard protocol for sending voice and video on the public Internet and within an intranet - the International Telecommunication Union H.323. Initially, H.323 was used to provide consistency in audio, video, and data packet transmissions in the event that a local area network did not provide guaranteed service quality. Now, it is the standard for inter-operability in audio, video, and data transmissions as well as Internet telephony because it addresses call control and management for both point-to-point and multipoint conferences as well as gateway administration of media traffic, bandwidth, and user participation.

Compared to real time streaming voice data communication where there are no delays in the exchange of communication, in VoIP you may experience a bit of delay or lapses due to packet loss which leads to unclear and inaccurate voice messages. Improvement in technology is a never-ending process so you can expect much improved service in the near future.

A typical VoIP system requires equipment a) end-user devices e.g. telephones, audio-equipped computers; b) gateway; c) gatekeeper/proxies; d) multipoint conference units. All of these components may be integrated into one unit in order to communicate with each other over signaling and voice-transporting protocols.

Some of the more popular VoIP products are CU-SeeMe, Dialpad, and Netmeeting.

VoIP services are directly offered in the websites of some vendors like dialpad.com and net2phone.com or by installing software like CoolTalk and NetMeeting which are bundled with a browser.

So next time you plan on calling a business partner, friend, or a family member abroad, you now have a new – and more economical – alternative to a landline or mobile phone.