When two worlds meet - Voice over IP, the future of phone calls

By: Jesse Kielthy

Over the past number of years the availability of affordable computing and communication tools has led to the emergence of large-scale computer networks. In conjunction with the growth of these tools we've also seen an ever-increasing demand for services that have a more diverse range of specifications and requirements. People want more choices.

Experts and analysts predict that the future of network communication lies in the convergence of the world's two largest networks - the computer network i.e. the Internet, and the phone network i.e. the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN).

You've probably heard of the Internet Protocol (IP). In a TSSG article last year we looked at the new Internet Protocol IPv6 and described the IP as the protocol or set of rules for communication, which is used today on the Internet. This is a set of common rules that each computer must use in order to be able to connect up with other computers.

If you're familiar with using the Internet, then you're accustomed to what's known as a best-effort delivery of data, where it is assumed that users will expect and tolerate some delay in the delivery of data to their destination. However, if you were trying to speak to someone over this new network, delays of much more than a few milliseconds when speaking to someone else would not be tolerated. Also, it is unrealistic to expect users to pay for a service that results in poor audio or visual quality.

This predicted new 'super network', combining the Internet and the phone networks, will be developed across the existing IP (Internet Protocol) network and the term used to describe the use of voice applications across the IP network is Voice over IP (VoIP).

As home computing increases and more and more people become computer savvy, there are enormous benefits to having this sort of super network available:

* Free (or very cheap) phone calls over IP networks because no sophisticated charging scheme exists to charge per-unit. Instead, most service providers and users still rely on fixed-rate billing models. This means that free phone calls can be made (or at least with no additional service-provider charges) over packet-switched networks, such as the Internet. This will be especially relevant for long-distance phone calls.
* Web-based call integration (integrating web and call services) for selling sales and online customer support, where a customers query about a product could be answered while sharing pictures and files with them at the same time as speaking to them, or solving a problem for them as you step through the procedure while speaking to them. In this manner, a business is increasing the size of its selling "net" and improving the richness of the customer service.
* The development of new services will occur when end-users begin to use smart devices such as a pc (which has great capabilities) compared to a dumb device such as the telephone (which can do very little).

With such attractive advantages on offer, it is necessary to point out that one of the biggest reasons for peoples' apprehension towards embracing VoIP is due to the fact that significant delays can still be found across the Internet. While using it on high capacity corporate Intranets is fine, using a real time application from a 56K modem from a pc onto the telephone network at home will not provide sufficient quality to attract new users.

In a climate of collapsing telecommunication industries and caving markets, VoIP has continued to grow. In 2001, 23.7% of enterprise telephones sold in the US were IP based, while in 2002 that number jumped to 46.3%.

This rise of VoIP has occurred along with a greater amount of improved voice products, an increase in the number of traditional vendors offering IP and a movement towards providing networks for the expected and continued onset of VoIP.