VOIP
Voice Over Internet Protocol or VOIP technology is going to revolutionize the telecommunications industry. The days of expensive long distance nationwide or global calls will be a thing of the past. Let's take a look at how VOIP technology works.
On a POTS or plain old telephone system you would use your phone to dial and connect with an electronic switchboard known as a Public Switched Telephone Network or PTSN. This switch would then connect you to a series of other switches that eventually connected you to the person on the other end. So if you were living in Bangor Maine and calling someone in Los Angeles California you were using dedicated wire that was over 3000 miles long. While there are thousands of individual wires each one could only be used to connect to people, and this was the reason long distance calling was so expensive.
VOIP calling uses the same method of transmitting data that is used by your computer on the internet. You use a regular telephone to place your call. A VOIP gateway takes your call and converts it into a digital signal. It will then split this digital signal up into small sections of data known as 'packets' these packets carry destination and reassembly instructions. These packets travel across network connections, routers, and hubs to reach their destination. They then pass through another gateway and are converted back into a voice signal on the receiving telephone. As the call is digital there is no degradation in signal strength, quality or clarity. Additionally the distance traveled has an extremely negligible effect on the entire process. Since the same wires can be used to carry more than one call, and can also be shared with voice, it's extremely efficient and cost effective.
