VOIP: Voice Over Internet Protocol

 

Traditional phone conversations are carried over a pair of wires; those wires are dedicated to that conversation, for as long as that call goes on, those wires, that circuit, can’t be used for anything else. It’s called a circuit-switched network; the phone company switches things around so the circuit between the parties calling each other is maintained. With VOIP, the phone calls move over your network with the rest of your traffic. In geek-speak it is packet switched instead of circuit switched. Packet switched networks require fewer resources than the circuit switched variety, they can do more than one thing at a time, like deliver email and web pages and phone calls all on the same wire. Since they are more efficient they are less expensive, since they are less expensive engineers have know for a long time that all voice calls would in time be moved off the traditional circuit switched network to an IP based system. That time has come.

 

Why Buy a VOIP Phone System?

 

1. Phones are connected via Ethernet and IP, just like your computers. You no longer need separate wiring and jacks for computers and phones, cutting you installation costs.
2. Extensions follow the phone, not the wires/jack.  Moving an extension no longer requires reprogramming the system, you just move the phone.
3. Non-VOIP systems will soon be a thing of the past, this means that vendors are developing and adding new features to VOIP systems and not to their legacy products. Things like text messaging, RSS and cellular gateways will never be available on a traditional PBX.
4. Manage and listen to voicemail just like you do email. Want to check you voicemail from any internet connected computer? You just can’t with a traditional system. Same thing goes for saving and organizing your voicemail. With a VOIP system the ability to download and archive your voicemail is as easy as managing your email, without the spam. You can even attach a voicemail to an email message and send it to whomever you like.

 

 

Why choose an open source PBX over a proprietary system?

 

1.      Cost. The traditional PBX vendors have spent an enormous amount of money on research and development. They intend to recoup this investment by charging a premium for their VOIP systems. This is especially true of their “Unified Messaging” software. The open source product is sponsored by hardware manufacturers to spur the sales of their products. The software is free. This means that all the high end “extras” the big boys charge for, like voicemail to email gateways, are included in the cost of an open source system. The open source system will run on most any Intel PC; the PBX is no longer a specialized black box but an off-the-shelf commodity.

2.      Features. Like Linux, the open source PBX is continually upgraded by a worldwide group of developers unencumbered by corporate bureaucracy, if they think it’s cool, they put it in. All the basics of the traditional phone system are already there, additional functionality is being added at a phenomenal pace. Read the news on your phone. Need to leave your phone but don’t want to stop the call, transfer it to your cell. Don’t want to give your cell number to a customer? Just forward your extension to your cell phone.

3.      Future. The open source product will far outpace the traditional vendor’s ability to add features and enhanced functionality.