VoIP: A brief explanation

back to TeleCom index page

By Matt Blair
Posted: 4/26/2004

How does VoIP work? A traditional phone conversation requires a dedicated connection between the two people talking. The callers are essentially renting a direct line between their locations for the duration of the call, which is why prices are so high. VoIP doesn't require a dedicated connection. Instead, this technology analyses speech, packages it into data packets, just like email or web pages, and sends it across the internet. If you are calling a traditional number, a VoIP center near the destination of your call re-assembles the packets and sends it back onto the phone network for the last few miles. The call uses the internet for most of the journey, thus the cost of the call is reduced dramatically.

By leveraging existing internet connections, this technology can offer significant savings over the per-minute charges incurred using the Public Telephone Switched Network (PTSN), the standard telephone system. Telephone companies having been using this technology for years to bring down their cost of carrying long-distance and international voice traffic, and those cost savings are finally reaching consumers and small business.

Some VoIP services, such as Vonage, are designed to interconnect with the PTSN, so that you can call a traditional phone number directly through the internet. These services can provide low-cost, unlimited calling plans to all phone numbers within the United States and Canada, and significantly-reduced per-minute charges for international dialing.

While VoIP offers significant savings when calling traditional phone numbers, by far the most dramatic cost savings are found by avoiding the telephone network altogether. If you talk to someone else on the same network, using the same software or device, there are no per-minute charges at all.

For further information and assistance, contact us at info@humaninet.org.

back to TeleCom index page