VoIP – Voice Over IP What Is It And Do I Need It?
What is VOIP?
VOIP, abbreviation of Voice Over Internet Protocol, has been talk of the town for over five years now. Almost all of us have been using telephone as the primary mode of communication with a person sitting at a distance. VOIP is said to be taking over this ‘rudimentary’ level of communication in not so distant future. In simple terms, VOIP is an attempt to connect two persons through computers.
Computers evolved with the primary aim of faster calculations. Computer was then seen as a tool for making life easier at work and home. No one in early 80’s had visualized the computer to play a critical role in communication network. Internet changed that to some extent. Users are able to communicate and share data with others through internet connectivity.
Now the convergence is being talked about. Scientists and engineers are working day and night to converge this data transfer utility called computing over the net into a tool suitable for data and voice transfer. VOIP is all about transferring voice over computers. In essence, VOIP refers to sharing of voice stream over a data network employing all the data transfer tools used in computers. In other words, it is the end result of integration of IT and telecom industries.
How does VOIP differ from a traditional telephone?
There are four different possibilities through which voice transfer takes place. These are IP Phone, IP Converter, Line gateway and fully IP enabled PBX system. While a traditional voice carrying system transports analog signals, IP enabled VOIP system carries digital signals. The difference lies here. All the analog systems and tools are standardized over a period of time, same is yet to happen in the field of VOIP. Companies in the field are trying to converge at standard tools for voice transfer.
Earlier avatars of VOIP telephony software products were of proprietary nature meaning they were developed looking to the specific needs of an organization. Even today many such protocols and tools are available in variety and expected to survive few more decades.
Major protocols used in VOIP are MGCP, SIP, H.323 and H.248/Megaco. There are essentially two types of architectures used centralized and distributed. These protocols and their use depend on the architecture used for VOIP system in the organization. For example, MGCP and H.248 protocols are used in centralized type of architecture while SIP and H.323 for distributed type of architecture.
VOIP offers many benefits
Whatever these technical terms mean to an end user, VOIP is going to be the future. VOIP offers many advantages. Some of the more prominent ones are cost saving, data & voice integrated systems and open standards. Imagine no additional costs involved for calls made though VOIP compared to those made through conventional switch network. Add to this the benefit of your computer being single terminal for all of your communications needs and data sharing functionality.
Last but not the least, multiplicity of vendors on protocols and techniques will lead to healthy competition. Open standards always discourage monopoly being created in an industry. Consumer is king, and will remain so.
The best providers for Internet phone calls – Part 2
Recently I happened to see a television commercial advertising a new product called, “MagicJack.” The advertisement explained how the small unit which plugs into your computer’s USB port on one end and your home telephone on the other end saves you hundreds in phone charges per month.
The technology is called voice over internet protocol, or VOIP in telecom parlance. And with the advent of broadband, it has become more popular as a cheaper alternative to traditional telephone service. However, VOIP does have one significant limitation, and that is temporary loss of service with a power outage.
Skype & Vonage
Two popular providers for internet telephony are Skype and Vonage. With Skype, both users must be Skype callers. One cannot go outside Skype to utilize the free phone call capability of the internet. Vonage is more similar to traditional phone service, yet is cheaper at $14.99 per month for their Basic 500 Minute Residential Plan which includes every feature you could want, plus free long-distance. And if you want unlimited minutes plus free international calling, choose Vonage’s Premium Unlimited Residential Plan at $24.99 per month.
The Money-Saving MagicJack
MagicJack has emerged as a major contender in the battle for the top VOIP telephone service provider. With an initial cost of only $39.95, MagicJack will provide you with unlimited local and long distance calling plus many other features for only $19.95 per year (you heard right, per year). So intriguing was the advertising that I had to check it out for myself.
The MagicJack promptly arrived in my mailbox only a few days after I ordered it. The futuristic-looking little unit also came with a USB extension cord in the packaging, which is a nice optional feature should you require it.
After plugging the MagicJack into the USB port on my new iMac, its software promptly loaded on my machine and prompted me to click twice to launch the MagicJack Softphone. I then plugged my cordless phone I’ve had for years into the other end of the MagicJack. But before I could place a call, I had to set up the MagicJack, choose a telephone number, and assign enhanced 911 (E-911) location data.
After initializing the MagicJack, I was ready to place a call. I was impressed to find that it is no different than dialing the telephone through traditional phone lines; and the sound was impressive save a little background static. However, along the way I found a few limitations.
MagicJack is geared primarily toward Microsoft Windows PCs rather than Macs. It operates just fine on a Mac, albeit some features do not work:
1) No sound through the computer’s speakers or bluetooth headset
2) No caller ID
3) No call waiting
4) No contacts list
5) No call list
Like all VOIP telephony these days, your MagicJack phone service won’t be available if your electricity goes out. And most frustrating for MagicJack users, since January 2008 MagicJack has repeatedly promised that their engineers are “working on” rolling out phone number portability so that users won’t have to make the painful switch to a totally new phone number. Unfortunately, thus far we haven’t seen any movement in that direction.
Despite MagicJack’s few drawbacks, I still recommend this leading VOIP service for cheap, unlimited long-distance calling if nothing more. With its low cost of $19.95 per year, it equals out to roughly $1.66 per month, saving those who call long distance often a bundle of money. Furthermore, the plug-and-play device really is easy to set up and get going.
For more information on MagicJack, see their website @ www.magicjack.com.
Mobile Phones Get Even Cooler With the 3 Skype Phone
We’ve had mobile phones with cameras, music and internet. Well, now there’s one with Skype: the amazing 3 Skype phone.
Witness the amazing 3 Skype phone
Released by the network 3, the 3 Skype phone is, quite literally, the first phone in history to be fully integrated with, and include, Skype straight out of the box. Oh sure a few mobile phones have let you download it in the past, but that’s always taken time, and up until now, none of them have come with it straight out the box, fully featured, and ready to rock within minutes!
As we take our guided tour round the Skype phone, let’s take in some of the cool features it has. Starting with the exterior of this exceptional mobile phone, it really is a clean-lined, chic beauty, with a gorgeous screen and well laid out, nicely lit keypad. And riiiight in the centre of the phone is a button labelled Skype. I’ll come back to that in a second, but I’ll give you 3 guesses what that button does! Around the back, you’ll find a great 2 megapixel camera, which, while not huge, is nicely big enough to give you great photos on the spur of the moment!
Features that put other mobile phones to shame!
Ok, I can tell you’re dying to see what happens when you press the Skype button, so let’s find out. Well, as you may have guessed (and if you’ve seen the name ‘Skype phone’, you really should’ve done!), that button kickstarts the Skype messenger service into life. Now, anyone who’s used it will know what it’s all about, but for those don’t, Skype is what’s called a VoIP program. That’s Voice-over-IP, or internet phone calls, to you and me. It lets you make calls to any other Skype user in the world, without using or your minutes or credit on your normal mobile phone plan. Even better than that, though, is the fact that if you already use Skype, you can log in using your existing details, and just use your existing contacts with, and I say this emphatically, ABSOLUTELY NO FUSS WHATSOEVER!
But of course, the Skype phone isn’t just a one trick phone. It’s not just built around 1 cool trick. It does lots of cool tricks! So, as well as Skype, you get Facebook access, straight out the box, Yahoo! and Google tools, internet access… in fact, as mobile phones go, the Skype phone is quite simply stunning! So, check it out today!
Google Spam Issues
Google offers lots of services to its clients, services that once used by a certain person allow the Google Company to gain access to loads of personal data.
Any internet beginner has a fixed first station and it’s called Google!. I don’t think there are people out that that haven’t yet found out about the omnipresent and omnipotent Google services? And if the e-mail, the search engine and the cartography service weren’t enough, Google also has a blogging website, an internet accelerator, various marketing tools, and it’s planning to become an online library.
Although many users are anxiously waiting for Google to issue a new service, the rapid extension of the company rises many questions: what if Google knows a little bit too much about what we read, what places we visit on the internet, where we travel, whom we e-mail and so on.
Chris Hoofnagle, consultant at Electronic privacy Information centre says that there is too much private information in a single basket and this way Google can become one of the greatest risks on the Internet when it comes to personal data.
Also, some concerned voices discussed in blogs about the huge quantity of personal information that is to be found at a single company. According to the general option, this can make the company an easy target for over-zealous law defenders or to persons with no so legal intentions.
Through hacking or by cooperating with dangerous un-loyal employees, one could still the personal data and use them to blackmail users or to try and identify certain users that break the law themselves.
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And if we think about the latest events that registered security breaches that allowed access to personal information even in places where the security measures were well thought, then we can’t put much hope in Google’s security measures either. Although Google’s personal data security has been compared to Microsoft, Yahoo and Amazon, and until now they didn’t register more serious incidents that their competitors, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear someone hacked Google and obtained various information about billions of people, causing total haos.
Microsoft Unveils Live Communications Server 2005
REDMOND, Wash. — May 4, 2004 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the opening of the beta program for Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005, previously code-named “Vienna.” Live Communications Server 2005, a next-generation enterprise instant messaging (IM) and presence-awareness server, will be a significant next step toward Microsoft’s vision of seamlessly connecting people, information and business processes in real time to increase productivity and enable better decisions faster.
Live Communications Server 2005 builds on the foundation of the current version, Live Communications Server 2003, which provides a standards-based enterprise IM solution and an extensible real-time collaboration platform. Foundation elements include these:
Presence. Live Communications Server incorporates presence capabilities into productivity and line-of-business applications within the enterprise. All participating users will be able to see whether someone is online and available.
Encrypted instant messaging. Live Communications Server provides easy-to-use and familiar text-based messaging within an encrypted and authenticated environment.
Microsoft Office System integration. Live Communications Server acts as a “presence engine” behind the Microsoft Office System, enabling out-of-the-box presence integration within Microsoft Office System applications, servers and services. Live Communications Server also enables the viewing of presence information directly from Microsoft Outlook 2003, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word as well as team sites and portals, such as Windows SharePoint (TM) Services.
Standards-based architecture. Live Communications Server is built using industry-standard protocols Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and SIP Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions (SIMPLE), enabling a broad partner and developer ecosystem.
“Live Communications Server 2003 was our first step in revolutionizing the way information workers leveraged presence information to communicate in real time and within the context of the business productivity applications, servers and services that make up the Microsoft Office System,” said Gurdeep Singh Pall, general manager of the Live Communications Group at Microsoft. “The value of IM and presence significantly increases as more users are added to the network, and Live Communications Server 2005 will enable customers to extend the benefits of real-time communications to a broader set of stakeholders such as partners, suppliers and customers, enabling them to make better decisions faster within a more secure and managed environment.”
Key enhancements in Live Communications Server 2005 include these:
Live Communications Server Federation (between organizations). Presence information and IM now can be extended to partners, suppliers and customers, enabling more efficient collaboration and a channel for bringing geographically dispersed people together. Two or more organizations will be able to communicate and collaborate in real time, in an encrypted, authenticated and managed environment.
Outside access solution. End users now can connect to presence and IM capabilities when they are outside the corporate network, whether working from home or on the road, or visiting customers or partners. Access is provided in a more secure and authenticated manner through the use of standard firewall ports, without requiring the establishment of a Virtual Private Network (VPN).
Improved architecture. Customers can now benefit from substantially improved reliability, availability and scalability allowing them to recover gracefully from unplanned downtime, and delivering a higher level of availability through a tiered architecture. Deeper management options and administrative tools also have been added to reduce overall management time while increasing the level of control available to the administrator.
Availability
The Live Communications Server 2005 beta program is open for nominations starting today. Those interested in participating should contact their Microsoft account manager or sales representative for instructions on how to nominate their organization.
Live Communications Server 2005 is scheduled for release in the fourth quarter of 2004. Customers who have received Live Communications Server 2003 grants as part of their Exchange 2003 Enterprise Agreements or Software Assurance Agreements may be entitled to Live Communications Server 2005 within the context of their current agreement. In addition, customers who obtained Live Communications Server 2003 along with Software Assurance for Live Communications Server 2003 are eligible for Live Communications Server 2005. Customers should contact their Microsoft account manager or representative for more details.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
Microsoft, Outlook, Windows and SharePoint are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
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