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Last Updated: Nov 2nd, 2009 - 17:32:57 |
VoIP: How it Works?
When you call a colleague's office from yours using a traditional circuit-switched phone, the call originates from the hardware on your desk, travels along one of a limited number of paths on dedicated telephone networks, and arrives at a specific location-the phone on her desk. VoIP calls, by contrast, are just bits of data on the global Internet. They are not tied to physical locations (such as the building where you work) or specific devices (such as your office or cell phone). And because VoIP uses common standards, it can talk to any device that uses Internet protocol. It can just as easily go to an e-mail in-box on a laptop computer connected to a wireless network in a London caf as to the phone on that colleague's desk.
Making VoIP calls need not involve any visible changes for users. A caller can use an ordinary telephone connected to a VoIP converter box, which plugs into an Internet connection. Or he can use an IP phone that looks like a conventional telephone but connects directly to the Internet instead of a phone jack. Finally, he can install "softphone" software on any personal computer (and many personal digital assistants) and use a headset or microphone to make VoIP calls.
Installing front-office devices-the phones, converters, or software that employees see-is the initial step in developing a VoIP platform. Next, companies must install VoIP gear to replace their back-office private branch exchange (PBX) equipment-their conventional phone networks. The new VoIP software and hardware infrastructure controls what features are available and how the VoIP devices connect with corporate IT systems. (Smaller organizations may outsource this infrastructure function to a provider or simply link together individual VoIP phones and other devices.)
In a VoIP world, a phone system isn't static; it's an environment for developing and managing any capabilities that use voice or other IP communications. Building applications to take advantage of all the newly accessible IP resources is where the real benefits arise. Adding a function like videoconferencing to a VoIP system doesn't involve a major equipment change; it's akin to installing a software package on your PC. More significant, it means VoIP will be able to support new communications functions that don't even exist today. Just as the initial wave of static corporate Web sites a decade ago gave way to dynamic, interactive, truly business-enhancing uses of the Internet, VoIP will serve as a platform for more strategic communications that combine voice with other data-so-called "converged communications."
In thinking about VoIP's potential as a strategic tool, consider its roles in terms of three types of capability: virtualization, customization, and intelligence.
Virtualization
VoIP makes it simple to take a virtual version of one's phone to any location at any time. And it makes it possible to launch service for an unlimited number of phones anywhere in the world with a few mouse clicks. This combination of portability and scalability takes features of conventional communications that are fixed and expensive and makes them variable and cheap. It allows companies to build inexpensive redundancy to manage risk, and, most important, it gives companies flexible communications that can easily adjust to fluctuating demand.
Customization
The biggest advances in the traditional phone network, such as caller ID and voice mail, took decades to design and deploy. With VoIP, new calling features, or voice applications, are easy to build and refine. Although off-the-shelf VoIP software and hardware come with a variety of features, organizations are busy writing custom applications that can reinforce branding, enhance customer service, and improve internal communications.
Intelligence
As these cases show, companies are already using VoIP's customization and virtualization capabilities, although these are among the few so far to have gone beyond basic cost-saving deployments. The greatest potential of VoIP will come as companies design increasingly intelligent systems to link communications and business processes and improve the productivity of knowledge workers.
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