How VoIP works

Before we understand the working system of VoIP technology it is essential for us to understand the importance of a high speed internet connection. As the word itself explains, internet is “inter-network”. And information that flows between various networks is known as data.

There are certain protocols and gateways that assist, an organized flow of data, between these networks and thus all sorts of data get transferred from one to the other network. It is very similar to the way we employ barriers to guide the flow of traffic!

VoIP uses a good broadband connection to connect and proceed with VoIP call. Essentially once we have a good speed broad band connection installed we can choose from any one of the three ways to place a VoIP call, though the technology behind it would always remain the same.

How VoIP functions is that once VoIP call Originates, data from that computer travels to the server of the broadband service provider with cables. Data travels in small packets through specially designed call signal protocol. These VoIP routes carry any sort of analogue audio data that a dialer inputs into the system. This data gets converted into small digital format and packed into small packets to be transferred to the destination and similarly it receives data from the other network and this is termed as VoIP Termination

VoIP functions on a global platform, it is not necessary that all the three stages of VoIP take place in the very same place. The three stages namely are VoIP call origination, VoIP Routes and VoIP Termination.

It can be broadly categorized into three tiers. Tier one operators , may have the necessary infrastructure to generate the VoIP minutes (VoIP Origination) which could even be termed as calling minutes. While Tier three operators may be in need to purchase these calling minutes to facilitate VoIP Termination. While a Tier 2 operator will be one who has the facility to route the call for it to reach from tier one operators to tier three operators while all the three operators could be located on different continents! That’s magic of VoIP!

Falling voip rates to India

From past six month there has been a rather steep cut in voip rates to India. Call rates that hovered around 8-15cents/minute are now revolving around 4-10cents per minute thanks to increased voip competition among companies and also to drop in termination charges for international calls by Indian regulator called TRAI. Some of these operators with super Indian call rates are

1)nonoh.com 0.035$/min
2)voipwise.com 0.057$/min
3)voicestick.com .060$/min
4)penntytel.com .092$/min
5)mondotalk.com .0858$/min

Here operator 1 and 2 are from famous Betamax Group as there rates change quite frequently so beware.

New Voip Offerings

India based Voip provider wroldphone.in has started offering unmited voip plans from this Diwali Festival. The service offered is a legal one with under regulation of DOT(department of Telecommunication) so there is an additional 12.5% service tax payable. Company has a range of unlimited and limited plans with incoming number of certain countries included. The Device or phone adapter itself cost 3000Rs which is on bit higher side compared to Mtnl which is offering it for Rs1500(Lifetime rental)

Unlimited plans are

1) Usa/Canada Unlimited for 1500Rs/month (Number of Limited Us states available).
2) Usa/Canada/Uk for Rs2000/month (Only London number available).
3) Usa/Canada/Uk/Australia for Rs2500/month (Only Sydney Number Available).

Limited plans with 500min/month free to 30 countries* are as follows

1) Basic Plan Usa Rs750/month includes incoming Us number.
2) Basic Plan Uk Rs950/month includes incoming Uk number.
3) Basic plan Australia Rs1150/month includes incoming Oz number.
3) Basic plan Hk/China Rs1350/month includes incoming Hk/china number.

All charges have taxes extra and free calls may not include cellphone for some countries

Voip calls to be monitored by Indian Security Agencies

All Indian Voip Providers will soon have to implement monitoring system for calls routed through them called LI. LI is the interception of telecommunications by law enforcement agencies and intelligence services keeping in view the national security.

A technology called Lawful Interception (LI) , which would allow security agencies to keep a tab on the international voice calls made for subversive activities over the Internet. LI is the interception of telecommunications by law enforcement agencies and intelligence services keeping in view the national security. Globally majority of countries have LI requirements and have adopted global LI requirements and standards developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) organization. In the USA, the Communications Assistance governs the requirements for Law Enforcement Act.

The state-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) is initiating the measure by commissioning the LI system. KS Choudhari, managing director, Aks Optifibre, informed that the trials on the project has been completed. He said that security agencies are verifying and are likely to come up with the results soon. “This is a part of our VoIP contract with MTNL. But it is the first time that interceptors for data packets have been tested in India. In VoIP calls, the voice is transferred from one person to another as data packets, which makes difficult for the agencies to monitor the calls,” Choudhari said.

However, the final call remains with the government to come up with the guidelines for LI system. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is also planning to launch VoIP services through its network.

In the expression of interest issued by the operator, it has strictly stated to tie-up with solution providers offering LI technology. Currently there are more gray market operators existing in India compared to licensed ITSPs. Once the LI system comes in place, it would give a serious blow to the illegal ITSPs offering VoIP service.

Internet Phones

VOIP phones are used all of the time now. VOIP stands for voice over IP. Which means that your voice is going over your Internet connection, to be heard over the phone to the person that you are talking to. With the way technology is moving today, before long the only phone service that will be around will be the Internet phone. With the Internet telephony close behind, it will be hard to find anyone using a regular phone line with in a few years. VOIP services first came about by using your cable line, and your cable Internet connection to get phone service to your home. Starting with companies like Vonage, the VOIP telephones really took off. Now, with all of the competition in the cable companies, you will find cheap VOIP phone service as well.

VOIP services as well as Internet phone services have really taken over the way we communicate over the telephone. So much that low rate VOIP phones are easy to come by, and if the rate is not low enough for you, just wait a while, because chances are it is still going to drop even more. If you are lucky enough to find a hosted VOIP price then you should by all means jump on it. Those that are hosted are even more affordable than the ones that are not. If you need more than one phone line connected, you may want to look into the wholesale VOIP rates. They often offer good deals for more than one line in a single place.

As you can see, Internet phones and VOIP are the wave of the future. If you are using anything other than this for your personal or business telephone line, you are in for a treat when you try VOIP. If you have not all ready, give the free Internet phone calls a try. Especially if you are paying for your long distance out of pocket. If you make more than a few calls a month, those long distance charges will add up fast, and using the Internet or VOIP for free long distance will give your pocket book a nice and much needed break. For more information on VOIP contact your local cable service provider to find out if it is available in your area. You never know when it will become available, and it is definitely something that you have to try out to believe.

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) - Overview

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a protocol optimized for the transmission of voice through the Internet or other packet switched networks. VoIP is often used abstractly to refer to the actual transmission of voice (rather than the protocol implementing it). VoIP is also known as IP Telephony, Internet telephony, Broadband telephony, Broadband Phone and Voice over Broadband. "VoIP" is pronounced voyp.

Companies providing VoIP service are commonly referred to as providers, and protocols which are used to carry voice signals over the IP network are commonly referred to as Voice over IP or VoIP protocols. They may be viewed as commercial realizations of the experimental Network Voice Protocol (1973) invented for the ARPANET providers. Some cost savings are due to utilizing a single network to carry voice and data, especially where users have existing underutilized network capacity that can carry VoIP at no additional cost. VoIP to VoIP phone calls are sometimes free, while VoIP to public switched telephone networks, PSTN, may have a cost that is borne by the VoIP user.

Voice over IP protocols carry telephony signals as digital audio, typically reduced in data rate using speech data compression techniques, encapsulated in a data packet stream over IP.

There are two types of PSTN to VoIP services: Direct Inward Dialing (DID) and access numbers. DID will connect the caller directly to the VoIP user while access numbers require the caller to input the extension number of the VoIP user.

VoIP - Functionality

VoIP can facilitate tasks and provide services that may be more difficult to implement or expensive using the more traditional PSTN. Examples include:

• The ability to transmit more than one telephone call down the same broadband-connected telephone line. This can make VoIP a simple way to add an extra telephone line to a home or office.
• 3-way calling, call forwarding, automatic redial, and caller ID; features that traditional telecommunication companies (telcos) normally charge extra for.
• Secure calls using standardized protocols (such as Secure Real-time Transport Protocol.) Most of the difficulties of creating a secure phone over traditional phone lines, like digitizing and digital transmission are already in place with VoIP. It is only necessary to encrypt and authenticate the existing data stream.
• Location independence. Only an internet connection is needed to get a connection to a VoIP provider. For instance, call center agents using VoIP phones can work from anywhere with a sufficiently fast and stable Internet connection.
• Integration with other services available over the Internet, including video conversation, message or data file exchange in parallel with the conversation, audio conferencing, managing address books, and passing information about whether others (e.g. friends or colleagues) are available online to interested parties.