How VOIP Calling Works

VOIP or Voice Over Internet Protocol is the latest and one of the most revolutionary changes to occur in the telecommunications industry. In short VOIP calling is going to change the way everyone makes calls. To get a better understanding lets take a closer look at how VOIP calls are made.

In most cases you will be using a standard telephone exactly like the ones in your house now. Somewhere in your house, usually the basement, attic or utility closet your normal phone line will connect to a VOIP gateway. This gateway enables the Plain Old Telephone System or POTS to interface with a VOIP telephone system. If the call can reach the destination more efficiently over a VOIP path it will be converted to a digital signal. This signal is then split up into ‘packets’ of information. In addition to the digitized voice signal each of packets will contain destination and re-assembly instructions. These packets will travel across the internet, finding the least congested path to their destination. These packets will then find the closest gateway and will be converted back into an analog signal. It’s then back onto the POTS system and into the telephone of the person receiving the call.

When compared to Public Switched Telephone Network or PSTN a VOIP call is not only more efficient but less expensive. Since VOIP calls are able to share network lines with data and other types of network traffic they scale for traffic surges very well. In addition since they don’t require dedicated wires like PSTN’s do there is no added expense for ‘long distance’ calling.

Since VOIP calling is still in the early stages, the technology isn’t perfect, and does have a few stumbling blocks. Some systems still don’t interface with existing 911 emergency services. Currently there is legislation under way to make this a requirement for VOIP service providers and resellers. Additionally VOIP networks don’t function during power outages, and do have some quality issues during periods of extreme network traffic. However as VOIP companies are spending billions of dollars annually to increase, develop, and enhance existing networks.

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