Understanding VOIP ( VOICE over INTERNET PROTOCOL ).

This means “voice transmitted over a computer network.” 

In the 1990s, a number of individuals in research environments, both in educational and corporate institutions, took a serious interest in carrying voice and video over IP networks, especially corporate intranets and the Internet. This technology is commonly referred to today as VoIP and is, in simple terms, the process of breaking up audio or video into small chunks, transmitting those chunks over an IP network, and reassembling those chunks at the far end so that two people can communicate using audio and video.

VoIP took centre stage with the advent of the "information super highway" (or, the Internet).  VoIP will run over any type of network that has access to an Internet Service Provider.  The best solution for running VoIP is an ADSL connection (because it’s the fastest and most stable).   This combination gives the best “Quality of Service”.

One of the most important things to point out is that VoIP is not limited to voice communication. In fact, a number of efforts have been made to change this popular marketing term to better reflect the fact that VoIP means voice, video, and data conferencing.

VoIP is important because, for the first time since the advent of the “Telephone”, there is an opportunity to bring about significant change in the way that people communicate. In addition to being able to use the telephones we have today to communicate in real-time, we also have the possibility of using pure IP-based phones, including desktop and wireless phones. Since the VoIP service provider can be located virtually anywhere in the world, a person with Internet access is no longer geographically restricted in their selection of service providers and is certainly not bound to their Internet access provider. We also have the ability to use videophones, much like those seen in science fiction movies. Rather than calling home to talk to the family, a person can call home to see the family.

 VoIP allows something else: the ability to use a single high-speed Internet connection for all voice, video, and data communications, i.e. ADSL.   This idea is commonly referred to as convergence and is one of the primary drivers for corporate interest in the technology. The benefit of convergence should be fairly obvious: by using a single data network for all communications, it is possible to reduce the overall maintenance and deployment costs.

The benefit for both home and corporate customers is that they now have the opportunity to choose from a much larger selection of service providers to provide voice and video communication services.  Your VoIP phone will therefore work anywhere in the world where you have access to an internet connection. You can literally take your phone with you on holiday and plug it in and have access to your account as it will automatically connect to the “WEB” and log you on.  Once the connection is established you can dial out.  The costs then get billed to your VoIP account. Much like a Cell-Phone you must have “airtime” credits available to use. This can be purchased online and your VoIP account will be topped up.

In short, VoIP enables people to communicate in more ways and with more choices and pay less.

We at Planet Communications use multiple incoming ADSL lines which we then package and redistribute to clientele as far afield as Mkuze / Ubombo in the north of KZN.  On our 24/7 “wireless network” we offer, but are not limited to,

• Internet Access – Capped & Uncapped Broadband.
• Email facilities.
• VoIP.
• Free VoIP to VoIP if both phones are on our network.
• VPN (Virtual Private Networking).