Once an esoteric piece of technology enjoyed by the elite, the Internet
has now become pervasive, and indeed, as common as tattoos at a Harley
convention. Another piece of technology - the telephone - went through a
similar transition, first being a tool of the upper class, and later
occupying space in virtually every home in America. It was inevitable
that the two would one day meet.
Internet telephony has evolved quite a bit in and of itself; from its
early days as a curiosity, when two people could use an odd piece of
klunky freeware to establish a fuzzy, broken voice connection between
two computers, to its status today, as a viable alternative to the PSTN.
It may not be long before those copper wires that go into all of our
homes will be obsolete.
One thing that has contributed to the viability of Internet telephony is
the growing prevalence of broadband in the home. This phenomenon has
driven Internet telephony from being a business-only solution, to a
solution for everyone.
The trade press is full of stories that show how companies of all sizes
have replaced their regular telephone networks with Internet telephony
that combines voice and data onto a single, high-speed wire. The result
is dramatically reduced telephony costs and lower long-distance bills.
Voice quality is approximately the same as the PSTN, and more services
are available because of the greater possibilities of integration
between the telephone call and the computer.
Sure, you can already talk into a microphone attached to your computer
during a chat for free, but this is only the tip of the iceberg. New IP
telephones go beyond computer-to-computer telephony, allowing
computer-to-telephone or telephone-to-telephone communications. It's
ideal for corporations with multiple branch offices - installing IP
gateways at each branch office will allow unlimited telephony between
offices without long distance charges. The best gateways interact with
the PBX, and will recognize calls that can be routed over the Internet
and will make the appropriate connection automatically. A direct gateway
simply bypasses the PSTN by connecting remote gateways to PBXes on each
side, passing the calls over the over the Internet or a private IP WAN,
and then connecting to the gateway/PBX combination on the other side,
thereby allowing users in both locations to make voice calls over the
Internet to each other.
Naturally, the main concern in sending voice calls over the Internet is
delay and jitter, which may naturally occur since the Internet (unlike
the PSTN) is a packet-based technology. But this can now be mitigated
through buffering, interpolation or other techniques.
The more forward-looking telecom companies are already making plans to
move their networks over to IP, including Verizon Communications and
Sprint. Cable operators are getting into the act too, with Cablevision
Systems also planning a rollout of IP telephone services. The mandate is
clear, traditional telephone operators—the incumbent Bells and the more
nimble competitors alike—must move to an IP infrastructure to survive
into the future. In the future, IP will become the dominant protocol,
not only for enterprise networks, but also for carrier core networks.
