How Does VoIP Work?
How VoIP Works – A Non-Technical Discussion
What is VoIP – An Intro
This guide is aimed at providing a basic understanding of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) and how it works with the intent of helping consumers that are thinking of switching to VoIP gain a better understanding of it. This article takes a non-technical approach in explaining how VoIP works. This article will first explain the definition of VoIP and what it is and then give practical examples of how VoIP works.
VoIP – A Definition
VoIP is the acronym for Voice over Internet Protocol. VoIP is the combination of industry standards and protocols for voice conversations over the Internet. VoIP is the technology and protocols that allow for phone conversations between people across the Internet. The main difference in standard network traffic and voice conversations over the Internet is that VoIP requires an uninterrupted connection for conversations to take place, hence the reason for special and dedicated VoIP protocols and standards.
VoIP Protocols
In 1996 a company named VocalTec created the first VoIP protocols. To the present there have been additional protocols created and two main sets of VoIP protocols are used today. H.323 and SIP are the two sets of protocols most widely used today by VoIP services providers with SIP being used more than H.323. In addition to protocols and standards, VoIP requires hardware to allow phone calls and voice conversations to work over the Internet. The following example will illustrate the hardware used, technology and methodology of a VoIP phone call. What is VoIP and how VoIP works are two different things, now that we have down what VoIP is, we are going to explain how VoIP works.
Scenario
We will use the following scenario for our example:
Someone makes a VoIP phone call from Los Angeles to New York. The person in Los Angeles is making the call with an Analog Telephone Adapter (ATA) connected to a normal telephone(analog) and the person in New York is using a standard landline telephone service.
Walk Through
When the person in Los Angeles picks up their phone to make the call they will hear the standard dial-tone, or an analog signal given by the ATA. As the number is dialed the ATA converts the numbers into a digital signal. The ATA is will contact a nearby server of the VoIP services provider. The server then reads the information and routes the information and the call to another server in the area where the person is calling to, in this case New York. The server in New York then contacts the local Public Switched Telephone Network or PSTN which then connects the call to the person in New York. This is how the connection is opened. The connection process is as follows:
Phone >> ATA >> Local VoIP Server >> Destination VoIP Server >> PTSN >> Destination Phone
The signal starts out analog, like with traditional phone service, then the signal is then converted to a digital signal for transmission across the Internet between VoIP servers and finally the signal is converted back to an analog signal before the final stages of connecting the other party on the call. The result to the callers is that it sounds and operates like a regular telephone conversation. VoIP is pretty simple to use once the hardware is installed, and this often only involves plugging in the adapter. The technology behind VoIP services can be complex though.
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