|
 Toll-bypass
Long Distance Calling
Now multi-location businesses can use the Internet or a private network
(Intranet) for long distance voice and fax communications and save thousands
of dollars annually. Instead of paying your long distance carrier to route
long distance calls between offices, any IP data network can route the
calls using a technology called Voice over IP (VOIP). It doesn't matter
if you are using the Internet, a private Intranet, ISDN, DSL, frame relay,
wireless, or satellite for your data communications network, as long as
it uses the Internet Protocol (IP).
If you make frequent long distance calls to a remote site, you already
know the charges can add up quickly. Voice over IP is designed to help
you maximize the investments you’ve already made in your data and
telecommunications network infrastructure by bridging them together to
provide toll-free communications.
This guide provides telecommunication managers and data communications
managers with an introduction to Voice over IP and how they may benefit
from voice and data convergence.
What is VOIP?
VOIP lets you make toll-free long distance voice and fax calls over
existing IP data networks instead of the public switched telephone network
(PSTN). Today businesses that implement their own VOIP solution can dramatically
cut long distance costs between two or more locations.
That Was Then...
For the past 100 years people have relied on the PSTN for voice communication.
During a call between two locations, the line is dedicated to the two parties
that are using it. No other information can travel over the line, although
there is often plenty of bandwidth available.
Later, as data communications emerged, companies paid for separate data
lines so their computers could share information, while voice and fax communications
were still handled by the PSTN.
This Is Now...
Today, with the rapid adoption of IP, we now have a far-reaching, low-cost
transport mechanism that can support both voice and data. A VOIP solution
integrates seamlessly into the data network and operates alongside existing
PBXs, or other phone equipment, to simply extend voice capabilities to
remote locations. The voice traffic essentially “rides for free”
on top of the data network using the IP infrastructure and hardware already
in place.
|
