| Internet telephony is the use of the Internet to transport traditional telephone services, such as voice calls and fax transmissions, regardless of the originating source (standard telephone, computer, and so on). Internet telephony software is available
from many sources, including Net2Phone (http://www.net2phone.com), Microsoft's Windows Net Meeting (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/netmeeting), and Inter-Fone (http://www.inter-fone.com). In most cases, the software is free; some computer systems come
with Internet telephony software already installed.
For Internet telephony to work, you first need to convert the information you want to convey into a digital format, this process is known as packetizing. The simplest method is for both the sender and receiver to use computers with audio capabilities, so
the data is already in digital format.
You can use POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) to originate or receive an Internet phone call, although a gateway is needed to convert the data to digital format. A gateway is a commercial, for-fee service. The fee usually covers the caller-to-gateway connection.
If the gateway is not located within a local calling area, the originator of the call may also have to pay long-distance telephone charges.
Internet telephony lets you make long distance calls at no charge or at reduced telephone company charges. Reduced or eliminated fees were the original driving forces behind the introduction of Internet telephony services, but they are by no means the only
benefit. Because of the digital nature of the call, developers can embed additional services in the data, such as work flow automation for corporations, including whiteboard, electronic calendars, and audio- and videoconferencing.
Internet telephony is currently limited by audio and legal problems. The quality of the audio can be subject to low fidelity and affected by delays in the data being sent over the Internet. Traditional telephone companies and federal and state governments
are considering the need to regulate and control this fledgling industry. |
