Voice over Internet Protocol

(VoIP)

1. Terms and Definitions2. How Does it Work

• packet switching vs. circuit switching• what is needed by user• challenges

3. Benefits to small and medium sized Businesses

• convenience• pricing

4. Projections for the Future

Agenda

• DID Direct Inward Dial ( a phone number)• ITSP Internet Telephone Service Provider (Vonage, Binary Telecom)• PSTN - Public Switched Telephone Network• POTS - Plain Old Telephone Service (individual lines)• ILEC or LEC (Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier) Qwest/Verizon• CLEC (Competitive Local Exchange Carrier) Integra, XO• SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) Signaling that starts the communication process between

nodes; RTP (Real Time Protocol) to transmit the audio. • SIP Trunks - An Oxymoron because SIP allows multiple simultaneous calls on one DID.

Occasionally used to compare “lines” with T-1 Channels or POTS Lines. No more guessing at the right number of “outside lines” available.

• E911 – Enhanced 911 – provides a screen-pop at the Public Safety Access Point (PSAP) of caller’s location.

• QoS (Quality of Service) Routing priority for voice over other ordinary data on the networks. Newer routers from Cisco, Linksys and D-Link support QoS.

• G711 Codec– 64 kbps (plus overhead) per call. Same as POTS• G729 Codec – 8.5 kbps per call. Sound quality of a cell-phone.• LNP (Local Number Portability) One of the charges you pay each month for the privilege of

being able to move your number to another carrier.

Terms

(Wikipedia) A Protocol for the transmission of voice through the Internet or other packet switched networks, including your own Local Area Network (LAN) and Wide Area Network (WAN).

VoIP Definition

(Wikipedia) A fixed bandwidth circuit (or channel) between nodes so the users may communicate, as if the nodes were physically connected with an electrical circuit.

Circuit Switching

• Same routing system used by a computer to send and receive data (IP).

• Audio is divided into data-blocks (packets) – Each data packet has a header that identifies an IP

address to which it will go. – The route can be random; determined by speed, cost,

or peering among networks and service providers. – Packets arrive, are reassembled in the proper order.

• More efficient, allows more simultaneous calls to be made.

Packet Switching

• Efficiencies reflected in pricing. – Free if between Internet connections (Skype, other on-net calling). – $29.95 per month for a business line that includes all Centrex features,

compared with approximately $77 (plus LD) from Qwest/Verizon/AT&T.– Spreadsheet for comparing rates at: www.binarytelecom.com/costcompare.htm – Fewer taxes and surcharges.

• Convergence of networks.– Merging IT and Telephony departments. – No more costly service for Moves/Adds/and Changes.– More options for handsets.

• Online access to call detail 24x7. www.binarytelecom.com • Create a virtual office by using an additional number in another area code. It

rings into your main office and is a local call to your remote customers.• Cordless Wi-Fi enabled IP phones allow freedom of movement• Travelers can use a softphone on a laptop when out of the office.

Benefits

• Makes your PBX an outsourced Managed Service to an ITSP in a local tier-one data center. – supported with redundant fiber connections to the Internet,

generator back-up, and more network security

• Allows most of the features on an expensive PBX or Centrex service– Auto-attendant, voicemail, call transfers, music on hold.– Helps a small business create the impression it is a larger..

• No Licenses or depreciation• No Maintenance Agreements• More telephone options for expansion

Hosted PBX

• Any analog phone with the addition of an Analog Telephone Adapter (ATA) or Gateway device to connect an analog PBX

• Or IP phones made for VoIP

• Or IP enabled PBX

• Broadband Internet access

What is Needed

• Client-side ISP Services are the number one hurdle to successful VoIP experiences.– Inadequate upstream bandwidth

• Filtered, over-subscribed or without QoS.– Latency, Jitter & Packet Loss

• Frequent very brief interruptions (Jitter or Packet Loss), or calls that have a delay (Latency).

• Mean Opinion Score (MOS) Test at www.testyourvoip.com• E911 address updates essential.• Older fax machines don’t play nice with VoIP.

– ITSP needs T-38 Protocol.– Machine converts a digital image to analog and back to digital. Dropped

packets will interrupt transmission, and fail.– Keep a POTS line for faxes and emergencies. Strip it of all features to

keep costs down.

Challenges

– Market research firm In-Stat in 2006: Market for hosted VoIP services to grow 10-fold, to $1.27 billion by 2009, and by the end of this year, there will be approximately 3.9 million VoIP lines in the U.S. 2008 -16 million per TeleGeography Research.

– Since 2005, the RBOCs--AT&T, Verizon and Qwest--have lost over 17 million residential telephone lines to VoIP and Cell service

– Rapid Growth of IP PBXs• Asterisk – handles data packets very well.

– TrixBox and other manufacturers of IP PBXs now including this open source, Linux based, IP PBX (Linksys SPA 9000).

• Mitel, ShoreTel, NEC, Toshiba, GrandStream, Cisco, Allworx Adtran, Astra and AltiGen.

• Microsoft/Windows.– 3CX, MS Microsoft's OCS and Response Point phone system

for small businesses.

Future

• Voip will provide:– Lower Costs– More flexibility– More personal control

• Minimum need for new equipment

• Works great with any GOOD Internet access

Summary

• http://www.testyourvoip.com/ This is a valuable tool that will assist with evaluating a network for ample bandwidth.

• http://www.binarytelecom.com/costcompare.htm

Links