Black Box Multiport Analog VoIP Gateway Router VOE231A - Manual (Page 4)

4 of 5 1/11/2008
#26894
Providers
Despite the fact that VoIP standards are still developing,
providers are already flooding the market with products and
services while forming partnerships and matching expertise
to strengthen their position in this new market. The biggest
of these players and alliances — the ones who have the size
and experience to grasp technical issues and quickly build
infrastructures over which to offer VoIP services — are able
to keep up with (and often influence) the continual changes
in this market and keep rolling out new services.
Components
A VoIP system depends on devices that connect your
traditional phone or phone system to an IP network.
Components that you’ll see in a VoIP system include:
• End-user devices
• Gateways or gatekeepers
• IPBXs
• IP Networks
End-user devices are usually VoIP telephones or PCs
running VoIP software. End-user devices have their own IP
address and make a direct connection to the IP network.
A gateway is a device that converts circuit-switched analog
voice calls from a traditional PBX into VoIP packets and
transmits them over an IP network either to another gateway
or directly to an end-user device.
A gateway can have additional features such as voice
compression, echo cancellation, and packet prioritization.
Because VoIP-enabled end-user devices can communicate
directly with each other over an IP network, a gateway is not
a required component of a VoIP system as long as the VoIP
devices are connected directly to the IP network.
An IPBX is a PBX with a built-in gateway. IPBX systems are
equipped for hundreds of telephone ports, with WAN support
for trunk connections to the PSTN, and with high-speed IP
WAN links. In addition to VoIP features, these systems usually
include other features typical of traditional PBX systems such
as music on hold, auto-attendant, and call management.
Often, they include Ethernet ports to support VoIP
telephones.
VoIP can be set up with or without a connection to
standard PSTN phone service. You can, of course, place calls
over the Internet directly from your PC or IP phone to another
VoIP-enabled device. But what makes VoIP so versatile is that,
through the use of a gateway service, it can also be used to
call the numbers of phones connected to standard land-line
or cellular phone services. They can also receive calls from
standard telephones.
Not all fun and free calls
There are still things to consider when you’re deciding
whether or not to invest in VoIP.
Regulation vagaries: Much of the government regulation
of VoIP is still being worked out. The U.S. government hasn’t
decided whether VoIP is going to be regulated as phone
service or whether to tax it. VoIP isn’t available in all countries.
Compatibility: Although older VoIP equipment may still
have some compatibility issues, current VoIP products from
different vendors generally work together.
Cost: For all the popular talk about VoIP being free, it
isn’t truly free. Any VoIP system has costs associated with its
implementation — equipment, high-speed Internet access,
and gateway service.
QoS: VoIP depends on having a fast, reliable network
to operate. A fast network connection with guaranteed
bandwidth is not a problem in a corporate intranet where
you have complete control over the network. However, if
you’re using the Internet for VoIP, you’re using a public
network that may be subject to slowdowns that cause drop-
outs and distortion. You may find that your high-speed
Internet connection is faster than the actual Internet and that
the quality of your connection is generally unacceptable or is
unacceptable at times when Internet usage is high.
Emergency services
If you subscribe to a VoIP gateway service that enables you
to use your VoIP phone like a regular phone, be aware that
you may not be able to call 911 for emergencies. If 911 service
is important to you because you don’t have an alternative way
to call 911, shop for a VoIP provider who provides this service.
Consider, too, that VoIP needs both working Internet
access and power to work. If you lose your Internet service,
your phone goes, too. And, unlike regular phone service that
can keep basic telephones working when the power goes out,
VoIP needs power — if you lose power, you lose your phone.
Moving forward
Before VoIP technology becomes truly universal, the
current worldwide PSTN will have to migrate to a packet-
based IP equivalent. Industry inertia alone dictates this will
not occur instantly. The current worldwide PSTN system has
grown to what it is over a period of 125 years. Given the sheer
complexity of the existing PSTN, the migration to an IP packet
network will probably occur during several decades.
As migration from the PSTN to IP-based networks
proceeds, businesses and home users will gradually discover
reasons of their own to implement VoIP. It won’t happen right
away, but we predict that VoIP will become a big part of
telecommunications in the not-so-distant future.
Although it’s not quite as convenient as conventional
phone service, VoIP can offer serious savings — particularly if
you now regularly pay for multiple overseas phone calls. Keep
in mind though, VoIP isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. But with
a little planning, VoIP could spell savings for you!
724-746-5500 blackbox.com