IP Phone Service - VOIP Telephone Service

Internet Phone service is the telephone service as a basic technology of VoIP (voice over Internet protocol), which enables the conversion of voice into data packets to be transmitted over a data network as private or public Internet.

The convergence between telephony and IT (ICT) allows the creation of value-added applications that multiplied the uses and benefits now offered by the conventional telephone network (analog)

Voice over IP

Voice over Internet Protocol, also called Voice over IP, VoIP, VoIP (by its initials in English) or IP Telephony, is a group of resources that enable the voice signal to travel over the Internet using an IP protocol ( Internet Protocol). This means that sends the voice signal into digital form in packets rather than sending in the form of a circuit as a conventional telephone or PSTN ..

The protocols that are used to carry voice signals over the IP network are commonly referred to as Voice over IP protocols and IP protocols. Can be viewed as commercial implementations of the experimental Network Voice Protocol (1973), invented by ARPANET.

The Voice over IP traffic can travel on any IP network, including those connected to the Internet, such as local area networks (LAN).

Advantages

The main advantage of such services is that it avoids the high telephone charges (mostly long distance) that are customary for companies in the PSTN (PSTN)). Some cost savings are due to using a single network to carry voice and data, especially when users have not used the full capacity of an existing network in which they can use VoIP without additional cost. VoIP calls from any VoIP provider are generally free, in contrast to the VoIP to PSTN calls generally costs the VoIP user.

There are two types of PSTN to VoIP services: Direct Local Calls (Direct Inward Dialing: DID) and access numbers. Those who DID connect the call directly to the VoIP user while access numbers require that enter the extension number of the VoIP user. Access numbers are usually charged as a local call for those who made the call from the PSTN and free to the VoIP user.

Functionality

VoIP can facilitate tasks that would be more difficult to perform using the common telephone networks:

• The telephone calls can be automatically routed to your VoIP phone, regardless of where you're connected to the network. Take your VoIP phone on a trip, and wherever you are online, you can receive calls.
• Toll-free number for use with VoIP are available in the United States of America, United Kingdom and other countries from organizations such as VoIP User.
• Call center agents using VoIP phones can work anywhere with an Internet connection is fast enough.
• Some packages include VoIP services for which extra PSTN (Switched Telephone Network) normally charge an extra charge, or that are not available in some countries, such as 3 calls at once, return call, automatic redialing or Caller ID.

Mobile

The users of VoIP can travel anywhere in the world and still make and receive calls as follows:
The subscribers of telephone services can make and receive calls outside their local area. For example, if a user has a phone number in the city of New York and traveling through Europe and someone calls your phone number, this will be received in Europe. Also, if a call is made from Europe to New York, will be charged as local call, of course you travel to Europe must have an Internet connection available.
Users of instant messaging-based VoIP services can also travel anywhere in the world and make and receive phone calls.

• VoIP phones can integrate with other services available on the Internet, including video, data and exchange messages with other services in parallel with the conversation, audio conference, address book management and information exchange with others (friends, colleagues, etc. ).

With IP Telephony (digital) are available the following digital services:

1 .- Answering Machine (Voice e-mail)
2 .- Intelligent Call Forwarding
3 .- Block outgoing calls
4 .- The filtering of incoming calls
5 .- Conference up to 5 participants
6 .- abbreviated dialing (short numbers) virtual extensions,
7 .- Detail of calls and billing on-line (real time)
8 .- Incoming Caller ID
9 .- Call waiting
10.-Transfer of current call

IP telephony (digital) not only provides a better phone service also offers rates much cheaper than conventional telephony (analog).

The phone number that is assigned to the client is forever. This means that when moving from home, took her number.

Markets, services and agents

Forecasts vary widely in terms of economic opportunity that creates the market for IP telephony. According to TeleGeography, 2000 during the IP-based networks carried a volume of international traffic of about 3,700 million minutes, just over 3% of world trade but the market is growing rapidly. Market analysts predict that IP telephony in 2004 account for 25 (Analysis) and 40% (tariffs) of the total international traffic in the world. Most studies show that currently the main use of IP telephony is for international traffic and not for local traffic or domestic long distance. Today United States is the main source of traffic for IP telephony. TeleGeography estimates that 20 major routes IP telephony throughout the world by volume of traffic is established between United States and other countries (although some of this could simply be switched traffic through that country.) In the long term, IP telephony has a market opportunity in regard to local and long distance, especially if it slows the transition of prices to costs.

The market for IP telephony, as well as their products and their agents, is considerably different from traditional PSTN telephony market which, even today, is under the domination of the established operators. While most providers of IP telephony services (IPTSP) are owned by United States, its activities are primarily global in nature and not national, and often work in partnership with the PTO established, and provide training and technical competence as well as opportunities for generate income. The market segments can be in several different types of applications, namely (in the approximate order in which they appeared): PC to PC, PC to phone, phone to phone and value added services.

The market also segmented between wholesale and retail operations, or that offer services between IPTSP fixed price, and those offering free applications for end users, funded by revenue from advertising. It is also advisable to make a distinction between the way in which IP is used to carry voice signals, eg in networks of existing operators migrating to IP in the networks in the most recent PTO without direct connection with customers in the managed IP-based networks offering multimedia services, or through Internet service providers that interconnect the public Internet with the PSTN. The mainstay of the business, at least for now, is the arbitration of the price, but this is changing with time, as value added services ¾ such as integrated messaging, presence management ( "localíceme, follow me") and the "press to talk" of websites ¾ generate a revenue increase.
Costs and prices

Currently, consumers generally have to choose between price and quality. Willing to accept that commitment generally depends on the prices. Customers in countries with low income or low income families in developed countries, more likely than other consumers less concerned about price, choose the IP telephony, when they can. Residential customers may have more tendency to use IP telephony to business users for whom the quality of transmission and reliability are more important.

The precise nature of the cost advantages that IP networks offer the PTO is the subject of many debates. Depend, for example, the following:

• If a particular investment is a new IP network, or an improvement or an overlay to existing network. The incentive to choose the IP network will be larger for new or substantially new. For example, in Senegal, where the networks serve only 1% of the population, SONATEL planned to spend their existing core network to an IP basis in 2004 and offering voice services and data on the same IP network.

• If a company is the owner or a new entrant in the market. New entrants who have no need to defend a network, will probably be the first to be targeted to IP telephony. In China, for example, China Netcom to build a Voice over IP network to serve 15 cities and will be approximately 9600 km of fiber optic cable in late 2000. In the case of Hungary, which pushed the start to offer VoIP service providers were mobile they saw the possibility of circumventing the monopoly Matav to study international calls, despite the fact that the operator Matav is currently a IPTSP.

• To what extent are offered value-added services. In economies such as the Special Administrative Region (SAR) of Hong Kong and Singapore, where local calls are free (together with access rates), the new market offer value added services that allow, for example, that users can retrieve their voice mail (T2mail.com), providing voice mail and fax communications (2Bsure.com) by an IP platform.

Countries where the prices are high in international traffic

The main interest of IP telephony will be the price difference with respect to simple voice transmission. In many of these countries, the outgoing IP telephony is prohibited. Therefore, it is equivalent to IP telephony traffic. Although the use of IP telephony for inbound traffic is not much more if it is lawful for outbound traffic, it is harder to detect and block.

Countries in which prices decline in international traffic

Both retail (consumer) and the wholesale (liquidation), the IP telephony traffic and may be playing a role in the promotion of price competition (such as in Hungary or Thailand) or by offering an alternative to services from fixed line operator (eg in Colombia). However, one critical factor is the ease with which subscribers use the service. In Peru, for example, the success of IP telephony was based partly on the availability of a telephone-type device (Applied), which could be used in IP-based networks or the PSTN for communication (see case study in Peru page 21).

Countries where prices are already low international traffic

Due to the effects of competition, it is likely that IP telephony is important for other reasons that the price difference. It is likely that the business opportunity of IP telephony lies in the prospects of integrated value added services for users and cost reductions for the PTO. Example of the former is yac.com (United Kingdom), which offers a personalized service and numbers of retransmission automatic call via the Internet. Example of the latter is Concert, a joint venture between BT and AT & T, which is building a new managed global network to provide IP-based services such as electronic commerce and global call centers, to connect about 90 cities around the world . While the investment required is around 1,000 million USD annually, it is considered that an integrated IP network provides the most cost-effective solution to address multiple traffic flows.