IP Telephony (Internet Protocol)

IP Telephony is a system whereby voice and fax calls are transmitted over an IP network such as the internet rather than over the public switched telephone network. Therefore, IP Telephony is the transmission of voice over IP networks (VoIP).

IP Telephony has become a hot topic over the last few years, it seems that IP Telephony will revolutionize the voice call business and the technology used to transport voice calls. Since access to the internet is available at local phone connection rates, an international or other long-distance call will be much less expensive than through the traditional call arrangement.

History of IP Telephony

Research activities of IP Telephony started in the late 70’s with discussion and experiments of packetized voice over ARPANET, which is the predecessor of the internet using IP. From here real development started, in 1995 Vocal Tec pioneered the IP Telephony market with PC software which opened a voice connection between two PC’s over an IP based network. Several other competing software packages were launched consecutively.

Advantages of IP Telephony

The advantages of IP Telephony include lower costs for long distance calls and reduced access charges, more efficient backbones and a compelling new service. A business deploying an IP Telephony service will also take advantage of the existing data networks, which reduce operating costs by managing only one network and enabling them to enjoy almost toll quality voice.  

IP Telephony offers different services and solutions for business, Hosted IP Telephony and SIP Trunk. Channel partners need to understand the business needs to package the right service.

Hosted IP Telephony

Hosted IP Telephony or Hosted VoIP is best suited for companies that need a new phone system. The phone system is taken off the premise and hosted in a secure facility. Users access the administrative calling system via an online portal. Hosted IP Telephony offers businesses the advantages without the large initial investment needed to purchase own network equipment.

SIP Trunk

A SIP Trunk is a connection from a PBX using SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) to an ITSP (Internet Telephony Service Provider). Channel partners will offer SIP Trunk to small businesses that want to deploy a telephony phone service while utilizing their existing PBX phone system. If not PBX, an IP gateway is installed on the premise on to the PBX and converts all calls from traditional phone service to VoIP. SIP Trunked IP Telephony has main strengths that need to be addressed to the user.
This type of VoIP service can drastically decrease the businesses phone bills by as much as 40 – 70%.