VoiP is not exactly IP Telephony.

July 16, 2005
BY: Jay Harper

In continuing education about VoiP technology, I feel that it is important to clarify some details about the different ways IP packet effects communications for business today.

When I get asked questions about VoiP I always here a bit of confusion regarding what VoiP is and how you save on long distance and how it will do everything including vacuum your floor.

But let's get into some brass tacks about it. In my mind, Voice over IP does not carry the same meaning as IP Phones or IP Telephony. To me, the Voice over IP is "just" (meaning only) the simple act of moving your voice through a data network (which is all IP address based). The big phone companies have been doing this for years as it costs less to move data across the internet than across their own cumbersome phone switching networks (which are really relics if you ask me, but they are slowly moving over to all data.)

Now, IP Telephony is different. To me, IP Telephony is the act of utilizing a special telephone (or a computer that looks like a telephone as in the case of Cisco) to send and receive data INCLUDING but not limited to Voice "data".

So VoiP is the Voice of an ip data network and IP Telephony is the nature of data and a phone system mixed all together.

A traditional office phone system is sort of limited when compared to IP Telephony. Traditional key systems use their own signaling to send your voice back and forth from the phones to the phone system and have no infrastructure for sending anything OTHER than your voice.

Further, traditional key systems have no provisions for sending a signal to a phone that is not located within enough distance of a phone cable.

IP Telephony begins to open some doors and expand the capability of a business phone system. With IP Telephony, the phones are very different. They have an Ethernet port on the back of them AND they use the same network that your computer does.

Think of it like this. Instead of plugging your phone into a phone jack you instead plug that phone into your cable modem (just like your computer)

That IP telephone uses the exact same network that your computer and cable and dsl and all that stuff run on.

The first important thing to realize is that today's networks are 10 /100 / Megabit fast! They can carry a heck of a lot more information a heck of a lot faster than any phone cable and phone system could any day.

So now all of a sudden we have the ability to send your phone (which is more like a computer than a phone) all kinds of NEW information. For instance in the case of Cisco and some newer Nortel phones, color touch screens coupled with a database of contacts makes for a very very very cool and effective way to call people.

You push DIRECTORY on the screen of your phone and the system delivers to your desk the entire offices or groups or your personal directory. Scroll through the names, search by letter and push call. (pretty cool!)

Today its not uncommon for use busy little Americans to have a computer at home so we can KEEP working even when are not supposed to. We even have devices that seamlessly integrate that computer with your office network so you can get to your files.

I'm sure you can already see the ease in concept of extending IP Phones as well, I don't feel I need to say anything further... EXCEPT for the idea of having a soft phone on your lap top :)

A soft phone being a piece of software on your laptop that looks like phone. Travel, plug into your hotel's ethernet port, put on a headset and like the Jetsons you are directly connected to home base.

NOW, these are only a couple of the benefits of IP Telephony. Yes there are some downsides and YES it is way more complicated that I make it sound. It really does take a few nerds and a light bulb to get this stuff turned up, however, in the future and near future, it will only get better and better!

	VoiP is not exactly IP Telephony. July 16, 2005 BY: Jay Harper In continuing education about VoiP technology, I feel that it is important to clarify some details about the different ways IP packet effects communications for business today. When I get asked questions about VoiP I always here a bit of confusion regarding what VoiP is and how you save on long distance and how it will do everything including vacuum your floor. But let's get into some brass tacks about it. In my mind, Voice over IP does not carry the same meaning as IP Phones or IP Telephony. To me, the Voice over IP is "just" (meaning only) the simple act of moving your voice through a data network (which is all IP address based). The big phone companies have been doing this for years as it costs less to move data across the internet than across their own cumbersome phone switching networks (which are really relics if you ask me, but they are slowly moving over to all data.) Now, IP Telephony is different. To me, IP Telephony is the act of utilizing a special telephone (or a computer that looks like a telephone as in the case of Cisco) to send and receive data INCLUDING but not limited to Voice "data". So VoiP is the Voice of an ip data network and IP Telephony is the nature of data and a phone system mixed all together. A traditional office phone system is sort of limited when compared to IP Telephony. Traditional key systems use their own signaling to send your voice back and forth from the phones to the phone system and have no infrastructure for sending anything OTHER than your voice. Further, traditional key systems have no provisions for sending a signal to a phone that is not located within enough distance of a phone cable. IP Telephony begins to open some doors and expand the capability of a business phone system. With IP Telephony, the phones are very different. They have an Ethernet port on the back of them AND they use the same network that your computer does. Think of it like this. Instead of plugging your phone into a phone jack you instead plug that phone into your cable modem (just like your computer) That IP telephone uses the exact same network that your computer and cable and dsl and all that stuff run on. The first important thing to realize is that today's networks are 10 /100 / Megabit fast! They can carry a heck of a lot more information a heck of a lot faster than any phone cable and phone system could any day. So now all of a sudden we have the ability to send your phone (which is more like a computer than a phone) all kinds of NEW information. For instance in the case of Cisco and some newer Nortel phones, color touch screens coupled with a database of contacts makes for a very very very cool and effective way to call people. You push DIRECTORY on the screen of your phone and the system delivers to your desk the entire offices or groups or your personal directory. Scroll through the names, search by letter and push call. (pretty cool!) Today its not uncommon for use busy little Americans to have a computer at home so we can KEEP working even when are not supposed to. We even have devices that seamlessly integrate that computer with your office network so you can get to your files. I'm sure you can already see the ease in concept of extending IP Phones as well, I don't feel I need to say anything further... EXCEPT for the idea of having a soft phone on your lap top :) A soft phone being a piece of software on your laptop that looks like phone. Travel, plug into your hotel's ethernet port, put on a headset and like the Jetsons you are directly connected to home base. NOW, these are only a couple of the benefits of IP Telephony. Yes there are some downsides and YES it is way more complicated that I make it sound. It really does take a few nerds and a light bulb to get this stuff turned up, however, in the future and near future, it will only get better and better!