Voice Over Internet Protocol - Essay Example

VOICE OVER IP (VoIP) [Technology Requirement of the Company] 24 November Fahad Aloufi Kristen Boujos (P) Communications - COMM 1050U – 020 Table of Contents Executive Summary ------------------------ Pg.3 Introduction And Global Overview Of Issue ------------------------ Pg.3 Traditional Services Offered By VoIP ----------------------- Pg.4 VoIP Versus Conventional Telephony ------------------------ Pg.5 Accessibility ------------------------ Pg.6 Company Background ------------------------ Pg. 6 Current Status ------------------------ Pg.7 Description and Analysis ------------------------ Pg.7 Impact on the Environment, Economic Impact --------------- Pg.7 Conclusions and Recommendations ------------------------ Pg.8 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The report is aimed at proposing a technology based solution to a problem being faced by an existing small business scenario. The report mentions the need of a fluent communications means for a small scale business which is a software engineering firm. In line with the acute needs of the business it is proposed that the communications means of VoIP should be installed. The report provides a details description of the VoIP technology and compares its benefits and use implications with those associated with traditional circuit based telephony systems. The ease of installation and the environmental as well as economic impacts of installing the VoIP technology have been discussed in detail. These include the mentioning of the possible incurring cost of installing a basic VoIP within a small business setup. The current state of the company under discussion and its background have also been discussed. Lastly the report provides conclusions and recommendations in line with the research and finding regarding VoIP presented earlier throughout the text. INTRODUCTION AND GLOBAL OVERVIEW OF ISSUE Timely communications are an inevitable need of the digital era nowadays. With the advent of communications and information technology gone are the days when one used to rely on old means of communications such as air mail letters and fixed land line telephones. The rapidness of technology and its fast paced ever changing modes evolved globalization and revolutionized the means of communication. The advent of internet two decades ago changed the way communications were shaped. Voice calling initially practiced by virtue of telephones was given a newer more advanced meaning when voice calling began being executed over the internet. VoIP abbreviated for Voice Over Internet Protocol is not limited to the Internet Protocol only. It can be implemented just over any network whether it is private or public. The VoIP telephony is implemented on wireless networks as well. Mechanism In line with what has been mentioned above it is imperative to state that VoIP specifically implies to Voice that is being transmitted in line with the Internet protocols. The protocols/set of rules that the internet implements in order to transfer data can be implemented on other non-internet based networks as well. VoIP integrates a number of units of an organization including mobile workers into a single unit providing a number of facilities and communication provisions. The VoIP communications strategy embeds the strategy of breaking down information into packets. These packets are then sent over a network stream. The book: Black Book - Voice Over IP: Ripple or Tidal Wave? quotes the mechanism of voice signal transfer in the following words: " IP-based voice signals are converted into digital packets, sent over a routed network (alongside other voice and data packets), and then reassembled at the termination point." The voice stream is transmitted into packets similar to data packets which can be sent within the conventional network stream. The existing infrastructure for computer networks and conventional computing systems is used for the VoIP infrastructure as well. This implies that the overall incurring costs over the hardware and infrastructure are almost minimal specially if the networking infrastructure is already installed within the system of the premises. Routing an internet call over the internet does not necessarily mean that the entire call is transmitted over the internet. Traditional SERVICES OFFERED BY VoIP CAN BE NARRATED AS FOLLOWS: "PC to PC when both caller and recipient would use lightweight headsets - for example, MSN Messenger Or Skype PC to PSTN when only the caller would use a headset - for example, Callserve or @Phone PSTN to PSTN when the caller would use a special adaptor for his telephone - for example, BT Broadband Voice or Gossiptel IP phone to PSTN when the caller would not need an adaptor because the phone itself would be IP-enabled" (Darlington, 2005) VOIP VERSUS CONVENTIONAL TELEPHONY The conventional telephony which was being used in the offices for quite a while is based on physical circuits. The advantages VIP has over circuit switched telephony may be narrated as follows: The infrastructure of VoIP is much cheaper The expansion possibilities of VoIP are quite enhanced as compared to those relative to Conventional circuit switched network. Since VoIP is just software based any enhancements or alterations in it are just a matter of alteration of code in the software. This is an enormous relief as compared to the thought of alteration in hardware of the circuits of the conventional telephony system. The VoIP infrastructure is not location sensitive and can be installed at multiple locations where conventional telephony network may not be installed. Features and functionality of VoIP are much more enhanced as compared to its conventional competitors. Some other additional features that are characteristic of VoIP telephony are: Vemail As its name suggests this facility is a provision of checking emails on an IP enabled telephone. Similarly the provision of checking voice calls can be done via a computer system instead of only being limited to a telephone set. Web Surfing Since VoIP implements the same protocols that are essentially used to transmit data over the internet it gives a user to surf the internet on a telephone instead of being restricted to a computing system. This comes is handy specially when it is practically not possible to log into a computing system to check certain information and instant information retrieval is required. The provision of surfing the web over the internet helps instantly in this regard. Call Blocking Facility Unlike the traditional telephony network the VoIP enables blocking of specific calls. Timed Calling This provision provided by the VoIP enables the blocking of selective telephone lines for timed intervals. Video Telephony The long awaited facility of being able to hold video conferencing was made available by the incorporation of VoIP without any additional charges. Variations in sound quality possible The sound quality can be varied in VoIP based telephony. The extent to which this can be done is much higher than that possible using traditional circuit switching based telephone systems. WIRELESS NETWORK based VoIP is also a significant alternative to the circuit based traditional telephony systems. Study conducted by David P. Hole and Fouad A. Tobagi (2005) concluded that the standard of voice quality was significantly sound when it was tested for being used over 803.11b based Wireless LAN. ACCESSIBILITY The VoIP telephony can be accessed via either a desktop telephone, A VoIP enabled cellular Phone or merely with the help of a dial pad over a desktop or a laptop. The technology was hailed immensely due to its effectiveness of being portable. Depending upon the network over which your VoIP is established, the technology does not restrict you to get limited to a particular location. If the VoIP is established over the internet it enables the user to move just about anywhere in the world without having the need to transfer calls to another connection/ device. COMPANY BACKGROUND The nature of the company under consideration is such that it a software engineering firm that makes software for its customers. Timely and cost effective communications are inevitable for the company owing to the following reasons: Majority of the companys client need to communicate with the software developers on a regular basis in order to get updated about milestone completions and timely responses to queries. Many of the clients live overseas and discussion with the programmers is possible only through fluent and timely communication means. The company outsources a large number of individuals from remote locations. Correlation, progress updating and timely notification in information change is possible majorly through timely communications only. CURRENT STATUS: The current status is such that the company needs an effective and technologically advanced communications system so that it can keep up with the communications requirements that are inevitable for its survival. It is important to realize that the installation of a VoIP network to take care of the communications need of the business would not only minimize costs currently incurring upon calls but would also result in the empowering of its users. DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS OF OPTIONS For The Office The office setup is sure to benefit from the installation of VoIP. Not only does it take care of incoming and outgoing calls but VoIP also enabled video conferencing resulting in enhanced productivity and eventually increased customer/client satisfaction. The enhanced calling features that are a signature achievement of the VoIP networks provide the flexibility and ease of communication that eventually results in increased productivity. The benefits of VoIP have already been stated in the above discussion. Limitless benefits such as those involving Vemail and Web surfing over telephones and better when practically implemented and experienced rather than just being stated theoretically. IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT, ECONOMIC IMPACT The impact of VoIP over the organizational environment would be healthy as it would promote timeliness of information transmission and would enable establishment of cheap communications even on the go. It is imperative to state here that software giant like Skype which offers VoIP has attained global recognition for its VoIP services. A few months back an official spokesman from Skype was reported to have been saying that, “Yesterday, Skype passed a new milestone. There were 32 million people signed onto Skype at the same time,” (Johnson, 2012) Skype is one of the few software that offers VoIP services enabling free of cost audio group conferencing and group video conferencing at very nominal rates. The ECONOMIC IMPACT of turning to VoIP minimizes immensely if the telephone sets being used for the old conventional telephony system are incorporated for this system and the cost of purchasing a server only gets incurred. However if a traditional telephony never existed within a business and a new small scale VoIP needs to be installed then a typical 16 phone VoIP setup would cost around anywhere between $6000 and $30,000. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS I line with the current existing communications setup of the company and the convenient advancements in communications means it is highly recommended that the VoIP setup be established for the communication purposes of the business. The discussion made above that narrated the ease of use and implementation of VoIP, along with its nominal cost of installation (provided that high speed broadband internet subscription already exists within the business) make way for the decision being made in favor of installing the said technology. The proposed technologys (VoIP)s installation within the business is highly recommended. REFERENCES Olejniczak, S. P. (2009). VoIP deployment for dummies. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley. Wallingford, T. (2005). Switching to VoIP. Beijing: OReilly. Introduction: The Three Flavors of VoIP. (2004). Black Book - Voice Over IP: Ripple or Tidal Wave?, 19-25. Hole, D. & Tobagi F. (2004). Capacity of an IEEE 802.11b wireless LAN supporting VoIP. Proc. IEEE Int. Conference on Communications (ICC) 2004 Johnson L (2012) Skype surpasses 32 Million Simultaneous user milestone. T3. http://www.t3.com/news/skype-surpasses-32-million-simultaneous-users-milestone Darlington R. (2005) A guide to Voice over Internet Protocol. http://www.rogerdarlington.me.uk/VoIP.html#Finance Read More