VoIP: Will it deliver?

On April 1st this year, the Indian government

legalized Internet telephony and Voice over IP, throwing up an array of

opportunities for the telecom sector companies. At the same time, there has been

a spate of offerings for everyone. For corporates whose telephone bills come to

a few lakh rupees every month, voice over IP could be the right solution. We

look at the solutions available and how to implement them. We also look at the

various calling card options available today

On April 1st this year, the Indian government

legalized IP telephony and Voice over IP, throwing up an array of opportunities

for the telecom sector. Since then, there have been offerings for just about

everyone; be it individual users, small to medium businesses or large corporates.

	Voice over IP is the underlying technology. Internet telephony is just one of the applications of VoIP. Voice networks the world over are or home already shifted their backbone networks to IP.   Talking over the Internet IP Telephony calling cards can lower your ISD bills, depending upon where you call Deploying VoIP You don’t need to throw out your old voice network equipment for VoIP To IP or Not? VoIP promises convergence of your voice and data network, better mobility and huge savings Micronet IP Telephony Products An IP-telephony gateway and phone for establishments moving to VoIP Net Whisper (Terminal) A good terminal application for IP telephony

Something for Everyone



“Call US for just Rs 5 a minute” seems to be the slogan of most

nowadays. After “off-the-shelf” ISP accounts, it’s time now for IP

telephony calling cards flooding the markets. Most of the existing ISPs have

upgraded their infrastructures to support IP telephony services. Apart from

which ISP to choose, users now face the question of which IP telephony calling

card to buy. Plus, there are free IP telephony service providers like Buddyphone,

phonefree and Nashphone, promising to offer equally good voice quality.

With calling cards, supporting equipment is also

gaining ground. This includes everything from headsets to instruments that allow

you to use your regular phone for IP telephony.

The best thing about VoIP is that it promises

something for everyone, and not just large companies. IP gateway products are

available for smaller companies, which promise to reduce their telephone bills.

Large companies can either integrate VoIP equipment with their existing voice

networks, or deploy a total VoIP solution.

Will it Deliver?



Though enough noise has been generated on VoIP and IP Telephony, the

question of whether it will deliver remains. In this story, we analyze all

segments of the market; from calling cards for individual users to deploying a

complete VoIP solution to the VoIP equipment out there. Where calling cards are

concerned, the issue of bandwidth still exists, as the voice quality in IP

telephony is only as good as your Internet connection. On the corporate side,

phone-to-phone IP telephony is still not permitted, unless it’s on a

company’s private network, and is not connected to the PSTN in any way.

The ultimate promise of VoIP will be met when the

Internet and telephone combine. And telecom operators today are already working

feverishly to make it a reality.