Telephonation VOIP Information Archives

VoIP - What is the Problem?


In the beginning, when the Internet Protocol was first designed, no one was thinking about the possibilities of sending audio and video. Real time communication was not an issue.

Perhaps the greatest single problem is that the Internet Protocol (the IP part of VoIP - Voice over Internet Protocol) wasn't designed to ensure that the packets are delivered in the correct order. When information is transmitted using IP, the data is broken up into information packets, each of which is sent separately. The correct sequence of packets is part of the information in each packet, but nothing specifically exists to make sure that the packets are delivered, and, therefore, received in the proper order.

Now this isn't usually a significant issue for web pages, email, etc. Why? Because these aren't real-time applications. Audio and video however, especially live audio and live video are definitely real-time applications. For a real time conversation to work, the packets have to arrive - pretty much in order and also within certain time limits.

The first, and one of the major challenges then, is to restructure incoming packets into the correct order and to somehow cope with lost and/or trashed packets. Face it, the internet does not provide a quality of service guarantee. If enough packets are lost, an audio or video stream rapidly turns into a useless mess. While packets can be resent - the standard way lost/trashed packets are dealt with - real time communication means that you just can't wait around forever. After a certain time, it's simply too late to maintain a coherent stream.

What we've seen over the last few years is a gradual and now nearly explosive growth in the use of VoIP, and streaming audio and video. The reason is decline of dial-up and the growth of ISDN, DSL, ADSL, cable and other high speed, high bandwidth access modes. Bandwidth is the answer to most of the problems posed by IP. End-to-end high speed links can ensure high quality sound. The sole remaining problem is latency.

For most this is not an issue when they have high speed internet access, however, it can become a problem with satellite links or any other system where unusually long distances and many hops are involved.

On private networks, there is rarely a problem using VoIP and many companies with internal networks (such as telcos and power companies) use VoIP to communicate within their organizational network structure.

However, when the available end-to-end bandwidth is less than 256 Kbps, a good VoIP system will require mechanisms to overcome fragmentation of the data stream.

Security is an issue everywhere on the internet and what this means is that VoIP also needs to deal with firewalls and NATs (Network Address Translation). While some systems can do NAT and firewall traversal on their own, others require the use of SBCs (Session Border Controllers) to manage the traversal.

One major, though non-technical, challenge to VoIP, comes from traditional telephone service providers who are being by-passed by consumers who love the extremely low (or zero) long-distance charges they can get by using VoIP. Exactly how this works out over the long run will be fascinating to watch. In the meantime, VoIP services are continually being improved and extended. Enjoy them.

For more information on VoIP, conference calling, web conferencing and related subjects visit Alta Global Telecom. Find more on wireless and cellular subjects at Alta Global Wireless. For networking and security check Alta Global Net.


MORE RESOURCES:

Pervasip's VoX Communications Surpasses 20000 Voice over Internet Lines
MarketWatch (press release)
Scalability is extremely important as VoX engages the mobile VoIP arena where we could potentially increase this number significantly and quickly. ...

and more »


Erictric

Rumor: Gadget turns iPod Touch into iPhone
CNET (blog)
Savvy iPod Touch users already know how to make phone calls on their devices: plug in a headset, find a Wi-Fi hot spot, and fire up a VoIP app like Skype or ...
ZTE Peel EV-DO Case For Transforming iPod Touches Into Sprint VoIP Phones?Gizmodo Australia
FCC Approves 3G-Equipped ZTE Peel 3200 Case for iPod TouchErictric
“Apple Peel 520″ turns iPod Touch into a bonafied phone.Gadgetsteria (blog)
MacDaddyNews.com (blog) -ithinkdifferent (blog) -iSmashPhone (blog)
all 45 news articles »


Reuters

New Blackberry phone could boost VoIP traffic
Telappliant VoIP News
VoIP traffic could be set to rise following the anticipated release of the latest Blackberry mobile phone. The BlackBerry 9800 is expected to be launched by ...
UAE Says BlackBerry Offshore Data Storage IllegalDigitaltrends.com
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is concerned about Blackberry phone securityExaminer.com
Blackberry to Improve, but Will it be The iPhone Killer?TMC Net

all 1,241 news articles »


AudioCodes Reports Second Quarter 2010 Financial Results
MarketWatch (press release)
"While we generally enjoyed good industry activity across our core networking business, we also experienced increased activity in the Mobile VoIP area and ...

and more »


Sipcall Announces VoIP Phones Call Promo
TMCnet
Swiss VoIP service provider Sipcall announced it is offering the Siemens (News - Alert) Gigaset A580 IP telephone for CHF ...

and more »


Infrax announces Android VoIP phone
Techwatch
A peer-to-peer connection provides secure VoIP calls between devices by eliminating a central network hub which could be vulnerable to eavesdroppers. ...

and more »


TheWallStreetLeader.com: Small Cap Stock News Tips: Pervasip Corp. & Sungro ...
TMC Net
About Pervasip Pervasip Corp. delivers wholesale voice over IP (VoIP) telephone services for the residential and small business markets through its wholly ...

and more »


'Multimedia Polska picks Cedar Point for VoIP platform'
TMC Net
Jul 29, 2010 (DMEUROPE via COMTEX) -- Polish cable operator Multimedia Polska named Cedar Point Communications as its exclusive main provider for VoIP and ...



Comcast sees soft market, but good VoIP growth
FierceVoIP
But the interesting thing to us here at FierceVoIP is their VoIP numbers. Those actually are a nice little shining spot on the report. ...



Matrix Launches VoIP Application for iPhone 4
Softpedia
The premium VoIP application coupled with the low bandwidth codec like G729 seems to be working much better for VoIP calls over the 3G data network. ...


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