Welcome to the IPitomy tutorial.
The modules below contain the basics of IP
Telephony and VoIP. This tutorial includes information which will help you to
decide how to use IP Telephony and VoIP technology in the most advantageous way
for your business environment. Reading through the tutorial will allow you to
become more familiar with the terminology and technology.
Don’t let the terms confuse you. IP Telephony is
the term we use to describe the telecommunications application that provides
the PBX services for your business. The IP Telephony application in a business
environment is sometimes called an IP PBX. VoIP is the technology that puts
voice into packets so it can be used on a Data Network.
Principles of VoIP
VoIP converts voice into data and sends the voice packets over the network.
These packets get mixed with other voice and data packets and are reassembled
into voice by an endpoint device (telephone). The result is a telephone call.
When the network is well designed, the quality is as good as or better than
that of the traditional public switched telephone network (PSTN).
IP Telephony and VoIP systems function by using
standard protocols to communicate. The major protocols to consider in a
business communications system are largely invisible to the users, and most
likely result in the same application and quality. The most important
consideration with standards is what protocol will provide the richest
application and the most interoperability. SIP (Session Initialization
Protocol) is the most promising standard and is the most widely adopted. When
you utilize SIP based telephones, which adhere to open standards, you secure a
great degree of investment protection as the phones can be used with any SIP
based IP PBX.
An IP Telephony system consists of several
components. There are the endpoints, also known as telephones. These can be
either an IP telephone or a soft-phone residing on a PC. The role of an IP
telephone is identical to that of a traditional telephone. An IP telephone
connects directly to a LAN (local area network) instead of a traditional
telephone connection. The soft-phone is a program that runs on your PC while
performing all of the same functions of a telephone using your multimedia
speakers and microphone (plus video in some instances). In an IP PBX, the
endpoints are very intelligent.
To control routing calls to and from endpoints
there is an IP PBX. This performs similar functions to a legacy PBX/Key System.
The IP PBX is the server that all of the endpoints log into. When a smart
endpoint wants to make a call, it tells the IP PBX who they want to communicate
with. The IP PBX checks to see if that endpoint is available. If it is logged
in and the called party will accept the call, then the call is put through.
Many of the features in an IP PBX reside in the endpoint, as opposed to a
traditional PBX where the features are housed in the central control unit.
When an IP endpoint requires connection to a
phone number on the PSTN, a gateway is required. The endpoint tells the IP PBX
that it wants to make a call to a specific number. The call is then routed to a
gateway device, where the number gets dialed into the PSTN and the call
progresses as a normal telephone call. A traditional PBX/Key System that
supports IP Telephony and VoIP is referred to as a converged system. This means
that the PBX supports traditional telephones, IP endpoints, IP Telephony and
VoIP access to another PBX, remote offsite endpoints or all of the above.
Another IP Telephony and VoIP system
configuration is called an infrastructure based system. It is identical to the
above converged system except it does not support traditional telephones. All
of the control for the infrastructure based system resides on a server in the
network and in the IP telephones.
Most business solutions will require connection
to the PSTN for the majority of their telephone calls. To connect to the PSTN
from your legacy PBX, there is nothing to do since PSTN lines are already
connected. To connect to the PSTN from a LAN based IP PBX solution, you must
install a gateway. A gateway converts LAN based IP Telephony and VoIP packets
to traditional telephone transmission and provides a connection to the PSTN.
IPitomy utilizes internal analog and T1 gateway modules to connect to the PSTN.
The equipment for IP Telephony and VoIP varies
depending on your application needs. The exact list of equipment will be
determined by the specific requirements of your business. IP Telephony and VoIP
over the LAN often require some infrastructure changes and add traffic to the
LAN. Extending IP Telephony and VoIP calls outside of the LAN to remote users
over the Internet or WAN (wide area network) links require additional bandwidth
planning.
Installing an IP PBX is fairly straight forward.
It is actually less complicated than installing a legacy PBX. Since the IP PBX
and your IP telephones are located on your LAN, there is no need for additional
wiring. The most important issue will be ensuring that your LAN is well
designed and working optimally.
The major advantage to using an IPitomy IP PBX is that it is an all in one
solution. All of the features you need to provide a great business application
are included in one comprehensive package. The phone system, voice mail,
conference bridge, ACD system and music on hold are all included. This design
also makes everything much easier to set up, configure and operate. The web
based administration features are simple and easy to use.
Advantages of IP
Telephony and VoIP
From a purely technical sense, one must consider the way the PSTN currently
handles telephone calls. Each call is set up and delivered from a pair of
dedicated copper wires from the caller to the called party. This creates a
dedicated physical connection for a single call with extremely good quality.
The technology is sufficient to carry one call at a time over the pair of
dedicated copper wires.
VoIP technology “packetizes” the voice turning it
into data packets. These packets are then sent to the network. The same copper
wire is now capable of carrying significantly more than one conversation. Now,
the device used to send voice is also capable of sending other “packetized” information
simultaneously like data, video, and instant messages. Consequently, IP
Telephony and VoIP are much more effective at transporting voice. Additionally,
they will produce a much richer experience for the user when one considers the
enhanced features of IP Telephony like remote users, enhanced conferences, and
lower costs.
IP Telephony and VoIP Practicality
Changing over to a new IP PBX system is a major move. The move will affect your
company for years to come. The average PBX system has a useful life of 7 years.
The decision you make now will be with you for a long time. It makes the most
sense to make the move to an IP PBX sooner rather than later. Continuing to
invest in older proprietary technology will just increase the risk that the
system will need replacing before the seven year useful life. Investing in an
IP PBX system will provide a platform for the future that will support software
updates and enhancements well beyond the useful life of legacy technology.
Over time, legacy PBX’s will all be replaced with
IP Telephony systems. Be sure to consider the underlying technology. SIP is the
standard that the industry has embraced. Keep in mind that open standards SIP
based IP telephones are the best investment protection you can have.
Benefits of IP Telephony and VoIP
The primary Benefits of an IP Telephony IP PBX System are:
One Wiring system Instead
of separate wiring for telephones and separate wiring for data, all data and
voice are on the LAN. There is usually plenty of bandwidth available on a well
designed LAN.
Web based administration With an
IP Telephony IP PBX, all system administration functions are performed on the
network, usually through a browser based administration program. If required,
the system can be modified from anywhere.
Leveraging the Internet for telephone calls When
calls flow over the Internet, long distance charges are avoided. This is ideal
for your remote workers who can stay logged into the office all the time
without incurring any additional charges.
Peer to Peer phone calls All calls
are Peer to Peer. This is a big advantage over the traditional PSTN. After the
call is set up by the IP Telephony server the call flows between the two
endpoints. All of the voice or video traffic is direct between the two
endpoints reducing the congestion at the server.
Unified Dialing Plan Everyone who is
logged into the system is capable of receiving and originating calls. If your
employee is at a remote office in Seattle and a call comes into the corporate
headquarters in Chicago, the call can be directed to the employee in Seattle
just as if that person were in Chicago. Use of the corporate communication
resources such as voice mail, automated attendant, and email can be centralized
simplifying all support and maintenance.
Remote users All users
who are logging into the system are part of the IP PBX. This could be a
traveling employee at a hotel with Internet access from a room, a user at lunch
with a wireless connection at a café, or one of your employees logged in from
home when they are feeling under the weather.
Presence Management IP
Telephony and VoIP applications can take advantage of presence management. This
is a function of the system that allows your users to set how other users view
their presence on the system. Most systems have tremendous flexibility. Your
presence can be set as busy, available, off line etc.
Reduced Costs Cost
reduction in operating an IP Telephony system covers just about all areas of
the business.
Investment Protection IP
Telephony and VoIP products (particularly those that are SIP based) offer a
high degree of investment protection. Since it is apparent that all
communications will be IP based within the next 5 years, it makes good sense to
begin the shift toward IP Telephony and VoIP as soon as practical. Investing
now in an IP Telephony solution that provides interoperability with the new
technologies that are available makes a lot of sense.
IP Telephony and VoIP
and Security Opening
up your network to the Internet poses some inherent risk. Most LANs have some
form of security. This security can put some limitations on IP Telephony and
VoIP applications. Most LAN administrators are aware of the vulnerabilities of
their network to attack from the outside. IP Telephony and VoIP can operate
well in a tight Internet security environment.
Multi-site businesses have most likely
established a secure data connection between locations making the introduction
of IP Telephony and VoIP an exercise in bandwidth management.
Most successful single site IP Telephony and VoIP
deployments only use the Internet to connect remote users to the other users in
the system. Use of VPNs (virtual private networks) for remote users is a secure
way of connecting all of the users without exposing the network to extreme
risk.
IP Telephony and VoIP
Quality of Service The
voice quality of an IP Telephony and VoIP phone call should be at least as good
as what the PSTN can provide. This is true as long as enough bandwidth is
available for the call. If bandwidth is somehow constrained, quality of service
can be affected. In a condition where adequate bandwidth is not available, the
call can begin to degrade in quality not unlike a bad cell phone connection.
Quality of service is controlled in several ways.
Calls within your LAN environment should not get degraded if the network is
well designed. If you extend your IP Telephony and VoIP calls
outside of your LAN over a WAN or out on the Internet, then quality of service
does become an issue. Routers and switches are available that can prioritize
voice packets to maintain good quality of service. On the Internet, there is
really very little that you can control when it comes to bandwidth. In real
world experiences, the Internet does seem to be able to provide a good option
for IP Telephony and VoIP calls with surprisingly good quality when using
broadband connections. Use of a high quality bandwidth provider will provide
the best quality management. We will be glad to provide you with the assistance
required to design your application.
Getting Started with IP Telephony and VoIP IP
Telephony and VoIP systems will provide an advantage to just about any
business. There is a lot of information to become familiar with when purchasing
a new system. We hope this guide has increased your understanding of how the
basic technology may fit into your business application.
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