What is IP Telephony?
The public Internet, of course, is the best-known example of an IP network. In IP networks, information is digitized and transmitted as a stream of packets over a digital data network. IP networks allow each packet to independently find the most efficient path to the intended destination, thereby best using the network resources at any given instant. The packets associated with a single source may thus take many different paths to the destination in traversing the network. At the destination, however, the packets are re-assembled and converted back into the original signal. Cost efficiencies arise because of the superior utilization of the network as it shares traffic among many sources.
IP telephony is the collection of technologies that emulates and extends today's circuit-switched
telecommunications services to operate on packet-switched data networks based on the Internet Protocol (IP). Defined in this way, IP telephony encompasses these technologies and extends those capabilities even further to include new telecommunications applications made possible by the convergence of voice and data.
The data carried by an IP network can be as simple as transactional queries and responses or as
complex as broadband multimedia services. In particular, the technology of IP telephony supports all the functions of voice communications, fax communications, routing, authorization, authentication,
accounting, billing, and network management that are now provided by the PSTN. In addition, IP
Telephony will allow the PSTN to function directly with other networks and products. With set standards, Internet Telephony supplies the framework for the integration of computer and voice networks to enable a range of new services, including Virtual Private Networks, Unified Messaging, and Web-enabled Calls. IP Telephony is flexible enough to provide unlimited new services, allowing it to reach into every corner of the globe.
The IP Telephony Network it is widely accepted and acknowledged by the communications industry and industry analysts as a whole, that the Internet Protocol (IP) will become the universal transport of the future. The rapid adoption and migration of both service providers and vendors to the utilization of IP as a transport for data, voice, and video applications further endorses this transition to a converged networking paradigm. This includes those networks that have historically used time-division multiplexing (TDM) infrastructures and relied upon "old world" practices.
The IP Telephony networks seen today are still expanding and evolving. In many ways, any large-scale network today still has some dependency on the PSTN. The PSTN network may be used as an access or termination point to the IP Telephony network, the intelligence that is stored in the global SS7 networks may be used to help with call processing and routing within the IP Telephony network, or the PSTN network may still provide some services currently not available in the products of today. But the products that are now starting to emerge offer not only the features of the PSTN network with greater capability and efficiency, but brand new ideas that will bring new heights to the telecommunications of the world.
Gateway is used to originate and terminate calls with the PSTN, controlled by the Call Agent. The Call Agent also has the capability to connect to a Signaling Transport Point (STP) on the PSTN network, terminating the SS7 signaling. When interfacing with SS7, the Call Agent uses the Media Gateway to interface with the SS7 voice paths.
The Gatekeeper is used to manage all routing and call control within the node. All IP call signaling must travel through the Gatekeeper so that routing and network configuration stays centrally managed.
The IVR and Call Accounting server are used to provide back-office support to the node. By using the
IVR to prompt callers for relevant information, the network provides a quick and efficient interface for the caller to enter an account number, the destination number, etc. The Call Accounting server then stores each call transaction in a database, as well as performing balance tracking, account validation, call tracking, pre/post-paid calling services, and detailed records for all calls within the network.
With the idea of an IP Telephony Network replacing a PSTN network, it becomes paramount for Networks to be able to interoperate, including be able to exchange traffic, information, and “roaming” services.
Each network must also maintain security and protection against loss of service. Using Encryption and
using private security keys, it becomes possible for each endpoint to know the exact identity of any other endpoint.
The public Internet, of course, is the best-known example of an IP network. In IP networks, information is digitized and transmitted as a stream of packets over a digital data network. IP networks allow each packet to independently find the most efficient path to the intended destination, thereby best using the network resources at any given instant. The packets associated with a single source may thus take many different paths to the destination in traversing the network. At the destination, however, the packets are re-assembled and converted back into the original signal. Cost efficiencies arise because of the superior utilization of the network as it shares traffic among many sources.
IP telephony is the collection of technologies that emulates and extends today's circuit-switched
telecommunications services to operate on packet-switched data networks based on the Internet Protocol (IP). Defined in this way, IP telephony encompasses these technologies and extends those capabilities even further to include new telecommunications applications made possible by the convergence of voice and data.
The data carried by an IP network can be as simple as transactional queries and responses or as
complex as broadband multimedia services. In particular, the technology of IP telephony supports all the functions of voice communications, fax communications, routing, authorization, authentication,
accounting, billing, and network management that are now provided by the PSTN. In addition, IP
Telephony will allow the PSTN to function directly with other networks and products. With set standards, Internet Telephony supplies the framework for the integration of computer and voice networks to enable a range of new services, including Virtual Private Networks, Unified Messaging, and Web-enabled Calls. IP Telephony is flexible enough to provide unlimited new services, allowing it to reach into every corner of the globe.
The IP Telephony Network it is widely accepted and acknowledged by the communications industry and industry analysts as a whole, that the Internet Protocol (IP) will become the universal transport of the future. The rapid adoption and migration of both service providers and vendors to the utilization of IP as a transport for data, voice, and video applications further endorses this transition to a converged networking paradigm. This includes those networks that have historically used time-division multiplexing (TDM) infrastructures and relied upon "old world" practices.
The IP Telephony networks seen today are still expanding and evolving. In many ways, any large-scale network today still has some dependency on the PSTN. The PSTN network may be used as an access or termination point to the IP Telephony network, the intelligence that is stored in the global SS7 networks may be used to help with call processing and routing within the IP Telephony network, or the PSTN network may still provide some services currently not available in the products of today. But the products that are now starting to emerge offer not only the features of the PSTN network with greater capability and efficiency, but brand new ideas that will bring new heights to the telecommunications of the world.
Gateway is used to originate and terminate calls with the PSTN, controlled by the Call Agent. The Call Agent also has the capability to connect to a Signaling Transport Point (STP) on the PSTN network, terminating the SS7 signaling. When interfacing with SS7, the Call Agent uses the Media Gateway to interface with the SS7 voice paths.
The Gatekeeper is used to manage all routing and call control within the node. All IP call signaling must travel through the Gatekeeper so that routing and network configuration stays centrally managed.
The IVR and Call Accounting server are used to provide back-office support to the node. By using the
IVR to prompt callers for relevant information, the network provides a quick and efficient interface for the caller to enter an account number, the destination number, etc. The Call Accounting server then stores each call transaction in a database, as well as performing balance tracking, account validation, call tracking, pre/post-paid calling services, and detailed records for all calls within the network.
With the idea of an IP Telephony Network replacing a PSTN network, it becomes paramount for Networks to be able to interoperate, including be able to exchange traffic, information, and “roaming” services.
Each network must also maintain security and protection against loss of service. Using Encryption and
using private security keys, it becomes possible for each endpoint to know the exact identity of any other endpoint.
