Not surprisingly, a standards body--the Internet Telephony Interoperability
(ITI) Consortium, based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology--has come
into being. The consortium works on the entire Internet phone business,
including everything from numbering and find-me issues to tariff structures
(i.e., payment rates). Its members include many of the heavy hitters in the
phone and computing industries.
VoIP is split into several product subcategories: computer-to-computer,
computer-to-telephone, and phone system-oriented approaches. In addition, many
CT-application software development tools support VoIP.
The best-known VoIP subcategory is consumer computer-to-computer. Being
well known, however, doesn't mean VoIP is mature. Interoperability between
products is still a big issue, as vendors slowly adopt H.323 and related
standards. Quality has much improved over the early days, but this technology
still suffers from lag and fadeout. Number assignment is another unresolved
issue. Few Internet users have a permanently assigned IP address.
Meanwhile, computer-to-computer VoIP in companies is turning pro. For
example, VocalTec's Surf&Call Web plugin lets companies put a "call
customer service" button on a Web page. Once the button is pushed and the
call reaches the customer-service call center, the customer uses onscreen or
voice prompts to connect to a representative. The representative can then "push"
pages on the customer's browser window. (If the customer makes separate phone
and Web calls, the two must be linked before the representative can change the
browser window. To link the two calls, the customer usually types a unique ID
number from the Web page on the phone.) The Web plugin approach has no numbering
issues. The receiver's IP address is static, so the Web plugin knows where to
call.
Computer-to-telephone VoIP/FoIP solutions, such as Integrated Device
Technology's (IDT) Net2Phone and Inter-Tel's Vocal'Net, are rapidly maturing
into businesslike products. Net2Phone lets you place international calls online
at low rates. Although the user software is free, charges usually appear on your
regular phone bill, further blurring the line between phone and computer.
Vocal'Net is a gateway that connects to your existing phone system. If a
computer can place a call via the Internet, automatic route selection sends it
through the gateway to the other end. More software-only NT products of this
sort are likely to be released in the next year. These products occasionally
suffer from dropouts and delays, but they still offer savings for long-distance
callers.
Some companies aren't waiting for Internet specialists to mitigate dropout
and delay problems in computer-to-telephone VoIP. VocalTec's Telephony Gateway
(VTG) is a good example of an enterprise-level solution. It compensates for
dropouts by sampling the surrounding voice and interpolating the missing bits.
VTG also watches link characteristics (e.g., latency and total bandwidth) and
adjusts performance. It supports multiple gateways and includes Windows-based
network monitoring and management software. VTG can work from Web to phone and
from Web to Web. With a network of outbound gateways, a company can even place
phone-to-phone or fax-to-fax calls.
For corporate road warriors, an inbound application of VoIP is essential.
You dial a local Internet service provider number from your laptop computer, log
on to your corporate site, and then use all of the phone system features as if
you were in the office. More sophisticated universal inbox programs will even
download faxes, email, and voicemail using the same connection.
In the FoIP side of the CT-Internet merger, most approaches are essentially
store-and-forward schemes. A fax goes to a local server location or directly
into a unified-messaging universal inbox. From there, you can route it over the
Internet as a file attachment to an email address or send it as a native fax
from a remote fax gateway server.
Some FoIP solutions use least-cost routing (LCR) algorithms to transport
faxes as far as they can go over the Internet to minimize line-access charges.
For example, suppose you have a corporation with multiple locations throughout
the United States. With an Internet-connected fax gateway server in each
location, the originating server determines which gateway location to send the
fax to that would incur the lowest phone toll charges when you place the call.
Because a high percentage of most companies' long-distance telephone bills is
attribuTable to fax, LCR fax systems can pay for themselves in considerably less
than a year. NetXchange, RightFAX, Black Ice Software and other vendors have
products that provide fax gateway functionality and various levels of LCR.
CT's Come a Long Way
CT technology has come a long way from its humble beginnings of phone
horoscopes and similar games. It has now matured into a compelling set of
solutions that can dramatically improve productivity and communication. With
such tools as unified messaging systems, fax servers, PBX-enabled CT servers,
IVR systems, and IP telephony products, companies can better meet the current
and future needs of their customers.
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