14 DAY TRIAL // Unless you live in a cave in some deep forgotten forest, you've probably heard of Voice over IP, the technology which requires only a decent broadband connection and a headset in order to call landlines or mobile phones, even international calls, all with lower costs and better quality than classical landlines offer. Actually, VoIP also offers better monitoring options once a computer is attached to this schematic and allows users to track call times and also record conversations. If need be, standards can be raised even more by introducing a webcam to this scenery, and thus leaving classical telephony in the dust. Even landlines which offer video-calling options are not as advanced as VoIP applications. And when adding up all expenses required by each communication technology, VoIP comes up as the winner in offering the best possible prices. So... how long until landline operators realize that this technology is to be taken very seriously as it could soon dethrone fixed communications.
Experts announced earlier that 2005 will be the year VoIP really takes a stand in the communications scenery. This technology and 3G networks were announced as the major threats for landlines and the main culprits for raising the bar from what alternative communication could offer. Video calling with greater image quality and the possibility to record calls as well as much lower fees to have all that are pretty good signs that something big is about to change the communication hierarchy in favor of VoIP.
Communication specialists' estimates about VoIP were based on excellent results this technology had in 2004 worldwide, but especially in developing countries. According to a TeleGeography report, the international VoIP traffic grew by 35 percent to 30.8 billion minutes in 2004 and usage was estimated to increase considerably. If this trend was to be continued throughout 2005, international VoIP use increased by 38 percent. What's even more interesting about these figures is that they don't include the world's most popular VoIP application, that's Skype of course, which has over 70 million subscribers worldwide. And just to make things clearer, the above statistics also exclude a few other peer-to-peer services and calls over private networks.
So, where exactly is VoIP most popular? And based on last year's reports, why are certain regions more willing to adopt VoIP than others? According to the same TeleGeography report, Brazil is the undisputed winner of worldwide 2004 VoIP communication, followed by Nigeria and Bangladesh, and the statistic remains unchanged for the first six months of 2005. The reason behind this ranking is mainly the fact that developing countries are much more interested in these cheap but reliable and high-quality communication solutions, and VoIP fits this description perfectly. The exact opposite of this "economical" attitude is what Americans think or know about VoIP. In a recent poll by Harris, for example, one in five think VoIP is a European hybrid car. Another 10 percent of the 1,006 people questioned said they thought VoIP was a low-carb vodka.
Still, those who realized the benefits of going for this new technology which doesn't restrict quality but cuts down on expenses, were able to save important amounts of money. The most supportive of VoIP were the Brazilians, where the industry was deregulated beginning in 2002 and inbound international VoIP minutes grew 112 percent in 2004, according to TeleGeography's recently released yearbook. Nigeria saw a growth of 103 percent that year, and inbound minutes to Bangladesh grew 97 percent that year.
So, what is it that powers VoIP? It all comes down to transforming analog phone signals into digital signals that can be sent over the Internet. This function can either be included into the phone itself or in a separate box like an ATA. To establish a VoIP connection it is required to either purchase a compatible phone with embedded technology or to adapt an analogue phone. The means connect it to an analogue telephone adaptor, plug an Ethernet connection, the signal goes through the Router and is sent online to the VoIP provider. It is also possible to bypass the VoIP Service Provider and directly connect to another VoIP user, but, if the VoIP devices are behind NAT routers, there may be problems with this approach.