Voice over what?

These days, it is difficult to avoid voice over IP, or VOIP, but it may not be immediately clear from all the advertising and copy being generated around the topic what it`s all about.

What is IP?

In this context, IP stands for "Internet Protocol". Therefore, IP is a protocol or standard that enables and controls communication across the Internet. IP usually means the Internet, but it can be any number of different networks that allow data to flow between them.

This ability to connect many different networks to form bigger networks is the biggest strength of IP and the reason it is highly likely to become increasingly important to future communications.

Networking experts say there is a definite move by IT away from separate physical islands of communications to a more consolidated, secure, virtualised approach to the networking infrastructure.

Military organisations around the world are turning to IP-based technology to address the requirements for a flexible, robust, secure, mobile and interoperable network infrastructure in the field. Earlier this year, 40 military organisations conducted a joint exercise in Europe to prove that IP-based networks could be deployed anywhere within a few hours.

Despite its many advantages, VOIP is still maturing and faces several challenges.

Warwick Ashford, portals managing editor

Apart from improving communications in the short term, this IP-based network infrastructure approach is aimed at achieving a real-time infrastructure that will eventually deliver on the vision of ubiquitous computing that will allow access to any service from any computer anywhere.

Essentially, the network will become a communication platform to support applications that sit above it to provide authentication, e-mail, data, video, voice and other services.

As one of the many applications that can sit on top of an IP-based network, VOIP enables users to send voice conversations over any IP-based data network, including the Internet or isolated local area networks.

VOIP applications convert sound into "data packets" that can be transmitted over IP-based networks, reassembled and converted back to sound. According to Wikipedia, a "data packet" is a distinct unit of data transmitted from one node on a network to another. Breaking a large stream of data into many packets allows a network to deliver that data more efficiently. Sounds simple enough. So what`s the big deal?

Perhaps the most important advantage of VOIP is cost. Large organisations can save costs by running a single, converged network for data and voice, while smaller business and home users can use various VOIP applications to make long distance and overseas calls at the cost of an Internet connection.

Skype is perhaps the best-known VOIP application in the lower end of the market, but the principles of Skype calling apply to all VOIP.

Calling VOIP to VOIP is "free" in the sense that users do not pay anything for the call, although cost is involved in running or connecting to the network. In the case of the Skype home user, this will be the cost of the connection to an Internet service provider.

For dial-up account holders, then, it would not make any sense to use Skype to contact anyone within range of a local phone call. Using the traditional Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) would cost the same, but would be a lot easier and much better quality than VOIP.

It is possible to connect from VOIP to PSTN, but that is where users will have to start paying extra. This is one of the ways Skype makes money because the VOIP software and service is provided free of charge.

Another advantage of VOIP over PSTN is that it enables users to do things like exchange data while talking, or route incoming calls to a VOIP phone, no matter where they are connected to the network. This means users can be reached anywhere in the world they are connected to the Internet. In other words, VOIP provides mobile phone connectivity at a much lower cost.

Despite its many advantages, VOIP is still maturing and faces several challenges. These include quality of service, dependency on local power grids, call tracing, security and availability of bandwidth.

Hopefully, when SA gets its bandwidth issues sorted out, VOIP will become a viable, low-cost alternative to PSTN communication as well as a way of further increasing the effectiveness of least-cost-routing services.

VOIP does not necessarily require broadband Internet access, but it usually supports better quality of service, which is extremely poor using local dial-up accounts.

Although bandwidth is one of the biggest obstacles preventing VOIP from taking off in SA, hopefully that will change with the promulgation of the Electronic Communications Act, which government is promising will take place "soon".

As broadband becomes affordable to more people in SA, it is likely that the more sophisticated, quality guaranteed VOIP services already available to home users in the US and Europe will start appearing in the local market. That`s providing the EC Act will allow it.

In some parts of the world where VOIP has reduced revenues for state-owned telcos, governments have imposed restrictions on the use of the technology.

Let`s hope the architects of the EC Act have focused more on unleashing the power of technology to meet the developmental needs of the country, rather than perpetuating the inhibiting revenue-protecting policies of the past.

The coming promulgation of the EC Act is government`s chance to prove that it is finally willing to get real about the country`s ICT needs.

Given the opportunity to join the global trend towards IP-based applications, South Africans will undoubtedly help solve the technical challenges that remain.