What is VoIP?

VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol and is also referred to as Voice Over IP.

It’s a method of using your high-speed internet connection for a phone service instead of the traditional analog copper lines of the PSTN, or Public Switched Telephone Network. Using VoIP instead of traditional telephony opens the possibilities of worldwide calling without the potential high long-distance and telephone line service fees.

A quick history lesson:

VoIP was founded in 1995 by a company in Israel called VocalTec. They created a product called InternetPhone: an application that offered computer-to-computer voice calls using a microphone and speakers. This ambitious application only worked if both the caller and the receiver had the same software setup. VocalTec went on to become a part of familiar company magicJack in 2010 and since then several other companies

You may be familiar with VoIP and not even be aware of it. Have you ever used Facebook Messenger’s voice chat mode? Or maybe using your home Wi-Fi to make calls on your cellphone? Those are perfect examples of VoIP because you are using an internet connection, whether it is Fiber, DSL, or Cellular, to make phone calls.

How does VoIP work?

To understand how VoIP works, it's helpful to compare it to how a traditional phone call operates. When you make a call using an analog line, it sets up a dedicated connection between the two parties for the duration of the call. In a VoIP phone call, the voice information is transmitted over the internet in data packets. The data packets consist of voice samples that are collected together into chunks for transmission over the Internet to its destination. The process continues in both directions until the call ends.