The Voice of the Internet

Is voice over IP (VoIP) on its way to replacing our traditional telephony systems which have reigned supreme for the last 50+ years?

Although VoIP was first developed for ARPANET in 1973, it only has recently become commercially viable. Over the years, the protocol has been plagued with poor sound quality and latency issues. These problems could be compared to the problems experienced by cell phone providers. Similar to poor cell signals, VoIP calls were low quality and would often cut out, leaving users frustrated.

However, internet service providers have since upgraded their infrastructure which has increased the number of high speed internet users. This has made it possible for VoIP providers such as Vonage to offer telephone services over the internet. All that is needed is a high speed internet connection, and Vonage will provide the rest. The equipment bridges the connection between your internet and your existing telephones. For just under $70 / month, an organization can take advantage of unlimited long distance phone calls across Canada and the U.S. In the current telephony pricing structure, your local telco can not offer the same service for the same price.

Still, even with the lower prices offered by VoIP providers, organizations have been reluctant to convert their telephony systems. Perhaps it is because internet service providers can not guarantee their service will always be available; a problem which is out of the control of VoIP providers. Traditional telephone systems have proven themselves to be reliable, and have a track record spanning over 50 years.

Nonetheless, I believe with time VoIP will become the standard telephony protocol. Already, companies such as AT&T, which has existed since 1875, is offering their VoIP service called CallVantage. It is just a matter of time before other large telecommunication companies decide to offer their own implementation of VoIP.