Technological innovation is hurling itself upon us once again. This time,it’s coming in the form of improving the way we communicate, bringingwith it new capabilities that change the meaning of the phrase telephone call.VoIP (often pronounced “voyp”) is the name of this new communicationstechnology.VoIP, which stands for voice over Internet protocol, basically means voicetransmitted over a digital network. Well, that isn’t technically accuratebecause the Internet isn’t strictly necessary for VoIP, although it was at first.What is necessary for VoIP technology is the use of the same protocols thatthe Internet uses. (A protocol is a set of rules used to allow orderly communication.)Thus, voice over Internet protocol means voice that travels by way ofthe same protocols used on the Internet.VoIP is often referred to as IP telephony (IPT) because it uses Internet protocolsto make enhanced voice communications possible. The Internet protocolsare the basis of IP networking, which supports corporate, private, public,cable, and even wireless networks. VoIP unites an organization’s manylocations — including mobile workers — into a single converged communicationsnetwork and provides a range of support services and featuresunequalled in the world of telephony.
