Convergent Of Voice And Messaging

Instant messaging, one of the most vital and user friendly portions of your PC, will now be offering a new adaptation of VoIP through their own services. Known as Voice Over Instant Messaging, or VoIM, this new version of the technology looks to take advantage of the over 860 million account holders. This number is expected to grow to a billion by the end of the coming year, with VoIP reaching a majority of those customers in that same time period as well.

The analysts say that VoIP has not changed the use of instant messaging, but that VoIM may well have some serious impact on voice over Internet. VoIM is not totally new of course, the major instant messaging services have provided at least some form of voice connectivity – with some serious limitation, including less than stellar quality of service.

Voice Message Coder-Decoder

VoIP and VoIM are both going to improve with time, especially as more customers sign up for the services and demand improvements. Voice quality must be made equivalent to landline phones to stay competitive. Besides customer demand for better service, one of the major reasons for vast improvements is related to codec.

For the techno-illiterate, a codec is a computer program, or a device that will encode or in some cases decode a digital data stream or signal. There are many types of codec, each with separate uses and applications. Codec all have some limitations, but many can be more than adequate for their usage in the right arena. Those codec that are being used for cell phone calls for instance must have lower latency rates so that calls are not distorted or of such poor quality that they cannot be tolerated.

VoIM Service Providers

Regardless of what Internet service provider you use, or which messenger you have been plugging along with in recent months, the experts agree that almost every user will at least try voice over instant messenger once. Many will do it simply for the thrill of using a cutting edge technology, while others will do it to keep up with techno-trends and to be able to keep up with water cooler techno-talk. Will every customer that tries VoIM keep it up and use it on the daily basis? The answer is No – of course NOT. Even the service providers are not even expecting such a thing to happen.

Depending on what type of VoIP enabled phone is being used by the customer, and which codec is used by the provider, ratings of the call quality can range from “okay” to “comparable to the traditional landline phone”. The theory about whether or not VoIM is truly the next big thing or not is also up for debate – some industry insiders say that it is, while some are not so sure. They all agree that VoIP and by default, VOIM, will not be fading off into the sunset anytime soon, but the question of which will really take the top spot is still a question mark.

Open Platform For VoIM

What they do hope is that of every ten customers that do give it a try, two or three stick around and become loyal VoIM users. As long as the quality continues to improve and the pricing remains stable and reasonable, this new technology will remain on the lips of its customers.

VoIM will probably seek out a partnership with another, outside source for lines other equipment, and although that relationship has not been solidified as of yet, a likely contender for this could be a bundled service provider or a traditional phone company.

VoIP Complements Mobile Communications

Customers stuck out in the more remote and rural areas found that they could not get service with their cell phones and were stuck with the landline, which is exactly what the phone company was counting on. For them, the outrageous prices that the phone company charges for basic service, let alone long distance is like a trap that they cannot escape from.

Mobile customers were demanding more and more cell coverage, and although a new tower goes up with alarming frequency, it seems that they just cannot get ahead of the demand, so an alternative needed to be found. Although the technology has been around for awhile, voice over Internet, or VoIP is growing like crazy now as more and more people discover the advantages of making and receiving calls over the computers broadband internet connection. It is not hard to get started, it is not hard to use and with free long distance service as a major selling point, will undoubtedly start becoming even more popular in the coming years.

VoIP Is Low Cost

The doubters will detract the idea, citing the need to buy new equipment, and the software that needs to be downloaded as a major con against the idea. First, the software is easy to work with and is usually available for free, and second, the equipment is not hard to find, install or use and is not outlandishly expensive either. And, the cost of the initial equipment purchase will more than be made up by the first month of free long distance phone calls.

Speaking of features, don’t worry that you will be giving up your caller id or call waiting if you make the switch to voice over internet, because you would be wrong. Nearly any telephone feature that is offered by the standard telephone companies is offered by the VoIP provider services, usually for the same rates that you are already paying. Of course, with VoIP you are usually going to pay a standard flat rate for service, with no charge for long distance, regardless of how far away you are calling, or how long you remain on the phone. The one thing you absolutely do need to have with voice over Internet is a high-speed, broadband Internet connection.

VoIP Equipments

To decide which equipment is best, you should research the three major types and compare features. The ATA or analog telephone adaptor, allows you to use your old standard telephone with the VoIP service by changing connections that allows analog information to be transformed to digital. The second type is the IP phone that also looks just like a regular phone. The only difference between IP phones and standard analog phones is the actual connection type- IP phones use an Ethernet connection. The third type is the computer to computer that according to experts is about the easiest way to use VoIP. You download the software, and buy the right equipment, which includes a microphone, speakers and a sound card. Many computers have the microphone, speakers and basic VoIP software already installed, so if you are already shopping for a computer, consider those as some of the features that you look for.

Once you sign up for VoIP, complete the simple installation, and then download the required software, you are able to start making phone calls that are quick, clear and most importantly, free. While there are some minor snafus remaining to be worked out as the technology progresses and gets bigger, right now, those drawbacks are worth the savings that the customer can see in one month of use.

Search Trend On VoIP Mobile

Demographic Search On VoIP Mobile

Since that interest has only skyrocketed over the past 5 years, this particular VoIP niche market is a very safe bet, especially in developing countries. The top five regions of the world that make up the majority of these searches include: United Arab Emirates, India, Singapore, South Africa, and Malaysia

Search Trend On VoIP Phone

Demographic Search On VoIP Phone

But general interest in the technology and its implementation for legitimate and value-added business solutions remains quite strong, especially in Australia, North America, and India. The top five regions of the world that make up the majority of these searches include: Australia, United States, India, Canada, and the United Kingdom

Teamspeak is a software package that allows communication over the Internet, much like Skype does. Teamspeak is focused on providing a many-user conferencing solution, and the company is focused on the gaming niche and the online social network niche. Best of all, the company offers the Teamspeak software for free to non-commercial users.

Teamspeak Server Admin Interface

Teamspeak Client

Implementations Of VoIP Protocol

VoIP systems turn regular speech into digital sound, compresses it, and then turning it into small “packets” that can be sent to its correct destination. The drawback here is that the more people using the same network, the more likely it becomes that the packets will get backed up, lost or dropped during conversation.

Today, VoIP is implemented in 3 different types of service that are in use at this time: the VoIP Adapter (know also as Analog Telephone Adapter, ATA) the IP phones and the VoIP softphone for computer and mobile.

Hardware Implementations

Both ATA and IP phones are hardware implementation of VoIP protocol. ATA is the most common, converting regular analog telephone signals to digital. The basic expense with the ATA is the unit itself and software, which sometimes comes pre-packed with the ATA. Installation is no more difficult than plug the phone cable in to the right spot and away you go.

IP phones look like a normal regular phone except that it cannot be connected to the telephone network as it does not have the normal RJ11 connector. It comes with an Ethernet RJ45 connector for connection to an internet router. Most hard and software come installed already in these phones which makes them even simpler to install than the ATA type phones. And, if you have a Wi-Fi enabled IP phone, you can make a call easily from any “hot spot.”

VoIP Softphone

Finally, the VoIP softphone for computer and mobile is the software implementation of VoIP protocol. It is probably also the easiest way of using this technology as it requires no external equipment. To enable telecommunication, it requires a mouth piece and ear piece (microphone and speakers) that is now standard accessories for most computers. Many newer computers would have both of these items integrated into them.

With more mobile phones going more intelligent with more functionality, many VoIP users prefer to download the softphone into their mobile. This would allow their hand phone to be connected both on a cellular GSM network and a WiFi internet network. Making cheap calls over VoIP network is just by pressing the hand phone buttons, exactly the same as the normal GSM calls.

Moving Into VoIP

Voice over Internet Protocol may not completely eliminate other forms of communication, but may lower some of the long distance costs for many struggling families and small businesses. VoIP still works with the more traditional PSTN, and calls can be made that are VoIP to VoIP or VoIP to PSTN or reversed.

For those who are wondering what the applications of such protocol is, consider this, as more and more of these VoIP protocols are deployed, less and less people will have to pay long distance phone bills. This will drastically bring down the telecommunication costs for business as well as individuals.

IP Softphone Vendors

The current software-based vendors people are using include Skype, Gizmo, VoIPStunt, Yeigo, Peerme, Fring, iChat, Jajah, iCall, X-Lite, Bria, Talkster, Talkety, Raketu, Nimbuzz, Jaxtr and Wengo – just to name a few. Other common chat software platforms that also now offer voice chat include MSN and Yahoo chat services, which formerly only offered chat-based text.

Almost all of these VoIP solutions typically offer free PC-to-PC voice chat once the software is downloaded and installed on each user’s PC. Many of them also offer free domestic phone calls and free calls to some countries. The recent trend, however, is that calls to regular phone lines or mobile phones now have a small fee applied, although most services do still offer free calling minute packages.

Consumer VoIP Trends

According to a 2008 article in Internet Telephony by Richard Grigonis titled “Consumer VoIP Trends,” consumer VoIP purchasing decisions are usually primarily tied to questions regarding expense and quality of service. In some areas of the world, government regulation is also a concern, so that’s something to keep in mind when exploring other parts of the global VoIP market.

Consumers are turning to VoIP over traditional PSTN providers in greater numbers every year. According to a VoIPGizmos.ca report, 1 out of every 12 Canadians now uses VoIP. Broadband telephony and voice IM services continue to grow in use among residential users, and many corporate and small business customers are also turning to these products to increase productivity.

IP Phone Packaging

According to the Yankee Group, it will only take until 2011 before the balance tips in favor of VoIP over traditional phone line services. By 2011, a majority of U.S. residential VoIP subscribers will be “package customers” who purchase bundles from the cable companies that include cable, phone, and Internet services. This purchasing trend puts cable companies in a tremendous advantage over the phone companies, unless traditional phone companies can establish a competitive advantage before then.

IP Phone For Mobile VoIP

The booming cell phone market is also helping to fuel the growth of the VoIP industry. Mobile phone use across the globe is increasing exponentially. As the IP wireless data service portion of mobile phone service continues to rise in popularity, so will popularity and use of the VoIP mobile Internet applications. This market presents countless opportunities for VoIP vendors to capture niche mobile VoIP markets.

According to a 2007 Deloitte & Touche survey, an impressive 36% of responders to the survey indicated that they use the IP wireless data service portion of their cell phone as an entertainment venue “to send and receive pictures and download music.” With continuous improvements of the 3G/4G mobile data networks, VoIP becomes more of a viable communication option, especially for phones that have the capacity to link to Wi-Fi networks. For example, businesses could use their Wi-Fi network so that mobile phone users could communicate in walkie-talkie fashion around a large facility.

VoIP Rapid Growth

According to a report released by Telecommunications Industry Associations (TIA) in 2006, the number of VoIP customers tripled from 2.1 million in 2005, with a projected continued growth rate of an impressive 43.9% through 2009, reaching upwards of 18 million customers.

According to the TIA report, a similar explosion within the overall broadband industry is driving the rapid growth. Since broadband technology serves as the backbone to VoIP functionality and quality, as broadband services became more commonplace, more customers are opting for VoIP due to lower cost and additional services and features that are usually only provided at additional cost with traditional phone service. The following chart from the TIA report shows how exponentially the VoIP industry has grown.

Economic Impact On Telecom Industry

Throughout the traditional Telecom industry, companies have been calling VoIP a “disruptive technology” for years. This choice of words isn’t by chance. VoIP technology has started revolutionizing the entire Telecommunication Industry, and the network of large Telecom companies who virtually controlled the lion’s share of the market did not like it. VoIP technology would allow even small Internet providers or other Internet-based companies to start capturing large segments of the Telecom market. In order to understand the impact VoIP technology has on the Telecom industry, it’s important to examine some of the data and charts for the Telecom niche.

VoIP Service Offerings

VoIP telephone service is a market growing exponentially. Traditional phone operators are offering VoIP telephone service in the form of cheaper overseas calls, call back service and packages for business telecommunications. Internet companies are also aggressively promoting their service through bundling and strategic partinership.

VoIP telephone service is changing the landscape of telecommunications, giving a lower cost alternative to traditional long distance phone service. All that you need is broadband connectivity and the proper equipment, (including hardware) and you can start making high quality, low cost calls to Aunt Flo in Idaho, right from your home computer. There are different options and some service is not available in all areas, so check with your Internet service provider before you run out and buy a bunch of stuff that you might not be able to use.

VoIP Offers More Functionalities

With the economy hitting everyone hard, the cost of the bare basic of life has skyrocketed out of the reach of many American family budgets, let alone the extras like cable television and entertainment.

Many people fear the change that new things present, but many of the long time services that you are familiar with are still offered by a VoIP telephone service. The same extras that you pay for from your phone company can be added to a VoIP service plan, such as caller id, call waiting, three way calling and others. Basic service is cheaper so if you only need to make a few phone calls here and there, you can probably skip the frills.

VoIP Bottom-Line

To save money on the initial set up, you should first look at downloading the free software that is available over the web – making sure that at least one of the people that you would like to talk with does the same. Computer to computer is the easiest and potentially cheapest way to get long distance phone calls. For this option you need the software, a microphone, (many computers have an integrated one), speakers, (again, possibly built in already) a sound card, and an Internet connection. The only expense you will incur from then on is the cost of your Internet service provider with no limit on the time or distance of the phone calls that you can make. Of course, there are other options that will seem more like a regular phone, but those can become a little more expensive.

Check out other VoIP options. Check out the availability in your area and then look at the cost of start up. If the start up cost will be more than the savings will be, it is not really worth it. And remember, it does not matter if you have all of this capability if no one that you know has it as well.