VoIP is the transmission of voice, audio, and multimedia content over Internet Protocol networks. It is also known as IP telephony or Internet telephony. It is a method and set of technologies for providing multimedia sessions and voice communications over Internet Protocol networks.
We call the set of rules that govern the format of data sent over the Internet the Internet Protocol.
The Internet is a global network of networks connecting billions of computers. Imagine the postal service but at lightning speed. We usually call it “Network”.
Voice over Internet Protocol
The letters VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol. The group of technologies and methods that enable VoIP also enables voice and multimedia transmission over wide area networks and corporate LANs.
Just put; This term refers to phone calls over the Internet, such as a laptop or tablet. With most smartphones these days it is possible to make “internet calls”.
TechTerms has the following definition of the term:
“VoIP is essentially a phone connection over the Internet. Data is sent digitally, using Internet Protocol (IP) instead of an analog phone line.
“It allows people to talk to each other long distances and around the world without having to pay long-distance or international phone charges.”
VoIP vs PSTN
Before the advent of the Internet, telephones used a dedicated line. The phone company assigned a line for each call. We call this system PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network).
The Voice over Internet Protocol does not use a dedicated telephone line. That’s why it’s much cheaper to call people over the Internet than with a landline.
Lay people rarely use the term VoIP
When calling over VoIP, we usually use the service provider’s name. For example, someone might say:
- Verb: “I’ll Skype you when I get the new rate.”
- Name: “I’ll send you a Skype (meaning text message).”
- Adjective: “Wait a minute, I need to answer this Skype call.”
Skype is a telecommunications application software product that provides video conferencing, VoIP and instant messaging services. More than 300 million active Skype users each month.
