VoIP 101

The buzz for this new phone system technology is reaching a fever pitch yet, many people still have limited knowledge. There are many terms that you need to understand when searching for a VoIP provider so that you may take advantage of this low cost technology. I am going to list them here.

AS - A group of networks under mutual administration that share the same routing methodology. An AS uses an internal gateway protocol and common metrics to route Packets within the AS, and uses an external gateway protocol to route packets to other AS.

ASP (Application Service Provider)
An independent, third-party provider of software-based services delivered to customers across a wide area network (WAN).

ATA ? Analog Telephone Adapter A device that connects between an analog telephone and an Internet connection port, and allows you to use a standard phone to make and receive VoIP calls over the Internet.

Average Hold Time - The average length of time between the moment a caller finishes dialing and the moment the call is answered or terminated

Bandwidth The maximum data carrying capacity of a transmission link. For networks, bandwidth is usually expressed in bits per second (bps).

Broadband
Descriptive term for evolving digital technology that provides consumers a single switch facility offering integrated access to voice, high-speed data service, video demand services, and interactive delivery services.

Codec - Short for coder/decoder, a piece of hardware or software that automatically encodes/compresses and decodes/decompresses voice signal data packets. A codec is used to minimize bandwith usage while preserving voice quality. Although many proprietary compression schemes exist, VoIP networks typically incorporate at least one of several standardized audio CODECs for the sake of interoperability.

Compression
compression is used at anywhere from 1:1 to 12:1 ratios in VOIP applications to consume less bandwidth and leave more for data or other voice/fax communications. The voice quality may decrease with increased compression ratios.

Find-me/Follow-me Lying at the heart of the "unified messaging" or "ubiquitous communication" concept, Find me/Follow me is a feature that routes incoming calls to a user no matter where he or she roams or what type of device is being used (home, business or mobile phone). This "presence" feature, which rings multiple phones simultaneously, is offered by many IP PBXs and some hosted services. The feature is typically activated by pressing a softkey.


Firewall
A system designed to prevent unauthorized access to or from a private network. Firewalls can be implemented as hardware, software, or a combination of both. All messages entering or leaving the intranet pass through the firewall, which examines each message and blocks those that do not meet the security criteria specified on the firewall.

FXO - Foreign Exchange Office. A device that connects with a Central Office (CO) or PSTN analog line.

FXS - Foreign Exchange Station. A device that connects with an "end-user" device such as a telephone or fax machine.

Gatekeeper - The central control entity that performs management functions in a Voice and Fax over IP network and for multimedia applications such as video conferencing. Gatekeepers provide intelligence for the network, including address resolution, authorization, and authentication services, the logging of Call Detail Records, and communications with network management systems.

Gatekeepers control bandwidth, provide interfaces to existing legacy systems, and monitor the network for engineering purposes as well as for real-time network management and load balancing, .
Internet Telephony ? Any method of transmitting voice over the internet. A multimedia PC with special client software will digitalize your voice.

IP PBX - IP Private Branch Exchange. A business phone system that offers advanced phone services between VoIP and PSTN networks, such as music-on-hold, automatic call-routing, voicemail, and call transfer.

IP phone - also called an Internet phone or broadband phone. An IP phone plugs into a broadband Internet connection to make and receive VoIP calls over the Internet.

Packet ? A logically grouped unit of data. These packets of data are distributed over the internet, and then are de-constructed to voice when they reach their destination.

PSTN - Public-Switched Telephone Network, is the commonly-known telephone network. PSTN is a circuit-switched network.

PSTN Failover - an optional port on an IP phone or ATA device that connects to the PSTN network in case your Internet connection or electrical power goes down. This configuration requires you to have a regular telephone line and service.

Route - A set of parameters predefined by Voip provider to facilitate routing of traffic between the Gateways/Gatekeepers controlled by a Voip provider Member either via ownership or via a partnership with the owner. Along with specifying other parameters, a Voip provider Member using the Gatekeeping Service assigns to a Route values specifying the details of both originating and terminating Gateways/Gatekeepers.

SIP - Session Initiation Protocol. One of the newer, more common signaling protocols used for VoIP.

Softphone - a "software" phone on a PC that can send and receive calls over the Internet.

VoIP - Voice over Internet Protocol, which is a technology that allows you to make and receive phone calls and faxes over the Internet instead of through the telephone or cellular network.

VoIP Gateway - device that converts analog voice signals to digital IP packets for communication over an Ethernet (LAN or WAN) network.

VSP - VoIP Service Provider

In order to use VoIP, both sender and receiver need to have a broadband connection. This is a high-speed Internet connection usually provided by cable or a DSL modem. Broadband modems are usually used to connect computers to the Internet, but in the case of VoIP, computers are not necessary, because now there are telephones that connect directly.

Christine is the owner of http://onlinevoipinfo.com/ which deals specifically with PC to Phone and PC to PC VoIP. The site includes a comprehensive information on VoIP.

VoIP - A Closer Look At Choosing An Internet Phone Service

Voice-over Internet protocol (VoIP) services are certainly becoming more and more popular and for the most part it's because they are a quality alternative to traditional landline and cell phone based calling plans. I'm no prophet but the future of the technology and how people make phone calls is definitely pointing towards VoIP.

As is the case with most new technologies trying to decipher through all the hype and claims is a daunting task indeed and with companies popping up left and right to grab their share of this ever increasing pie, it gets more challenging by the day.

So what do you do? Well, on the positive side, virtually all of these new web-based phone services (VoIP) are packed with features, including unlimited local and long-distance calls and yet, they cost less than most traditional plans. Another plus is how simple they are to set up. Most simply require that you plug your regular phone into an adapter connected to your computer.

Of course, what is and what isn't essential in any plan is debatable but a few "essentials" you may want to consider when choosing which VoIP provider to go with are outlined below.

Connection Compatibility
One of the few VoIP requirements is a high speed connection but with the ever expanding reach of broadband into all parts of the country access to a high speed connection is no longer restricted to just the major metropolitan areas. That being said, all high speed connections don't provide enough performance to handle IP calls, so before you start researching different service plans you should take a look at Test Your VoIP (http://www.testyourvoip.com) to see if your connection is up to snuff. The test is free and it should take less than 30 seconds.

Assess Your Calling Needs
You need to ask yourself a few questions before you go out and select a provider because if you don't know what you're looking for it's pretty difficult to find it. A few questions you should consider are: What do you want most out of your phone provider? Are you looking to just cut costs?

A basic plan that offers a bunch of long-distance minutes is extremely inexpensive and if that's all you care about perhaps that's the route you should take. On the other hand, if you want business flexibility you should consider a small business package that costs more, but adds services like conferencing, a separate fax line, even an 800 number.

Want to take it on the road? Vonage (http://www.vonage.com) and others offer "soft phone" services, which let you make and receive calls on your PC. Another option to consider is where you place the most calls. If you make a ton of international calls, you might want to consider one of the smaller players like Lingo (http://www.lingo.com), Broadvoice (http://www.broadvoice.com) or CingUCel (http://www.cingucell.com) that offer unlimited dialing to select countries. Another nice VoIP feature is that most providers treat calls to Canada as domestic long distance. Determine where you call the most and then match the most appropriate service to your needs.

Feature Comparison
Virtually all VoIP service packages will exceed the minimal call waiting and voice mail bundles of traditional phone services. One example, CallVantage (http://www.usa.att.com/callvantage/index.jsp?) from AT&T may cost a bit more than some but it includes a useful call forwarding capability that will try to find you by ringing up to five different phone numbers when you aren't home.

You'll have to decide after shopping around whether you feel comfortable going with one of the smaller startups or if you should stick with one of the big players. With the big players you'll usually pay $5 or $10 more per month more for the "peace of mind" of a well-known brand name like AT&T or Vonage (http://www.vonage.com) which are currently the two largest VoIP providers in the market.

Verizon VoiceWing (http://www22.verizon.com) is fairly new to this ever increasing niche but with its merger with MCI it operates under one of the biggest brands in the telephony world. Once again, it's clearly up to you and your comfort level but if a service has fewer than 100,000 subscribers, you may want to look closely before jumping in.

Cold Turkey
Like all new technology VoIP continues to improve and the result is better call quality and service levels but switching cold turkey may not be the best idea. With many providers offering 30-day money back guarantees (always read the terms carefully) you can test the waters and ease into the transition. Initially, you may want to consider switching to VoIP on a second line and then, if you're happy, make the full transition.

This article may be reproduced only in its entirety.

Kevin Erickson is an entrepreneur and writer. You'll find more of his work at: VoIP Solutions | Wireless Internet | Trade Shows

Microsoft CRM Conversation Gateway: VOIP - Implementation & Customization

Microsoft CRM is winning market share step-by-step from such the traditional CRM providers as Siebel, Saleslogix. In this article well show Microsoft Business Solutions CRM potential in the VoIP direction.

Microsoft CRM is winning market share step-by-step from such the traditional CRM providers as Siebel, Saleslogix. In this article well show Microsoft Business Solutions CRM potential in the VoIP direction.

Nowadays VOIP-based technologies and Instant Messaging Systems are getting wider and wider spread. Each work desk or each personal computer has one or another instrument of information exchange, belonging to the VOIP or instant messaging systems. Currently the mostly presented information exchange systems are:

Skype (http://www.skype.com). Revolution system of sound compression the tolerance to the bandwidth of the channel enabled VoIP amusement features to the general internet world-wide user with microphone and headset, Windows/Linux/Mac OS X operating systems, internet access and free registration with Skype. Plus Skype application has instant messenger between skype users. New features and services SkypeOut and SkypeIn allow you not only to call to the regular phones from your computers with very low rates, but also accept the calls on your skype phone number in the SkypeIn system.

MSN Messenger (http://messenger.msn.com). Quite successful attempt of the Microsoft open the door to the instant messengers market. MSN Messenger gained market with the speed of light, due to the tight integration with Microsoft Windows. Every new version adds new functionalities MSN Spaces integration, audio and video transfer etc.

Yahoo! Messenger (http://messenger.yahoo.com). IM system of the Yahoo! portal, has standard set of features for communication, including audio and video stream transfer.

AOL Instant Messenger (http://www.aim.com). This is one of the veterans of the IM system market. Considering the popularity of AOL as internet provider AOL instant messenger holds substantial market share.

ICQ (http://www.icq.com). Yes we do not have to give you additional comments, we are targeting this article to IT professionals who were working in the Clinton era of American internet miracle and booming. Let us just add that with the release of version 5 ICQ introduced new features of the audio and video conversation.

VoIP & IM systems are popular not only in the home office environment, but are gaining popularity in the corporate market. One of the proves is the release of Microsoft Live Communication Server, which allows messages streams coordination and control. Natural idea should we enable VoIP and IM conversation with automatic protocol? It is always good to have paper copy of the MSN conference, related to the project, product, in the form of MS CRM Activity. Or, from CRM interface to call your potential customer via Skype. Or accept the incoming call via SkypeIn and record the call to the CRM database to be accurate with the following negotiations. The usage is really unlimited and is currently restricted only by human conservative nature.

Now, lets consider the schema of MS CRM extensions to enable such a system:

The main component is Albaspectrum Media Core for MS CRM the module, providing media streams saving in the special database, interaction with the specializing connectors to IM/VoIP systems. Its function is also Activity creation in the Microsoft CRM system.

The second important component is modification to these forms: Contact, Account etc. Modification is adding phones, addresses, Skype, MSN, AOL, Yahoo identifiers. Also we have to add SkypeOut phone calls service. In the future we plan PBX/PSTN support via MS Office Communicator 2005

Planned addition - Answering Machine module, controlling incoming calls and messages from clients and saves them in Media Database. If manager is out of his desk, system will save the message and will create Activity in personal queue you will not miss no one customer call! Plus all the calls from non-registered clients/prospects might be associated with one or another Account, Contact, Lead, etc.

Lets consider the process of the phone call/receiving or message recording:

CRM User opens client form and reads telephone or skype ID to place the call. If she/he would like to talk to skype user Skype application must be installed of the local machine and she/he needs to be skype online user. If she/he calls to another Skype user, then we dont have additional requirements. In the case when call is placed on PSTN number, CRM user needs to have SkypeOut active account. In both cases when user picks up the phone or is absent CRM activity will be created with the relevant status. If the call was accepted, automatic call recording will be switched on, activity will be created with the indication on the phone duration. For MSN, Yahoo!, ICQ audio conversations all the mentioned above is relevant, except PSTN support (currently skype only).

The above described process is similar for instant messenger conversations, recorded by MSN Messenger, ICQ, Yahoo! Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger.

CRM User could appeal to Full-Text Search upon the saving to Media Database of text talks directly from the MS CRM interface.

For the users, who are accessing CRM over the internet we envision IM system support (as http://webmessenger.msn.com) in the MS CRM forms.

Good luck with integration! If you want us to do the job - give us a call 1-630-961-5918 or 1-866-528-0577! help@albaspectrum.com Andrew is Software Developer in Alba Spectrum Technologies USA nationwide Great Plains, Microsoft CRM customization company, serving clients in Chicago, Houston, Atlanta, Phoenix, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Miami, Denver, UK, Australia, Canada, Europe ( http://www.albaspectrum.com )