We've come a long way from needing an operator to connect each telephone call by hand. Not only are the telephones in our houses more advanced but we can make a call from nearly anywhere with cell phones. In this episode we take a look at the next phone innovation: VoIP. It stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol and it's the technology used for calling somebody using your Internet connection.
Guests
Louis Hammond
Louis Hammond
Louis Hammond is assistant director of Networking and Telecommunications Services for the University of Minnesota. He manages a group that designs, installs, services, and maintains the University's telephone and data infrastructure.
Alok Gupta
Alok Gupta
Professor Gupta is the chair of the Department of Information and Decision Sciences at the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management. His research interests include information economics, electronic commerce, and data communications.
Links
To read reviews and find comparisons on VoIP providers, check out VoipReview.org. You can enter your area code to get information about the providers available in your area.
If you would like to test your Internet connection to see if VoIP would work well in your home, visit TestMyVoip.com. They will make a free test call from your computer to one of their test sites and give you a report on the results.
You also can compare VoIP plans available in your area on the Phonedog.com site.
Bandwidth
In Internet communication, bandwidth is the speed at which data can move across a network. It is commonly measured in bits or megabits per second.
IP
Internet Protocol is the system used to route data traffic through the Internet.
Latency
Latency is the time it takes for a packet of Internet traffic to travel from its source to its destination. Long latencies make Internet telephony difficult.
Packet
Packets are basic units of network traffic. Data is divided into packets that are sent over a network and reassembled when they reach their destination.