|
|
 |
|
Applications
of VoIP _______________________________________________
|
Voice
communications will certainly remain a basic form of interaction
for all of us. The PSTN simply cannot be replaced, or even
dramatically changed, in the short term (this may not apply
to private voice networks, however). The immediate goal for
VoIP service providers is to reproduce existing telephone
capabilities at a significantly lower "total cost of
operation" and to offer a technically competitive alternative
to the PSTN. It is the combination of VoIP with point-of-service
applications that shows great promise for the longer term.
Some of the example are:
• PSTN gateways:
Interconnection of the Internet to the PSTN can be accomplished
using a gateway, either integrated into a PBX (the
iPBX) or provided as a separate device. A PC-based telephone,
for example, would have access to the public network by calling
a gateway at a point close to the destination (thereby minimizing
long distance charges).
• Internet-aware telephones:
Ordinary telephones (wired or wireless) can be enhanced to
serve as an Internet access device as well as providing normal
telephony. Directory services, for example, could be accessed
over the Internet by submitting a name and receiving a voice
(or text) reply.
• Inter-office trunking over
the corporate intranet: Replacement of tie trunks
between company-owned PBXs using an Intranet link would provide
economies of scale and help to consolidate network facilities.
• Remote access from a branch
(or home) office: A small office (or a home office)
could gain access to corporate voice, data, and facsimile
services using the company's Intranet (emulating a remote
extension for a PBX, for example). This may be useful for
home-based agents working in a call center, for example.
• Voice calls from a mobile
PC via the Internet: Calls to the office can be
achieved using a multimedia PC that is connected via the Internet.
One example would be using the Internet to call from a hotel
instead of using expensive hotel telephones. This could be
ideal for submitting or retrieving voice messages.
• Internet call center access:
Access to call center facilities via the Internet is emerging
as a valuable adjunct to electronic commerce applications.
Internet call center access would enable a customer who has
questions about a product being offered over the Internet
to access customer service agents online. Another VoIP application
for call centers is the interconnection of multiple call centers.
|
|
|
|
|
Benefits
________________________________________________________
|
Widespread
deployment of a new technology seldom occurs without a clear
and sustainable justification, and this is also the case with
VoIP. Demonstrable benefits to end users are also needed if
VoIP products (and services) are to be a long-term success.
Generally, the benefits of technology can be divided into
the following four categories:
•
Cost Reduction:Although
reducing long distance telephone costs is always a popular
topic and would provide a good reason for introducing VoIP,
the actual savings over the long term are still a subject
of debate in the industry. Flat rate pricing is available
with the Internet and can result in considerable savings for
both voice and facsimile. It has been estimated that up to
70% of all calls to Asia are to send faxes, most of which
could be replaced by FoIP.
• Simplification:
An integrated infrastructure that supports all forms of communication
allows more standardization and reduces the total
equipment complement. This combined infrastructure can support
dynamic bandwidth optimization and a fault tolerant design.
• Consolidation:
Since people are among the most significant cost elements
in a network, any opportunity to combine operations, to eliminate
points of failure, and to consolidate accounting systems would
be beneficial. In the enterprise, SNMP-based management can
be provided for both voice and data services using VoIP.
• Advanced Applications:
Even though basic telephony and facsimile are the initial
applications for VoIP, the longer term benefits are expected
to be derived from multimedia and multiservice applications.
For example, Internet commerce solutions can combine WWW access
to information with a voice call button that allows immediate
access to a call center agent from the PC.
|
|
|
