Most people use the term “IP telephony” interchangeably with “voice over IP”, but do these terms really have similar meaning?
Internet Protocol telephony or Internet telephony as it is commonly known is a form of communication. It involves use of digital phone systems or technologies which are based on a set of Internet standards and which use the Internet Protocol’s packet-switched connections to exchange voice and other forms of communication. The phone systems take advantage of the Internet, hardware and software attached. Internet telephony aims at increasing productivity. It is no wonder many businesses and communication companies have embraced use of this technology in their production systems so as to minimize communication costs.
Voice over IP (VoIP) is a component of IP telephony. It is simply the transport mechanism for phone calls. VoIP adds more features to voice communications and offers less costly and/or free phone calls. Voice over IP lets you make calls through your computer.
IP telephony is the broader view of voice over IP. VoIP is a way of transmitting voices so as to implement Internet telephony. The other major difference is that Internet telephony is the overall way of effective and reliable communication which uses Internet protocols. Internet telephony is made more reliable by harnessing the power of voice over IP using the user friendly features available in VoIP.
The difference may not be clear, hence it is still okay to use these terms interchangeably so that the reader is saved from a more detailed difference, and after all, they both are areas of communication.
IP telephony is a significant part of the change of computers and telephones into a single integrated information environment. Internet Protocol telephony solutions support advanced reliable voice and video communication, fax and all other forms f communication to any location that you wish. Streamline and optimize your communications with Internet telephony solutions.