What is IP Telephony?
IP telephony (Voice over IP or VoIP) is a technology that transmits voice calls over the internet instead of traditional telephone lines. It is used by businesses, organizations, and private individuals.
How does IP Telephony work?
Voice calls are converted into data packets and transmitted over the network.
- SIP (Session Initiation Protocol): Establishes and ends calls
- Codecs: Compress audio for transmission
- Cloud telephony: Provides access through computers, mobile devices, and IP phones
Benefits of IP Telephony:
- Lower call costs
- Flexible use across devices
- Easy to scale for growing needs
- Integration with other business systems
Challenges with IP Telephony:
- Requires a stable network connection for high audio quality
- Sensitive to outages during power failures or network issues
- Vulnerable to call hijacking (SIP hijacking) or eavesdropping if traffic is not encrypted
Use Cases:
- Businesses and call centers
- Events
- Crisis preparedness
- Customer support and service operations