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THE BASICS
What Is VoIP?
How does VoIP Work?
What is the Disadvantage of VoIP?
VoIP Glossary

PHONES
VoIP Phone System
VoIP Cell Phone
VoIP Satellite Phone
Free Internet Phones Internet Phone Hardware

BRANDED
Branded Voice over IP

PROVIDERS
VoIP Service Provider
VoIP Broadband Phone Provider
VoIP Phone Services
VoIP Broadband Providers

VoIP Glossary

ADSL - Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line

ADSL is a type of high-speed broadband Internet connection that transmits data over the existing copper phone lines between ADSL modems. It differs from normal DSL in that it has a faster download speed than it does an upload speed, which is what the word "asymmetric" refers to.

Analog - analogue

The traditional telephone service is an analog system. An analog system works by converting a sound or video signal into electrical vibrations for transmission or reproduction.

Analogue Telephone Adapter - ATA

A device that converts a VoIP signal into a standard telephone signal, allowing you to use your traditional telephone handset with a VoIP connection. It provides an interface between your router and your phone.

Bandwidth

Measured in bits per second, it is the amount of data that can be sent from one computer to another through a particular connection in a certain amount of time. The higher the bandwidth available, the more information you are able to access in a given time.

Broadband

It is a general term for any Internet connection which receives and transmits at a bit rate of 100kbps or greater. Thus, frame relay, T-line connections, cable, DSL, and bonded or multi-channel ISDN are all considered broadband. Single channel ISDN and dialup modem connections are thus "narrow band".

Data Packet

Data transmitted over the Internet occurs in blocks of digital data referred to as packets. Although there are many different types of data-audio, email, video, downloads, web pages etc; all use this same basic technology to transmit data. Packet switching, using Ethernet technology is much more efficient than circuit switching, and it is one of the reasons that VoIP is cheaper than traditional telephony.

Digital

Information encoded into a stream of ones and zeroes. Digitally encoded signals usually take up less space than comparable analog signals. In a digital transmission, the ones and zeroes can be sent very quickly. Additionally, you can send multiple digital signals down a digital line simultaneously: something that is impossible with analog systems.

Download

The process of transferring data from the Internet to your local computer.

Downstream

The rate of data traveling from the server towards the user.

Digital Subscriber Line - DSL

DSL is a type of broadband Internet connection. It transmits data over the copper wires of the phone system, but bypasses circuit-switching allowing faster transmission than dial-up but slower than ADSL.

Ethernet

A digital networking system that is packet-based. Each client "broadcasts" their requests into the network and "hubs" or "switches" route the requests to their correct destinations. This process is called "packet switching". Ethernet is the dominant technology used in computer network connections.

Fire Wall

A security system designed to protect a computer network from unauthorized access, especially via the Internet.

Hardware

All the physical parts of a computer system or network.

Hub

The hub is the common connection point for devices in a network-it has multiple ports to allow for those connections. Often, although not always, a router.

Internet

A global network connecting many millions of computers. The single largest and most popular computer network in existence, used the world over.

Internet Protocol address - IP Address

The numeric address for a computer or device that is connected to the Internet. Generally seen for example as "68.178254.18".

Internet Service Provider - ISP

A company that provides Internet access to consumers. When you connect to the Internet, you do so by connecting to your ISP, who is directly connected to the Internet.

Kilobits per second - KBPS

A measure of the speed of an Internet connection, giving a maximum figure for how much data it can send or receive in a given time period. Most connections are asynchronous, with a higher download rate than upload.

Local Area Network - LAN

A small computer network that connects together a small number of computers. Like all the machines in a single office or a home. If your home computer setup includes a computer and a router, it qualifies as a LAN, even if it only has those two components.

Laptop (aks notebook)

A small portable computer. Laptops are lighter and smaller than desktop computers and rely on battery power when in the field.

Local Number Portability - LNP

The ability to take the phone number you have from provider to provider. Although this is available for most landlines and mobiles, sometimes it is not available with VoIP services.

Modem

A device that allows a computer to transmit and receive data over telephone or cable lines. Computer information is stored digitally, however information transmitted over telephone lines is transmitted in analog waves. A modem converts between analog and digital, and vice versa,

Network

A group of computers that are connected to each other, with or without wires.

Packets

A piece of a message transmitted over a packet switching network, it contains a block of data, often compressed, the destination address it is being sent to and a sequence number, to allow the receiving computer to recompile it in the correct place. Packets are transmitted individually, and often follow different routes from source to destination, routing around bottlenecks or disruptions.

Protocol

A communications protocol is the set of standard rules for data representation, signalling, authentication, and error detection which is required to send information over a communications channel.

Public Switched Telephone Network - PSTN

This is the traditional phone system, using circuit switching to make and maintain connections for the duration of a phone call. Also referred to as the 'landline' network, it uses a copper wire network to carry analog voice data. It is also used for dial-up Internet and fax transmission.

Router

A device that connects two or more networks of computers together in Ethernet networks. Routers, unlike most modems, allow the connection of multiple computers at each end. There is such a thing as a combined modem/router.

Soft phone

A soft phone is a general term for any VoIP service that is primarily software based, like Skype, for example.

Software

Intangible instructions, composed entirely of data. Software includes all computer programs, applications, instructions or operating systems that tell a computer what to do.

Upload

The process of transmitting a file or data from your home system to a remote destination via the Internet.

Upstream

The rate of data traveling from the user towards the server.

Voice over Internet Protocol - VOIP

The sending of telephone calls over the Internet for less cost than those sent via the traditional phone system.

Wi-Fi

A wireless ethernet technology that allows people with laptop computers to connect to the internet while out and about at "hot spots". It is also used to connect cordless phones with VoIP.

World Wide Web - WWW

The easy to access system of "web pages" that are connected with "hyperlinks" over the Internet, transmitted with the HTTP protocol.