Blueprint: Circuit-to-Packet


	IMS -- The Path to Personalized Mobile Services
Proponents of IMS have a revolutionary vision for the future. IMS, along with its packed-based signaling cousin Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), enables person-to-person and person-to-content communications in a variety of modes -- including voice, text, pictures and video, or any combination of these -- in highly personalized and value-added ways. Here's the pitch.

	Media Servers & Applications Development: The Need for Speed
Just what is a media server? And how large is the market for them? A new generation of media servers are emerging that will serve as a critical adjunct to SIP application servers.

	As Market Matures, VoIP Management Becomes Essential
An interesting shift has occurred in the perception of the need for management in today's VoIP networks. The early allure of VoIP as a "magic" solution is gone and it is now clear that the need for ongoing management systems for voice networks will persist.

	Security in VoIP Networks – Stronger than TDM!
The move from TDM networks to VoIP has created a new challenge for network operators end enterprises � security. A poorly designed VoIP network can easily be exposed to security threats such as denial of service attacks, computer viruses and data theft. On the other hand, the technologies available today, in addition to a well designed network, can offer even better security than we had in the TDM world.

	VoIP Quality Issues -- Are they Really a Thing of the Past?
When VoIP technology was launched in the 1990s, voice quality was a big issue. VoIP can overcome the limitations of the PSTN bandwidth, which is limited to 3.3 KHz. VoIP technology is moving toward wideband technology, which enables IP telephony users to hear at up to 8 KHz. The result is that VoIP is becoming more natural, pleasant and clearer. However, media gateways are not all the same.

	Scaling a VoIP Network
Analyzing the challenges in implementing any IT or networking system, the primary issue is scalability � if you solve this issue, other concerns will be resolved automatically. Building a VoIP network for 10 users is different to building it for 1,000 users, and it completely differs from building it for 1,000,000 users. With the enterprise IP Telephony implementations growing to hundreds of thousands of users, and the carrier class 5 VoIP services growing to millions of users � we start to face the real scalability issues.

	Small Business in a Big Business World
IP telephony can save the day for many small- and medium-sized businesses. Converged systems have many advantages, with the key being unlimited accessibility. But even with all of convergence's advantages, how does a business determine if it is the right time for convergence? And if it is, where do you start?

	An Introduction to the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)
Put simply, IMS is an architecture that merges the applications and capabilities of the Internet with both wireless and wireline telephony, and promotes fixed/mobile convergence. This article aims to provide that starting point, with an overview of the most important aspects of the IMS specification.

	VoWiFi :Calling for Mobility
Voice over WiFi (VoWiFi) could be a big leap in employee mobility, leading to improvements in company productivity, customer satisfaction and cost savings. Successfully deploying a VoWiFi solution means taking into the unique considerations of running a real-time application over a wireless LAN infrastructure as well as choosing an IP PBX solution suited to the demands of mobility. Here's what to look for.

	Delivering PSTN Service Quality with ATAs
In the near future we will no longer be subject to the 3.1 kHz narrowband limitation of today's PSTN service. Also, the VoIP infrastructure will support a more interesting range of services, such as advanced call control, presence-based services, voice mail-email integration, wireless/wireline integration, push-to-talk, videophone and others. How are Analog Terminal Adaptors (ATAs) evolving to leverage the new network infrastructure?

	Small Businesses Give IP Telephony Another Listen
VoIP is steadily moving from the ranks of early adopters into the mainstream. Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in particular are turning to VoIP, and for good reason: it promises both tremendous cost savings and increased functionality. A reduction in monthly call charges is only half of VoIP's attraction for SMBs. Converged networks present users with multiple avenues to cost savings. Here's the VoIP pitch from one of the leading direct resellers of IT products to business, government and education.

	Which Mesh Architecture is Best for Delivering VoIP?
For wireless data networks, voice is a "killer app." This article will first look at the four key mesh network performance requirements for real time applications; the three mesh architectural options when deploying wireless voice over IP (wVoIP) over a WiFi mesh network; how a multi-radio, multi-RF architecture positively impacts the capital cost to deploy; and the operating expenses involved to properly operate such networks.

	Wireless LANs Need to Evolve toward Cellular Wireless Architecture
Recent IEEE 802.11 task groups have worked to improve the speed of wireless networking and increase the sophistication of the 802.11 base itself. Unfortunately, 802.11 is still hamstrung by a fundamental problem. Given the ever-increasing need to have real predictability in networks that will soon top out at over 600Mbps and rival the capacity of wired networking, it is clear that 802.11 needs to embrace a cellular wireless networking architecture and associated technologies.

	Is Common Sense the Next Killer App?
Despite the many advances in networks and networking devices, limitations inherent to the physical interface of the standard telephone impedes the adoption of new communications applications. This is because it is hard to convince people to change the way they are accustomed to using a telephone. To bridge this divide, the applications that power tomorrow's networks and devices must have common sense.

	IP PBX vs. Hosted VoIP?
Interest in enterprise-grade hosted VoIP services is on the rise: good news for broadband VoIP providers who anticipate increased competition and resulting loss of pricing traction in consumer markets over the next several years. At the same time, however, the success of broadband VoIP is changing customer expectations about how such services should work, and what they should cost. As always, today's enterprise buyers want the classic benefits of hosting � reduced capital expenditure, a �packaged� all-inclusive solution, a single point of contact, protection against technology obsolescence. But they don't want dedicated, high-cost access connections, limited service footprints, expensive proprietary phones, punitive long-term contracts. Hence the question: IP PBX or Hosted VoIP service?

	Voice over Wireless LANs: New Challenges Need New Solutions
VoWLAN presents unique new challenges for those deploying WLAN systems, and the products that traditional WLAN vendors have offered for hotspot coverage in data networks may not work well � or at all � when asked to manage voice traffic as well.

	VoIP Toll-Free: Preserve Margins, Explore New Apps
Toll-free 800 numbers -- the telephonic "URL" -- have long been a must for sales and customer service. Usage is expanding as toll-free calling lets businesses create high-volume funnels of nationwide inbound customer requests. However, today's call centers want more than just lower rates � they also want the flexibility to disaggregate, decouple, partner, outsource and globalize -- routing calls and data across multiple contact centers, bouncing them off non-local infrastructure and resources, and sending them on to diverse endpoints. A transition is underway to VoIP toll-free calling.

	The Coming Era of User-Centric Communications
It is clear that multiple definitions of convergence exist. Equally apparent is the fact that users are increasingly adopting more sophisticated devices and services, most of which fail to interoperate with one another. Additionally, since no �killer app� has yet to present itself, users will seek to define a communications and entertainment experience unique to their individual lifestyles. Further, while adoption rates for multiple devices and services escalate, mass-market consumers will embrace solutions engineered to simplify their growing diversity of communications products.

	Bringing Next Gen Voice to Emerging Markets
Emerging markets in Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa can also take advantage of VoIP in terms cost savings, speed of deployment, and ease of extending services for increased teledensity. These regions continue to offer fresh pockets of opportunity and growth for next-generation IP telecommunications, and the spike in activity has as much to do with advances in technology as with deregulation. Africa is a good case in point. Much of the continent suffers from insufficient infrastructure build-out, low teledensity and high call tariffs. Here is a case study on how Nigeria is using VoIP to its advantage.

	Is Your Network Ready for VoIP?
VoIP quality and reliability depends on a lot of things, including (but not limited to) the IP-PBX system used for voice communication, the networking equipment used to carry voice and data traffic, the amount of bandwidth available to all sites and users, network latency and jitter, and the total amount of traffic moving across the network. VoIP quality is not typically an issue within LANs where bandwidth is plentiful and latency is essentially non-existent. The most significant point of congestion and potential voice quality degradation is the LAN/WAN boundary. Here, all traffic (VoIP and data) must be monitored and controlled as it transitions from the LAN to a far more bandwidth-constrained WAN link.

	Managed Services Accelerate Convergence
One option for enterprises is to outsource much of their VoIP deployment to a managed services provider. Even if they choose this approach, the question remains: what should be outsourced? Both enterprises and service providers can benefit from using a lifecycle approach to evolve their VoIP networks. The services lifecycle is comprised of five interrelated stages, including Plan, Design, Build, Manage and Evolve.

	Now You’re Talking --The Business Case of Open Source VoIP
The days of skyrocketing costs, proprietary call control, vendor lock-ins, and TDM PBXs are slowly drawing to a close, as the idea of voice as a data center solution takes hold, including: commodity servers; voice and voice messaging applications available on any end point (phones, soft phones, mobile phones, PDAs) on a distributed IP network. Finally, Moore's Law will apply to enterprise telephony as costs go down and innovation goes up. A key component to enable voice in the data center is a new generation of open source, SIP-based VoIP solutions. The move to an open source will likely make a serious dent in the $5 billion per year enterprise PBX market

	Enterprise Security - an Enabler of VoIP
The days of relying solely on physical security and encryption to protect telephone calls are behind us. Understanding that there are unique and irreplaceable benefits to protecting IP telephony systems at all layers of the network is the most important realization of all. Here is some advice on securing your enterprise VoIP network.

	Enterprise Wi-Fi VoIP Poised for Rapid Growth
Enterprise adoption of WLANs has been held in check for years, but recently we have observed the makings of a wireless "perfect storm" coming together that would clear the way for their adoption: 1) VoIP lines are outpacing traditional phone lines in enterprises, 2) WiFi is being built into all clients - (thanks to players like Intel with Centrino), 3) Wireless VoIP handsets prices are coming down , and 4) Economic rebound has demonstrated the importance of productivity-improving technologies. As a natural extension to wired VoIP, wireless VoIP is gaining the greatest mindshare of all the possible applications that can be unwired. Why is that? Well, past justification for wireless LANs only looked at soft improvement indirectly derived from the implementation of a wireless LAN: the ability to maintain connectivity while in a meeting, for example. Being able to reference documents on the Web or via e-mail while sitting in a meeting can be deemed productivity improving. There are may other examples, but, in general, they are all difficult to tie to specific savings for corporations.

	VoIP -- Talking About A Revolution
As VoIP flourishes, both businesses and consumers alike will harness the advanced capabilities that the technology offers � capabilities that extend far beyond anything now available using traditional phone service. The lesson for companies is that, given the right situation, VoIP can dramatically alter operations and even business models, allowing large and mid-size businesses to lower costs and, more importantly, giving smaller businesses the critical competitive edge they need to play ball with the big boys.

	VoIP in a Dynamic Communications Market
Estimates are that in the next five years, an estimated 50% of enterprise phones will be IP-based, 60% of enterprises will have a VoIP gateway and 70% of PBXs will be IP based.� Approximately 15% of households will regularly make use of VoIP phones. More than 10 million consumers will trade in their cordless phones for VoIP handsets equipped with VoWLAN capability. Underpinning it all, 40% of voice traffic transported between central offices will be packetized. And over 120 million VoIP ports will be shipped annually.