History of VoIP

VoIP has been around for about fifteen years, but most of its rise in popularity has come in the past five years. The first company to provide a product using VoIP technology is thought to be the Israeli company, Vocaltec, when they first bought out their service in 1995. It ran on a PC and was used by listening through the PC’s speakers and taking through a microphone. All early VoIP worked this way, and some still does. The Vocaltec service was referred to as an ‘internet phone’. The quality was poor by telephone standards. It was mostly used for personal use and not really suitable for business.

VoIP technology grew over the next two or three years. People began to see the potential for this cheap alternative and experimented with different ways of using, and improving, this technology. Larger telecommunications companies started to think about developing VoIP services, and how it could also be used for business rather than just a cheap, poor quality service.

With early VoIP it was only possible to make calls from PC to PC. As the technology improved it became possible to make calls from a PC to telephones. This allowed users to call anyone, but they would have to use their PC to make these calls. It is now possible to use an internet connection but talk through a telephone or telephone like device, using VoIP adapters and VoIP phones. VoIP adapters allow users to use their existing telephone to talk over IP, and VoIP phones are devices that use the internet connection but look and feel just like a telephone. These have developed as providers have looked to improve not just VoIP’s quality but also the user experience, meaning it is more likely to be taken up by a mass market.

VoIP’s quality is something that has improved significantly. The growing popularity of broadband has been crucial to this. A high percentage of internet users now use broadband, which is important as the internet connection is the most important factor in the quality of VoIP. This has meant that more people have access to quality VoIP. The growing competition within the VoIP industry has meant they are all trying to improve quicker than their competitors. This has lead to a better all round service for customers. There are now many Business VoIP providers who provide a quality service, while still cheaper than the equivalent telephone providers.

Skype is probably the best known cheap VoIP provider. Calls with Skype are free PC to PC, and calls from a PC to a telephone are very cheap. It is mostly useful for personal use calling friends and family, but not suitable for business. There are sign though, that they are looking to move into this area.

Andrew Marshall (c)