What are VoIP calls and how does it work. VoIP is a protocol that is used to make voice calls over the Internet. This is a different method of conventional calls and can help users save some money when communicating with other people.
What is VoIP?
The term VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol, and it is a method by which you can make voice calls over the network. This is done by taking the audio of what you are saying through the microphone and converting it into digital data, which is transmitted over the network to another device where it is interpreted so that the voice can be heard again.
This means that it is an alternative to conventional telephone calls. With VoIP, you don’t depend on signal from antennas or telephone cable, but on Internet coverage where you have to transmit the calls. This has a negative side, and that is if there is bad coverage the call will also lose quality.
VoIP calls are usually independent of conventional telephone calls. This means that you can’t make them using the phone call button on your smartphone, but through third-party applications that include the option of making voice calls. Today, almost all apps allow you to do it.
The biggest advantage of these calls is that they are not subject to your telephone rate. It doesn’t matter if you make international calls from your country to another distant country, because VoIP calls have no cost unless you use an app that charges for this service.
The term VoIP really refers to the protocols that facilitate these calls, although we popularly use the name to refer to the calls themselves. They can be made over any type of connection, from home LANs to mobile data networks. It can easily be used from a computer, mobile or tablet, as long as you have an app that supports it.
In terms of applications, as we have said, virtually all major messengers apps offer this option today, including WhatsApp, Telegram, Skype or Messenger. In these apps, users can identify these calls because they have the same phone icon as the conventional call application. However, when made through the mobile app are VoIP calls.
It also works for landline
This Internet calling technology is very common especially in mobile applications, but it can also be used in landlines. There are several options available for this purpose, all of which make the voice you send from your phone scanned and sent over the Internet.
For example, there are VoIP routers, in which you connect a conventional landline phone and you can make calls over the Internet. There are also ATA VoIP or analog telephone adapters, which are devices that connect to a router, and to which several conventional telephones can also be connected. It is a small device that attaches to the router and it can connect several conventional telephones to channel calls through a network.
There are also VoIP phones, which are very similar to landlines but can connect directly to a router, users can also hire a VoIP rate with an operator to facilitate this process. When using calls with conventional phones you usually need a provider on which the price will depend.
How VoIP Calling Works
VoIP calls need two elements to work. The first is to have access to an Internet connection on the device from which you are going to make it. And the second is to have an application that integrates the technology to be able to make them. It is also necessary to have an audio input and output, such as a microphone to speak and a speaker to listen.
The only thing that happens is that each application usually applies these calls in different ways. This means that both the caller and the recipient will have to be using the same application for example, you can’t call from Telegram to WhatsApp, it would have to be from Telegram to Telegram. There are also adapters that can be used with normal phones.
Its operation is simple. You make the call to the contact you want through the application of your choice, and that application converts the audio from your microphone to digital signals. These are sent through the same application over the Internet until the other user’s application receives the data and translates it back into sound, which is what this person hears on their speaker.
The way the app treats this data is not much different than the video conferencing that can also be done in many of these applications. Two channels are created within the call, one for the audio you send to that person and one for the audio that is sent to you.
And then there are some technologies that connect phones to a router, using a special kind of router, you can connect directly to a VoIP phone, the idea is the same, it channel the call and digitize it to turn your voice into data that can be sent.
The advantage of doing this with conventional phones is that you don’t depend on specific applications, and you can make calls to phones all over the world. However, unlike Telegram and WhatsApp, users have to pay a fee to a provider.
Pros and Cons:
Here are the advantage(Pros) and disadvantages(cons) of using VoIP.
Pros:
- It can be used to make calls over the internet, no airtime required.
- It can be used to save money and credit cost it doesn’t depend on telephone rate charges.
- One of the best alternatives to conventional telephone calls.
- It doesn’t depend on signals from antennas or telephone cable.
- It is easily accessible from a computer, mobile or tablet, as long as you have an app that supports it.
- Portability.
- Improved Productivity.
Cons:
- It cannot be used offline all devices needs to be connected to the internet.
- Bad internet coverage can lead to a loss of audio quality.
- Third-party applications like WhatsApp, Viber, Telegram and Skype are needed in other to make voice calls.
- It is bandwidth dependent.
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