Chapter One. What Is Voyp?

Chapter One. What Is "Voyp"?

In This Chapter

The Birth of Internet Phones 2

Internet Phone Basics 3

The Big Picture 13

You may have heard the term Voice over IP, Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP in discussions of Internet phones. You may even have some inkling that this term refers to the use of the Internet to transport your voice to another caller. After all the work you have done to get your computer on the Internet, phones would seem to be even more complex.

It really is not as complicated as it sounds. Although Internet protocols are inherently complex and require careful configuration, many Internet phone services take on the complex part of that setup and make phone service available to subscribers via preconfigured telephone devices. VoIP services have subscriber bases in the millions of users now and are successfully converting thousands of people to Internet telephony every day.

In this chapter, you will learn some of the basics of Internet phone technology and some important terms relating to this technology. After reading this chapter, you may not be able to carry on a conversation at a trade show, but you'll be able to hold your own in any water-cooler discussion of Voice over IP.