Computing Dictionary
Voice over IP definition
communications (VoIP) Any technology providing
voice telephony services over
IP, including
CODECs,
streaming protocols and
session control. The major advantage of VoIP is lower cost, by avoiding dedicated voice circuits.
Currently VoIP is being deployed on internal corporate networks, and, via the
Internet, for low cost (and low quality) international calls. It is also used for telephony applications such as voice and fax mail.
The
ITU standard is
H.323, which is a whole suite of protocols, while the
IETF has developed the much simpler
SIP to solve the session control problem and
MGCP/
Megaco to solve the gateway problem.
(2003-11-30)