Telephony Application and VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol Dissertation

Telephony Application and VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol - Dissertation Example Although VoIP has been commendable in replacing PSTN, its application is not without drawbacks based on security and privacy of voice call information and impacts on quality of service. This paper evaluates and explains VoIP in detail in order to understand its functions, advantages, disadvantages, VoIP protocols and, best protocols for VoIP application. The research reveals Session Initiation Protocol or SIP as the best protocol given that it is easier to secure and sustain the quality of VoIP service. Acknowledgements First and foremost, I thank my parents for their support in my pursuit of a college education. I am grateful for their unfading support financially and emotionally. I also thank my instructor, who since I decided on this topic, has been a great source of encouragement, supervision, and academic counseling. Without your sincere support, the completion of this paper would not have been feasible. I thank you once again. I also thank my classmate and friend Yasir who has been of much appreciate assistance in ensuring that I intensely research the topic and obtain detailed relevant material for use in this paper. My gratitude to you is beyond words. Finally, I thank everyone, who in any little way has assisted me in research, drafting the manuscript and whose support has remained untainted throughout the process. I thank you all and many blessings. Table of Contents Acknowledgements 3 Chapter One 6 Introduction to the Problem 6 Technology is advancing every day; included in that technological advancement is the improvement of telephone capabilities. While most are familiar with modern cell phone and smart phone technology, voice over internet protocol, or VoIP, is also a technological improvement, with regards to telephoning that should be considered. 6 Traditional telephony, or telephone technology, according to Meggelen, Smith and Madsen is the technology associated with the transmission of voice, fax, video or other form of information, electronic ally (2009). Such transfer involves parties located long distances apart and who are using systems originally linked with telephone. A telephone device is characterized by a transmitter or speaker on one side and a receiver on the other. The telephone science involves translation of sound or voice signal into electrical signals then transmitting them and translating them into sound signal at the destination. In the modern world, Meggelen, Smith and Madsen, point out that computer hardware and software assumes the roles that telephones used to (2009). Commendable changes in telephony were achieved by the arrival of computers, transmission of digital information over telephone systems and utilization of radio for transmission of telephone signals. 6 Internet telephony is the utilization of internet infrastructure and related technology instead of traditional telephone infrastructure to exchange voice, sound or other information transferable through telephone (MacKnight, Lehr & Clark, 2001). With internet telephony, telephone access is affordable at local connection rates. As a result, any long distance or international calls are much less expensive compared to the traditional call set up (Rouse, 2008). 6 The inception of the internet has led to the development of several new services, three