On
April 1st this year, the Indian government legalized Internet telephony
and Voice over IP, throwing up an array of opportunities for the telecom
sector companies. At the same time, there has been a spate of offerings
for everyone. For corporates whose telephone bills come to a few lakh
rupees every month, voice over IP could be the right solution. We look at
the solutions available and how to implement them. We also look at the
various calling card options available today
On April 1st this year, the Indian government legalized IP telephony and Voice over IP, throwing up an array of opportunities for the telecom sector. Since then, there have been offerings for just about everyone; be it individual users, small to medium businesses or large
corporates.
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Something for Everyone
“Call US for just Rs 5 a minute” seems to be the slogan of most nowadays. After “off-the-shelf” ISP accounts, it’s time now for IP telephony calling cards flooding the markets. Most of the existing ISPs have upgraded their infrastructures to support IP telephony services. Apart from which ISP to choose, users now face the question of which IP telephony calling card to buy. Plus, there are free IP telephony service providers like Buddyphone, phonefree and Nashphone, promising to offer equally good voice quality.
With calling cards, supporting equipment is also gaining ground. This includes everything from headsets to instruments that allow you to use your regular phone for IP telephony.
The best thing about VoIP is that it promises something for everyone, and not just large companies. IP gateway products are available for smaller companies, which promise to reduce their telephone bills. Large companies can either integrate VoIP equipment with their existing voice networks, or deploy a total VoIP solution.
Will it Deliver?
Though enough noise has been generated on VoIP and IP Telephony, the question of whether it will deliver remains. In this story, we analyze all segments of the market; from calling cards for individual users to deploying a complete VoIP solution to the VoIP equipment out there. Where calling cards are concerned, the issue of bandwidth still exists, as the voice quality in IP telephony is only as good as your Internet connection. On the corporate side, phone-to-phone IP telephony is still not
permitted, unless it’s on a company’s private network, and is not connected to the PSTN in any way.
The ultimate promise of VoIP will be met when the Internet and telephone combine. And telecom operators today are already working feverishly to make it a reality.
Anil Chopra