Internet telephony for internal communication

If the Internet can carry any type of digital data, including e-mail, music and radio and TV broadcasts, can it carry voice data for voice communication between two points? Well, it can.

Those of us who regularly use NetMeeting, for example, will know that adding voice -- and even video -- to our mode of online communication is possible. Better still, it does not incur any additional costs -- we just pay for Internet access.

Indeed, Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a technology that has been around for a couple of years. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has ratified the standard for data, voice and video communications over the Internet, known as the H.323 recommendations. These recommendations form the foundation for the VoIP. Actually, the standard for VoIP -- also known as Internet telephony -- was created by a group of leading telecommunications and networking companies, including VocalTec, Cisco and 3Com.

A survey conducted by VoIP Watch (www.voipwatch.com) revealed that the first factor that had hampered widespread use of this technology was lack of awareness. The second was the unavailability of broadband. The third, as we would expect, was the resistance from major telecommunication companies. Interestingly, government regulations turned out to be a lesser hurdle.

But, of course, their survey was not conducted for specific markets, such as Indonesia's.

How does the VoIP work? First, our voice is digitized, then compressed to make the data smaller by discarding uncritical data. By "uncritical data", we mean the data that will not affect the intelligibility of our voices. Once the voice is digitized and compressed, it is not difficult to figure out how two points on the Internet can communicate using the technology.

The main difference between VoIP and the ordinary telephone network is that VoIP is based on packet switching like the rest of the Internet, while the latter is based on the circuit switching method. In the VoIP network, the digitized voice is packet-ized, which means that it is chopped into separate packets, each of which has an address.

These packets are then transmitted to their destination over the Internet. At the other end, the packets are reassembled and decompressed to reproduce your voice. In the ordinary telephone system, each time we make a call, we have to establish a circuit between our phone and the phone of the person we would like to talk with.

Today, the technology has progressed and is even available on a wireless network. Earlier this year, for example, Cisco introduced its 802.11b-based IP telephone, which provides VoIP communications through a company's Internet network access points.

In a perfect world, there should be no restrictions for using VoIP for internal communication needs. If your enterprise is a customer of a telecom company that provides comprehensive infrastructure, such as XLnet, you should not have much of a problem. All you need to do is set up an intranet system, and you can save a lot of money by installing VoIP for your internal communications.

To get the best results, however, you will need to use quality devices. Companies like 3Com, Cisco Systems, Lucent Technologies, Motorola, NetSpeak and Nortel all have the right components to build your VoIP system. However, in addition, you will really need a good infrastructure -- fiber optic network, microwave links, etc. -- for a good VoIP-based communication network.

This is why choosing the right infrastructure provider is of paramount importance: unless the infrastructure is capable of providing a fast data rate, your voice will keep stopping and going in short bursts -- much like Jakarta traffic on a Friday afternoon. -- Zatni Arbi