As a companion to our ongoing series on broadband telephony now is probably a good time to double check on some of the techie terms that you may bump into.
Below are some of the more common phrases for now. A comprehensive glossary will be drawn up at the end of our in-depth examination of VoIP for the small to micro-sized business.
ADSL Router with VoIP - Many new ADSL routers come VoIP-ready enabling users to plug in a normal telephone. It can also signify that the router allows SIP traffic through their built in firewall
Ethernet router - Usually required for hardware VoIP
IP address - The unique Internet Protocol address assigned to each internet- connected computer
IP phone – Handset designed specifically for use with VoIP that plugs into the computer network rather than a traditional phone socket
Non geographic number – A phone number that is not specific to a particular part of the country, e.g. 01463 denoting Inverness. Numbers starting 08, 07 and 05 are non geographic and also known as portable as they can be used anywhere and follow the owner
PSTN - PSTN stands for the Public Switched Telephone Network. What we more familiarly know as the BT network. Also known as POTS, Plain Old Telephone System
QoS - Quality of Service
SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) – Signalling standard used by VoIP
Softphone - A software-based ‘phone’ represented as a graphic interface on a computer used in conjunction with a microphone headset
SPIT - Spam over Internet Telephony, a VoIP spammer
Telephone adapter - A plug in device used to convert analogue voice signals from a standard handset into digital signals for transmission over VoIP
VoIP - Voice over Internet Protocol, routing voice calls over a broadband connection
