Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

You Don't Know Jack about VoIP

Posted by michael on from the single-purpose-phone-lines-so-old-skool dept.

gManZboy writes "Phil Sherburne and Cary Fitzgerald, two senior technologists over at Cisco, have written an in-depth overview of VoIP for developers and the like (not for everyone who's ever used a phone). Like Queue's earlier You Don't Know Jack about Disks, this article covers the history, the basic technologies, how they work, and where they're headed. If you found the blog post yesterday lacking, check this one out."

6 of 113 comments (clear)

  1. Re:wheres the link:"you don't know jack about disk by grub · · Score: 5, Informative


    here you go

    --
    Trolling is a art,
  2. inevitable by scaaven · · Score: 5, Insightful

    voip will take over. Voice can be transmitted at such a low bandwidth, and all the cost to make a connection anywhere in the world is the cost of your ISP. I think they have them, but you need to have some sort of program always listening on a port from your IP, and transfer incoming calls to a usb connected phone that rings. Then you'd have all sorts of spam bots calling everyone's IP, so you'd have a list of approved incoming IP's or a numerical code that allows your call.

    --
    I know I'm going to be modded up on this
  3. Test your connection... by fiji · · Score: 5, Informative

    Before you waste time trying to get VoIP (or paying for VoIP from a provider) going it is worth testing your connection to see if it can support VoIP calls at a reasonable quality. You might want to test your line at various times during the day... I get crappier calls in the evening.

    Anyway, http://testyourvoip.com/ provides a decent free testing serice just using a web browser.

    -ben

    1. Re:Test your connection... by Nos. · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Some other things to think about before switching completely over to VOIP... what happens during a power outage? You're POTS line will still work, but your VOIP probably won't, unless you are providing backup power. Not to mention your *11 services (411, 611, 911) may or may not work depending on your service provider. Also, even if they do not connect you, they may not be able to locate you. One of the best feature of 911 is the ability to locate the source of an incoming call in case the caller is unable to speak.

  4. Oxymoron by StevenHenderson · · Score: 5, Funny
    have written an in-depth overview of VoIP

    This is a great statement to read while eating some jumbo shrimp.

  5. Maybe by paranode · · Score: 5, Insightful

    and all the cost to make a connection anywhere in the world is the cost of your ISP

    Unless you're one of the unlucky who has to use a DSL provider which requires you to pay for a landline to get said DSL service. Then you're stuck in a bit of a pickle. Hopefully that will change, I seem to remember hearing about laws regarding that problem.