VoIP Key Terms

Use VoIP key terms to improve your company's telecommunication services

VoIP is an acronym that stands for Voice over Internet Protocol. It's a general term that represents a host of communication technologies. Some of the technologies within this family are Internet and IP telephony, voice over broadband and broadband phone. If you can learn the basic terms that refer to this technology, it'll make telecommunications purchase decisions much easier.

 

Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP

Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP is the use of a broadband Internet line instead of a phone to make phone calls. Some of the Voice over Internet Protocol services will only let you call phones that use the same technology, while others will allow you to call any number, no matter what the technology.
Try: Review the Voice over Internet Protocol tutorial available at the Federal Communications Commission.

North American Numbering Plan or NANP

The North American Numbering Plan is the distribution plan for numbers that includes 19 different countries. When you install a VoIP system, each terminal will need a number assignment using this system.
Try: Evaluate the North American Numbering Plan tutorial available at NeuStar.

IP phone

An IP or Internet Protocol phone is one that converts the data packets from the computer into voice communication and vice versa depending on the directional flow of the data.
Try: Use the IP phone definition from PC Magazine for more details on the term.

IP address

The IP or Internet Protocol address is similar to a phone number, but for a computer location. In essence, it is the numerical address of the device located on a computer network.
Try: Assess the IP address definition at the Tech Terms website.

IP telephony

IP telephony is another term for Voice over Internet Protocol. The only difference between the two is that VoIP has come to represent multiple terms and IP telephony represents making calls over an Internet enabled phone.
Try: Analyze the IP telephony summary available at Fierce VoIP.

Compression technology

Compression is the technology that enables voice to travel over Internet communication lines. It compresses the data into a transferable file that's small enough as to not consume too much Internet bandwidth.
Try: Scroll down the tech glossary page at Quick Start VoIP for further information on compression technology.

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