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Many may be surprised to read this but voice was actually successfully transmitted over the Internet since 1973. But it wasn't until 1995 that VoIP gained prominence. A company by the name of Vocaltec released a primitive version of VoIP technology. VoIP stands for voice over IP. When the technology was first launched, it enjoyed moderate success. The company went on to become a public listed firm in 1996. Back then, Skype was still not available. The problem with VoIP technology back in those days was that the Internet was still not as widely adopted as today, and there was a lack of bandwidth. Most home users were still using a dial up modem to connect to the Internet. And we are all familiar with the problems associated with a modem internet connection. As the internet connection was slow and often get disconnected, consumers find it hard to use VoIP technology to make calls. When a VoIP call is made, voice is converted into digital audio and transmitted over the internet to the other party. When bandwidth is lacking, there is a bottle neck and both parties will experience a delay in voice transmission. For this reason, it takes a few years before VoIP starts to take off. 1998 saw VoIP receiving widespread recognition from major network equipment manufacturers such as Cisco and Lucent. By then, VoIP traffic had grown to represent 1% of all voice traffic in the United States. Seeing a bright future for VoIP technology, entrepreneurs were jumping on the band wagon - new equipment and software applications were launched. As noted earlier, the major challenge that VoIP technology faced was bandwidth. By 2005, broadband internet access had become widely available, and had successfully found its way into most home users. In addition, many of the digital voice compression and quality issues have been dealt with. Today, you can make a VoIP call without having to worry about disconnection or voice delays. The future has never looked brighter for the entire VoIP industry. Revenues for VoIP equipment passed the 3 billion dollar mark in 2005. Experts anticipate revenues to more than double by year 2008. VoIP has enabled internet phone service providers to offer features at zero or very low cost. As a result, the VoIP industry has been able to grow at a phenomenal rate as consumers and businesses find it easy and practical to adopt this technology. With bandwidth out of the way, VoIP developers have been coming up with new and exciting features. In fact, it's already possible to conduct video conferences using VoIP technology. Internet phone services are testing the infrastructure in the homes of VIPs. Consumers should not have to wait long before the technology is released to the public. For sure, the VoIP industry looks set to enjoy a few more years of record breaking revenues.
For more information on internet phone, please visit Callcentric website.
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