Voice Networking

Voice networking in the enterprise today has two faces: the traditional phone service (often PBX-based) that we all know so well, and a technology that's quickly moving out of the avant garde and into the mainstream: IP telephony, better known as voice over IP (VoIP).

Private Branch Exchange (PBX)
The pair of copper wires (or loop) that connects your standard phone to the nearest source of a dial tone leads one of two places: a phone company central office or your company's private branch exchange (PBX).

In fact, once they've reached a certain size, most businesses use a PBX for internal switching on site and to provide a direct connection to local and long distance carriers. The premise is that by managing the phone traffic within a building or campus more efficiently, a PBX will simplify the company's phone system and reduce its costs.

Voice over IP (VoIP)
Voice over IP — voice communications delivered via the Internet Protocol — sends voice information digitally in discrete packets rather than using the dedicated circuit-switched protocols of the public switched telephone network (PSTN). One big advantage of this is that it bypasses the toll structure of conventional phone service. More generally, because it uses digital information sent over data networks, VoIP offers the same efficiencies, conveniences, and opportunities for integration as other IP-based digital technologies — such as email, directory services, and the web.

VoIP leverages existing IP networks to support voice communications across the LAN and WAN, enabling businesses to connect a globally distributed workforce — from overseas sales offices to telecommuting executives — with a unified, cost-efficient phone system.

Learn more about VoIP.