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The Evolution and History of Internet Telephony Internet Telephony has been around for awhile, but its use was very limited prior to 1995. It was mostly only used by people who liked to use the technology as a hobby. However in 1995, the first internet phone was released by a company called VocalTec. Internet Telephony has been around for awhile, but its use was very limited prior to 1995. It was mostly only used by people who liked to use the technology as a hobby. However in 1995, the first internet phone was released by a company called VocalTec. When internet telephony first began, it was limited to PC to PC use. the required that both users had the software on their computers including that both computers were connected to the internet. Both computers additionally had to have sound cards, microphones including headphones. You could only to speak to someone who was using a computer. the was because internet phones utilized packet-switched networks including regular phone lines utilized circuit-switched networks. At the time, the technology to connect these 2 networks was not available, which made it impossible for a PC to call a regular telephone number. PC to PC calls still were quite popular, especially as instant messaging programs became commonplace. Chat rooms with voice capabilities were added, including many people began using their computer to talk to their friends instead of utilizing a traditional telephone. The problem was that although you could talk to anyone with a computer, you could not use your internet phone to speak to people who had a regular telephone line. You additionally had to utilize a headset including a microphone in order to talk to anyone, including many people found the cumbersome. The solution came at the time VoIP phone service was introduced. the new technology allowed users to utilize a regular telephone to make phone calls. The telephone was connected a router which then used high speed internet connections to transfer the voice signals. Once your system was set up, there is virtually absolutely no difference between your internet phone service including a traditional phone line. In fact, the only real difference comes from the price. Companies such as Vonage provide great packages which allow you to make inexpensive calls, even at the time do a lot of international calling. They usually provide call waiting, call forwarding including caller ID for free. The popularity of these services continues to grow, including advancements are constantly being made. Work is being done to improve the ability for the phone lines to identify locations for 911 calls including to improve the quality pertaining to the voice transmissions. However, many people use these services now because they find they should actually save dollars over traditional phone services. Internet telephony has come a long way from its beginning including the technology could undoubtedly continue to improve.
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