More and more businesses today are having their phone service delivered to them through their Internet connection instead of the local phone company. This method of receiving service over the Internet is known as VoIP (an acronym for "Voice Over IP"). VoIP has become a viable solution and has piqued the interest of companies small and large. The primary reason for migrating to VoIP is cost, as it limits long-distance charges to the nominal cost of email--instead of the normal toll charges levied by traditional phone companies. Developed from real-world experience by a senior developer, O'Reilly's Switching to VoIP provides solutions for the most common VoIP migration challenges. So if you're a network professional who is migrating from a traditional telephony system to a modern, feature-rich network, this book is a must-have. You'll discover the difference between circuit-switched and packet-switched networks, how packet-switched voice systems impact network infrastructure, as well as solutions for common challenges involved with IP voice migrations.
Among the challenges discussed: user-technology cohesiveness; quality of service; scalability; topological considerations; applications; retro-interfacing to traditional telephony. To help you better grasp the core principles at work, Switching to VoIP uses a combination of strategy and "how-to" using Cisco internetworking devices, various makes of IP telephone equipment, and the Asterisk open source PBX software by Digium. If VoIP has got your attention, like so many others, then Switching to VoIP will help you build your own system, install it, and begin making calls. It's the only thing left between you and a more affordable corporate phone bill.