VoIP

Wednesday, Aug 17th, was our last class and the night that we gave our final presentations. I chose to give mine on Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and why it had huge future potential as an e-business. Since we were short on time, I decided to provide links here to some of the questions I was being asked after I presented.

VoIP general FAQ (Wikipedia): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VoIP

How about Skype? Skype is a free VoIP service that you can use to talk to anyone anywhere: http://www.skype.com/

What about 911 calls? I heard VoIP still can’t handle them yet. This is partially true, because of the portability of VoIP systems, 911 calls can be hard to route since VoIP doesn’t necessarily use traditional phone syatems. Some providers simply can’t do it but there is a federal mandate that all VoIP providers make enhanced 911 services avail by Nov. 28. Interesting article on the subject: http://news.com.com/FAQ+Why+the+FCC+is+targeting+VoIP+911+calls/2100-7352_3-5712788.html

Since VoIP works over the internet is their a problem with SPAM? Great question – yes: http://www.tomshardware.com/hardnews/20041007_122306.html

Can VoIP calls be traced for police reasons? Another great question - not yet; BUT the federal government is funding a tapping research project to develop a prototype surveillance tool created by George Mason University: http://news.com.com/2100-7348_3-5825932.html

Article about California government shifting to VoIP to save cash: http://www.linuxworld.com.au/index.php/id;804074535;fp;4;fpid;4