VOIP technology makes more efficient use of telecommunications resources--meaning that the technology would save money for phone companies and, ultimately, consumers.
Currently, telecommunications companies around the world maintain two separate networks--the Internet for data, and the telephone network, sometimes called the "Public Switched Telephone Network" (PSTN), for voice calls.
These networks work very differently.
The PSTN--used for phone calls today--makes a direct connection between a user and a caller.
A large portion of bandwidth is reserved for that phone call--irrespective of what you are saying or how fast you say it. If you were to leave the phone off the hook and not speak at all, the telephone network would dutifully transmit the sounds of silence.
In the Internet age, this method is grossly inefficient.
With VOIP, telecommunications companies can break down your voice into packets of digital data and then transmit them over the Internet. Using compression technology, VOIP telephone calls require eight times less network resources to complete a call.
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