What is Words-to-Go: Voice over IP? - Definition from Whatis.com

Definition

Words-to-Go: Voice over IP

Internet Protocol (IP) - method or protocol by which data is sent from one computer to another on the Internet. Each computer (known as a host) on the Internet has at least one IP address that uniquely identifies it from all other computers on the Internet.

Voice over IP (VoIP) - term used in IP telephony for a set of facilities for managing the delivery of voice information using the Internet Protocol (IP).

IP telephony (Internet Protocol telephony) - general term for the technologies

that use the Internet Protocol's packet-switched connections to exchange voice, fax, and other forms of information that have traditionally been carried over the dedicated circuit-switched connections of the public switched telephone network (PSTN).

latency - an expression of how much time it takes for a packet of data to get from one designated point to another.

public switched telephone network (PSTN) - the world's collection of interconnected voice-oriented public telephone networks, both commercial and government-owned. Also referred to as the Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS).

jitter - variations in packet arrival time.

Differentiated Services - protocol for specifying and controlling network traffic by class so that certain types of traffic get precedence - for example, voice traffic, which requires a relatively uninterrupted flow of data, might get precedence over other kinds of traffic. Also known as DiffServ or DS.

dynamic jitter buffer - shared data area where voice packets can be collected, stored, and sent to the voice processor in evenly spaced intervals.

This was last updated in June 2003

Dig Deeper

Do you have something to add to this definition? Let us know.

Send your comments to techterms@whatis.com