A new voice frontier: Internet protocol redefines limits of communication.

• Author: Marks, Susan J.
• Position: Product Announcement

MOVE OVER MA BELL, SIBLINGS, LOOKALIKES AND WANNABES. THAT NEW KID ON THE BLOCK -- IP TELEPHONY -- IS CHANGING THE FACE OF TELEPHONE SERVICE.

New and developing Internet Protocol technologies enable voice integration with data systems in ways that have not been possible before, says Darwei Kung, director of IP voice product management for Broomfield-based Level 3 Communications Inc. IP telephony is the delivery of voice telephone services across the same wires that carry data traffic. IP telephony makes it possible to:

* Retrieve and respond to e-mail via telephone.

* Automatically route calls to pre-set locations without the cost of call forwarding.

* Integrate e-mail contact lists with the telephone.

* Combine a Web site with voice communications in a click-to-talk call-center application.

Adding to the benefits of IP telephony itself are substantial cost savings on long distance calls, especially international ones, and the efficiencies that come with an integrated network. With IP telephony, data or voice transmissions are converted into packets of information that travel across the network -- whether it is the public Internet, private data networks (referred to as Intranets), or a combination of both. Unlike traditional phone service, those packets do not require a dedicated, open circuit end-to-end, thus enabling more efficient use of bandwidth and network capacity

Even Independent Local Exchange Carriers, including Denver-based Qwest Communications International Inc., have embraced the technology, the use of which often is transparent to users.

Already a "substantial portion" of Qwest's interstate, out-of-region calls at some point go across the carrier's voice-over Internet protocol (VoIP) network, says Tim Jasionowski, director of IP product incubation and strategy for Qwest. These calls enter the network as traditional voice calls, then are converted to IP to traverse the core of the network, then convert back to traditional voice before being handed off to the receiver.

Already billions of minutes of telephone time are generated globally that take advantage of these technologies. Consider these facts:

* Approximately 5 percent, or 3.714 billion minutes, of all international voice traffic utilizes VoIP, according to published estimates. That is up from only 1.7 billion minutes or 1.6 percent in 1999

* Top destinations for international VoIP calls are Mexico, China and Russia.

* Retail IP telephony revenues are expected to hit...