Business VoIP – A guide to VoIP gateways

A guide to VoIP gateways

The VoIP solution is being heralded as the next big thing in the telecommunications industry and all businesses are eager to see what kind of benefits, in terms of cost savings and increased employee productivity, a VoIP based network can bring. There has been a mushrooming of Business VoIP Service providers that provides various VoIP services to small and medium businesses as well as large enterprises. One of the key elements of the VoIP business is a simple but practical device known as a VoIP gateway.

A VoIP gateway is a network device that translates voice calls as well as fax calls into digital data and back, between the more familiar public switched telephone network (PSTN) and an IP network. In other words, the VoIP gateway makes it possible for a data network to be able to handle voice and voice-related applications. The main functions of a VoIP gateway are of course voice and fax compression and decompression but it also handles call routing as well as control signaling. A VoIP gateway is thus an integral part of the VoIP solution.

What does a VoIP gateway do?

A VoIP gateway has two main purposes:

1. To allow calls to be made or received on traditional lines through VoIP:-
   This part of the VoIP solution transforms the incoming PSTN lines into VoIP, which then allows for calls to be received or placed on the traditional phone network through the VoIP system in your business. However, most VoIP businesses always advise that a traditional phone line be maintained, to be used for emergency purposes.

2. To allow calls to be made using VoIP:-
   This part of the VoIP solution simply connects a standard PBX to the IP network which then allows for calls to be made via VoIP – usually calls can be made through the VoIP service provider by routing them through the internet. This allows for reduction in call costs especially for companies which have multiple offices and which have a large volume of inter office calls.

What are the types of VoIP gateways?

If you look at the design of a VoIP gateway, you will find that it typically has an interface from where you can connect to the IP network and one or more ports where you could connect one or more phone lines. As traditional phone lines could be analog or digital, VoIP gateway units are available in two types:

1. Analog units:-
   As the name indicates, traditional analog telephone lines are connected to this unit. Typically about 2-24 such phone lines can be connected to an analog unit.

2. Digital units:-
   Similar to the analog unit, digital units are used for digital lines. Depending on what part of the world you are in and the kind of digital line you possess, you could connect one or more of those lines e.g.  T1 lines in the USA.

There are also two forms in which VoIP gateways are available:

1. External Units:-
   A large majority of VoIP gateways are external units. These are essentially hardware-based devices and are made available as stand-alone boxes. They could also be sold in the form of chassis cards or modules.

2. Software:-
   Offering a way out for large enterprises that already have a PBX system installed, these VoIP gateways are software-based. They can typically be installed on pre-existing infrastructure or even on a server, which has been set up to run other services, and are less expensive than the external units.

A VoIP gateway today forms a central though complex component of most services offered by VoIP businesses.

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