voip

Voice over Internet Protocol has been a subject of interest almost since the first computer network. By 1973, voice was being transmitted over the early Internet.[1] The technology for transmitting voice conversations over the internet has been available to end-users since at least the early 1980's. In 1996, a shrink-wrapped software product called Vocaltec Internet Phone Release 4 provided VoIP, along with extra features such as voice mail and caller id. However, it did not offer a gateway to the analog POTS, so it was only possible to speak to other Vocaltec Internet Phone users.[2] In 1997, Level 3 began development of its first softswitch (a term they invented in 1998); softswitches were designed to replace a traditional hardware switchboards by serving as the gateway between two telephone networks.[3]