#Free voip software for pc free

Landlines are mapped to a physical location maintained by the respective telephone company, while most developed countries require mobile providers to map the cell phones device to a location using GPS or equivalent locating services. Landlines and more recently mobile phones are able to be mapped to a physical location for use by emergency responders when an individual places an emergency phone call. Due to number portability requirements however, VoIP service providers must verify what the actual phone network the phone number is being hosted on first before routing a phone call (in the past the carrier prefix part of the phone number could be used). Most VoIP services rely on a LCR (Least Cost Routing) system to attempts to route phone calls via the network path that will “cost” the user the least.

The requirement for guaranteeing number portability adds complexity to VoIP phone calls. All major carriers are required to maintain these porting references to ensure compliance with the FCC mandate. The number will be maintained for a given timeframe with the old carrier and quickly reroute calls to the number to the new phone carrier.

The traditional process to fulfill number portability requirements is for the previous or old carrier to maintain a database of phone numbers and to map the consumer’s number to the new carrier. In the mid-2000s (2007), in the United States, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) issued direction requiring VoIP service providers to support the right of consumers to keep a phone number when shifting to a new phone carrier. Mobile number portability (MNP) and Local number portability (LNP) regulations in the United States and other developed countries also affect companies that provide VoIP services. Depending on the available bandwidth, some VoIP implementations rely on reduced network bandwidth and prioritize the appropriate options within the telephony system to maximize the quality of the phone calls or other services leveraged by the service. The audio and video codecs employed optimize the media stream depending on the specific application requirements of the VoIP service and available network bandwidth. The audio stream of phone calls and video messaging sessions are transported over an IP network using specially designed media delivery protocols which use audio and video codecs to encode audio, voice, and video streams with streaming media. A VoIP setup or system uses session control and signaling protocols to manipulate the phone call signaling, initial set-up, and the breaking down (or tear down) of phone calls. Once the information from the phone call is encoded it is transmitted via IP (Internet Protocol) packet via the Internet. Placing a phone call requires signaling, digitizing an analog voice signal, channel setup, and encoding information on the network. The principles of making a traditional phone call on a VoIP network as compared to the traditional PSTN are very similar.

#Free voip software for pc free

As VoIP has become more popular, a common need for small businesses and individual computer users is finding free VoIP software that does not cost a monthly or annual fee. Providing communications services such as voice calls, SMS/MMS text messages, fax, and voice messaging, the services use the Internet to transport all communications data vice the PSTN (publicly switched telephone network). Over the past decade, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technologies have seen widespread adoption across the world.