The Evolution of Telephone Service:
From Telegraph to VoIP in FOUR MINUTES or Less
In 1870, Alexander Graham Bell beat Elisha Gray to the patent office by just hours,
with his device that could transmit speech electronically. Bell had been experimenting
with electrical signals to improve the telegraph machine, which was able to transmit
only the series of dots and dashes used in Morse code, when he made his telephonic
discovery. Thus was born the telephone.
In 1877, construction of the first regular telephone line from Boston to Somerville,
Massachusetts, was completed. The first switchboard was set up in Boston in 1877.
By the end of 1880, there were 47,900 telephones in the United States. Telephone
connections between New York and Chicago started in 1892, and between New York and
Boston in 1894. Transcontinental service by overhead wire was inaugurated in 1915.
However, such days of "string and can" communications are far behind us, with new
telephonic technology evolving each day. In the 1990's researchers took a serious
interest in carrying voice and video over IP networks, especially corporate intranets
and the Internet. This technology is commonly referred to as Voice Over Internet
Protocol or "VoIP." In simple terms, VoIP involves the breaking up of audio and
video signals into small "chunks," transmitting those chunks over an IP network,
and reassembling them at the receiving end so that two people can communicate using
both audio and video.
With VoIP, for the first time in more than 100 years significant change in the way
that people communicate is brought about. In addition to being able to use telephones
to communicate in real-time, VoIP enables the use of pure IP-based phones, including
desktop and wireless phones and videophones, much like those formerly seen only
in science fiction movies.
VoIP also provides the ability to integrate a stand-alone telephone or videophone
with a personal computer. Using a softphone or headset, the computer becomes a tool
for voice and video communication, and it can provide data conferencing functions,
like application sharing, electronic white-boarding, and text chat.
VoIP also enables the ability to use a single high-speed Internet connection for
all voice, video, and data communications. By using a single data network for all
communications, it is possible to reduce the overall maintenance and deployment
costs. The benefit for both home and corporate customers is that they now have the
opportunity to choose from a much larger selection of service providers to provide
voice and video communication services. Since the VoIP service provider can be located
virtually anywhere in the world, a person with Internet access is no longer geographically
restricted in their selection of service providers and thus is no longer bound to
their Internet access provider.
In short, VoIP enables people to communicate in more ways, with more choices.
ATEL Communications has been proudly serving San Diego County since 1985 and is
an industry leader in all aspects of telecommunications, complete IT services, and
VoIP technology.
Contact us now to learn more about VoIP and how it can benefit you and your
company. This month's special offer is a Plantronics wireless headset.
Savi Office
Using VoIP is no reason to rely on substandard PC audio. Welcome to Savi Office,
a single, wireless headset system that transforms PC audio into quality sound. The
powerful Savi Office bridges traditional telephony and PC audio by delivering outstanding
sound quality and call management, which significantly improves and simplifies collaboration.
In addition to outstanding audio quality, Savi Office is backed by global customer
service & support and a one-year warranty.
From May 1 through July 31, 2010, you can add call answer/end functionality for
FREE!
Contact ATEL Now!
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WO100 Convertible Style
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WO200 Over-the-Ear Style
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WO350 Over-the-Head Style
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