VoIP phone
Interested in getting a VoIP phone? Schedule a demo with our team, and discover features that can improve your business communications.
Interested in getting a VoIP phone? Schedule a demo with our team, and discover features that can improve your business communications.
When someone asks “what is a VoIP phone?”, they’re probably imagining a specific piece of hardware. That fact is, however, that a VoIP phone—sometimes also known as an IP phone or internet-based phone—is any device that uses IP technology to transmit calls.
VoIP phones, therefore, can come either in the form of specialized digital hardware (like a desk phone) or a software program (running on a computer or mobile device) that performs the same functions. The latter is known as a softphone.
Whatever its ultimate nature and appearance, a VoIP telephone takes the sound you generate and converts it into packets of data. It then sends that data over the network and out through the internet. The phone on the other end decompresses the data and plays it back for the other person to hear.
From a user’s point of view, IP phones work no differently to traditional landlines or cell phones. The only difference is in the technology that drives them.
Voice over IP technology involves a set of different protocols working together to replicate telephony functions. Each protocol has a different function, but all work simultaneously in real time.
The next two protocols on our list are Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP). They’re the two primary types of transport protocols used for data transmission across the internet, and it’s worth taking a moment to think a little more deeply about what they do in relation to VoIP calls.
Data travels over the internet in packets, which are transmitted using the IP network. Imagine sending a letter: You need an envelope to make sure it is delivered to its destination untouched and without delay.
TCP and UDP are two kinds of envelopes you can use, and they both carry digital signals in the form of data packets. How does one differ from the other? Let’s find out.
In network terms, a port is a communication endpoint used by the transport protocol to facilitate the stream of information. Every single piece of data has a destination port associated with it, and this port is associated with a number to enable the server to sort traffic and deliver the data to the correct recipient.
Port numbers range from 0 to 65535. For VoIP traffic, the standard port is 5060, which is used for both TCP and UDP connections. Consider it the gateway for VoIP functions such as media streaming and video conferencing. Often, port 5004 UDP is preferred when transmitting packets of data within a computer network.
VoIP phone and communications providers use a variety of ports based on their specific product designs and requirements. They may also have a supplementary list of UDP ports for when they need to upgrade their products.
Apart from network ports, you may also need hardware ports in order to use complementary VoIP accessories. These can include headsets for devices not designed to be used like regular telephones and USB ports for USB phones.