What Exactly Is a VoIP Gateway?
VoIP gateways act as VoIP network translators and mediators, translating telephone calls that are placed through the 'normal' telephone services into digital data packets that are compatible with a service providers VoIP system. They can also help direct VoIP calls to specific users, as well as being able to translate between different VoIP protocols which enables compatibility between VoIP systems and devices. Because of all of these benefits it is easy to see why VoIP gateways are highly recommended for any VoIP service.
Since VoIP technology is becoming ever more popular, VoIP gateway customers have a lot of products available. Leading gateway vendors include Cisco Systems, Nortel Networks and Mediatrex Telecom.
Hardware and Software
VoIP gateways can either be hardware or software based. Hardware based VoIP gateways are available as a stand alone box and are more expensive than software based ones because they are viewed as more reliable and do not consume computer power.
Markets
Buyers of VoIP gateways can select from products that offer numerous phone, fax machine, PBX and STN support capabilities.
At the lower end of the market, a basic VoIP gateway comes with a phone jack, Ethernet router and firewall can be purchased for under $200. This type of device can offer three ports; one for a telephone jack, one for a broadband modem or router and one for a computer or network device. They are suitable for a home or a small office.
A mid level gateway, from $400 to $2000 offers additional interfaces and features such as security capabilities like encryption and network voice compression.
At the higher end of the market are VoIP gateways that cost several thousand dollars and are widely used by telephone carriers and large companies. They support thousands of channels for advanced voice services, such as IVR – Interactive Voice Response – that allows callers to select an option from a voice menu. Other advances features are voice recording and conference calls.
Enhancements
There are new features and functions for VoIP gateways being built all of the time, such as support for emerging VoIP standards and faster translations. Many of these improvements are software based and therefore can be sent to customers very quickly and cheaper in the form of a software upgrade.
The future sees VoIP gateways customers getting more products and enhanced features, which will allows VoIP networks to build, expand and upgrade their networks and provide better quality and even more inexpensive calls.
