When talking about VoIP, quite a jargon is used often and for those who are far from being technical geeks, this imposes certain difficulties to understand what the buzz is about. That is why we’ve decided to provide you with this brief overview of the terminology you may come across when reading about VoIP.

VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) – this is actually the technology which allow us to make calls over the Internet.

ATA (Analog Telephone Adaptor) – this is a special device which is used by the VoIP service providers to decode telephone signals for the successful transmission over the Internet.

Codec – this is the algorithm to compress and decompress data used to make calls in VoIP.

PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) – this is the usual telephone system based on a landline.

QoS (Quality of Service) – this term describes the quality of the system used to transmit data. This is usually used to somehow demonstrate the level of the quality, i.e. if there is any delay in the transmission of the annoying echo.

SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) – this is a special application layer protocol to successfully manage sessions of communication.

VoIP Phone - this is a customized device which is completely identical to any usual telephone and connects to the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network), but additionally equipped with an Ethernet port thus being able to connect to a TCP/IP network, i.e. your local office network.

We really hope this brief glossary will help you in the nearest future when you will be reading articles about VoIP. Of course, there are far more terms to be uncovered for you but this set provides with the basics which are crucial for further better understanding of the technology.