Internet telephony service provider

An Internet telephony service provider (ITSP) offers digital telecommunications services based on Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) that are provisioned via the Internet.

ITSPs provide services to end-users directly or as whole-sale suppliers to other ITSPs.

ITSPs use a variety of signaling and multimedia protocols, including the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), the Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP), Megaco, and the H.323 protocol. H.323 is one of the earliest VoIP protocols, but its use is declining and it is rarely used for consumer products.[1]

Retail customers of an ITSP may use traditional analog telephone sets attached to an analog telephony adapter (ATA) to connect to the service provider's network via a local area network, they may use an IP phone, or they may connect a private branch exchange (PBX) system to the service via media gateways.

ITSPs are also known as VSP (Voice Service Provider) or simply VoIP Providers.

History

In the United States, net2Phone began offering consumer VoIP service in 1995.[2]

Before 2003, many VoIP services required customers to make and receive phone calls through a personal computer.

See also

References

  1. ^ Southeren, Craig (January 2005). "Keynote speech, Free Software/Open Source Telephony Summit". http://www.voxgratia.org/docs/geilenkirchen_2005_keynote_speech.html. Retrieved 2009-01-23. 
  2. ^ "Timeline". http://web.net2phone.com/about/company/timeline.asp. Retrieved 2008-09-25. "November 1995 Announces Plans to Release First PC-to-Phone Technology"