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Voice over IP refers to telephony that transmits live voice communications over a network utilizing IP standards. A primary attraction of Voice over IP is its ability to help reduce expenses due to the fact that telephone conversations travel across the data connection instead of the phone company's services. IP telephony encompasses the entire range of Voice over IP enabled functions such as the interfacing of phones for communications; associated services such as billing and dialing plans; and basic capabilities including conferencing, transfer, forward, and hold. These features might previously provided by a PBX.

VoIP is the natural starting point for more advanced unified communications applications. Cisco's Unified Communications portfolio of voice, image, mobility, and Internet Protocol communications offerings provides the tools for creating a centralized cohesive system that can manage voice, video, and data traffic concurrently. Cisco's solution allows this functionality while maintaining a high level of network availability, Quality of Service , and security. Important advantages of Cisco's telephony technologies include:

• A versatile, interoperable migration strategy that enables you to choose IP Communications products that handle your existing need, while offering a smooth path for accelerating IP deployment
• QoS technologies that help ensure excellent voice quality through strict management of latency, drop out, and distortion
• Network management products that facilitate system administration, operations, repair, setup, problem monitoring, and element management

The architecture of Cisco's IP Telephony platform consists of communications endpoints, call-processing agents, and IP telephony applications.

Communications Endpoints
A call endpoint is a customer device, and can be a desktop phone or a soft phone program that runs on a PC. In the Internet Protocol world, each phone is Ethernet connected. IP phones offer all of the functions that a conventional telephone provides. Voice over IP phones often have extra functions including the ability to connect to the web or run useful software. Cisco Unified IP phones include Cisco's 24-button Unified IP Phone 7931G, the Cisco Wireless IP Phone 7921G, and Cisco's IP Phone 7985G desktop video phone.

In a Cisco IP communications network, you can also choose the Cisco IP Communicator product, a PC--based phone. When using the Cisco IP Communicator remotely, you carry your office extensions wherever you go and also have available the same phone services you use at your desk. System administrators can set up Cisco IP Communicator the way they would any other Cisco IP Phone, significantly streamlining IP telephony management.

In contrast to ordinary Private Branch Exchange technology, in a Cisco IP Telephony network you can implement almost instant relocations, adds, and changes. You simply move the VoIP handset to its new spot, plug it into an Ethernet connection, and the IP phone registers itself with Cisco Communications Manager. All user permissions and settings are programmatically re-established, eliminating the expense and delay of sending support personnel to rewire connections. An additional useful feature is extension mobility, which allows you to log into any Cisco IP device and receive your personal phone number and rights.

Centralized and Remote Call-processing Agents
Cisco's call-processing agent is the heart of Cisco's IP Telephony system. To address your business requirements you can choose to install a centralized call-processing design, a decentralized model, or a combination of both. In a centralized deployment, Cisco Communications Manager extends corporate telephony capabilities to packet telephony network devices such as VoIP handsets, media processing devices, Voice over IP gateways, and multimedia applications across the network. Cisco Communications Manager enables additional voice, video, and data functions including unified messaging, video conferencing, and collaborative customer communication networks.

When a centralized Cisco Communications Manager cluster also handles call processing for users at distributed locations, IT managers can help ensure non-stop call service using Cisco Survivable Remote Site Telephony (SRST), a Cisco IOS Software image for Cisco routers. If a WAN link breaks, Cisco SRST in the router offers core Communications Manager services until the connection is repaired.

For small networks or loosely coupled small enterprise branch locations that do not need the complete, enterprise-class feature set available from Communications Manager, Unified Communications Manager Express, formerly CallManager Express, offers a budget-friendly alternative that meets the needs of locations with up to 240 workers. Because Unified Communications Manager Express is built into the IOS Software running on a Cisco multiservice access router, smaller offices can quickly and easily deploy a combined voice and data solution.

IP Telephony Applications
Under Cisco's Unified Communications architecture, Internet Protocol phone applications are physically separate from the call-processing and voice-processing mechanism, and they may reside anywhere within the system. A cohesive connectivity infrastructure offers a versatile environment for feature-rich applications, and serves as a firm foundation for future convergence-based applications.

Cisco cooperates with key technology partners to offer a broad selection of third-party Internet Protocol telephony applications and devices. Cisco also supports the capability to create and manage specialized programs.

Cisco's Unity Connection Services for Unified Messaging
The Cisco Unity system delivers advanced voicemail plus unified messaging functions that seamlessly operate with Exchange, Domino, and Groupwise. Cisco Unity expands to meet the requirements of large enterprise organizations and offers powerful migration tools and a wide array of efficiency enhancing features.

Cisco's Unity product portfolio works with both Cisco Communications Manager and leading PBX products to allow your organization to move up to Internet Protocol telephony at your own pace and preserve your existing network investments. Cisco's product suite also offers several networking adapters that allow advanced message exchange with popular voice-mail products. When you are upgrading to the Cisco Unity solution, these network modules promote a seamless migration by giving you the capability to exchange messages with internal users who reside on a different messaging platform.

Unity Connection combines unified messaging, voice recognition, and call transfer rules into an easy-to-manage system for medium-sized organizations with as many as 3K workers. For businesses with 500 or fewer users, Cisco Unity Connection is offered as a one-server solution with Unified Communications Manager Business Edition.

Cisco Unity Connection is a feature-rich solution built on an architecture that is straightforward to deploy and support. With Cisco Unity Connection users can retrieve voice messages via Cisco Unified Personal Communicator, utilize the display on their Cisco Unified IP handset to view, find, and file voice mail. and even use the voice recognition capability of Cisco Unity Connection to access and attend Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Express meetings. Unity Connection also offers resilient automated attendant functions such as intelligent call switching and easily customizable call screen and message alert selections.

Unity Express, available in certain Cisco IS routers, provides affordable voicemail, unified messaging, IVR, and automated-attendant functions for small to medium businesses (SMBs) and corporate satellite locations with as many as 250 workers.

How Progent's Engineers Can Help You with Cisco's Voice over IP Telephony Technology
Progent can give you access to a Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) or Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) to assist you to install and maintain Cisco IP telephony solutions. Progent's programmers can create specialized IP telephony software that will enable your business to incorporate the features of Cisco Unified Communications Manager into your business operations for enhanced efficiency. Progent can audit your existing network and Internet connectivity architecture to determine whether your system is configured to support Voice over IP, assist you to select and integrate Cisco hardware and software that make sense for your present situation and future growth plans, and interface your Cisco Voice over IP products with products from other suppliers.

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