Important Emerging Trends

One of the most important emerging trends at the minute seems to be Voice over IP and IP Telephony. We discussed in class the various advantages this service could provide if fully realised. So it was not surprising when I found this web page on the subject. I have summerised as follows. Please read.
Voice over IP (VoIP), the convergence of voice over packet-switched IP data networks, and IP Telephony are amongst the most important emerging trends in telecommunications. The business case for implementing VoIP or IPT will inevitably include such business benefits as increased functionality, ACD, CTI and extension mobility whilst cost savings may be found in reduced on-net call costs and lower costs associated with moves, adds and changes. However, once inherent start-up costs are considered, it can be challenging to build a business case based entirely on cost especially for companies currently with a private internal network or having an install base that is not fully depreciated.
Implementing VoIP requires attention to many factors including: available bandwidth, Qos/Cos policies, manageability, scalability, functionality requirements, availability (including survivable remote solutions for branch office networks), performance and security. Integration is another key consideration as, inevitably, large enterprise telephony environments often feature heterogeneous, multi-vendor networks with disparate devices deployed for the distinctive needs of their large and small sites.
Business deployment can be hindered by the lower quality of voice over IP.
Voice quality is a subjective topic and the definition of ‘good’ voice quality varies greatly with business needs and user expectations. Whilst lower delay, packet loss and jitter values produce the best voice quality the trade off may come in the form of increased costs associated with network infrastructure upgrades. There is also a trade off between real world limits and acceptable voice quality. Indeed some limits lie beyond easy control (such as the inherent fixed delay between geographically remote sites, for example between the UK and India).

Here is a link to the full article

My Top 10 list of free downloads sites.

Everyone likes to get something for nothing. So here's my top ten list of free download sites. You will find something that you like- completely free!!!

1. www.download.com


2. www.fileplanet.com


3. www.majorgeeks.com


4. www.addictive247.co.uk


5. www.freeserifsoftware.com


6. www.freeukstuff.com


7. www.zdnet.com


8. www.freewareandstuff.com


9. www.tucows.com


10. www.fontvillage.com

Course round-up

So far the course is interesting and I'm learning a lot from it. For example, have a look at my Online C.V. and let me know what you think (click on the link). I know the web page is very basic, but it is my very first attempt at web design, something I never thought of ever doing. I plan to add to it as I learn more. So you never know, it could could all "singing and dancing" after a while. I am learning about the different protocols used in networking and their encoding. Also I have learned a bit about MPEG encoding, something I want to go into a little deeper. WHY IS THERE SO MANY CODEC's?
Our next lecture touches on peer to peer networking (file sharing) As I am interested in BiT-Torrent, (A form of file sharing, used mainly in sharing movies. Also see my links). this should be interesting.
Also, part of the lectures are videos on various topics on networking and the internet. These form a very important part of the course and I feel link the course to the "REAL WORLD". One of the video's was about "911", the World Trade Center disaster and how it affected the public telephone network. One of the buildings destroyed beside the World Trade Center contained one of the biggest public telephone switching nodes in America and all traffic had to be routed away from it. As was shown in the video, cables were even temporaly put through the office window of one building and into the window of another building across the street. It was truely was a feat of engineering. It also showed, how in times of crisis how much traffic increases on the public telephone network, with everyone desparate for information and how this was dealt with. Many people also started their own web sites, to list people that survived. It makes you think how much we depend on information.

Good Bye Dial-up!!!

100% ADSL coverage in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland became the first UK region, outside of London, to have every one of its exchanges enabled for broadband. The announcement was made by BT Northern Ireland in association with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) and the Building Sustainable Prosperity programme.