Telephony is the field of technology involving the development, application, and deployment of telecommunication services for the purpose of electronic transmission of voice, fax, or data, between distant parties. The history of telephony is intimately linked to the invention and development of the telephone.
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also called IP telephony, is a method and group of technologies for voice calls for the delivery of voice communication sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet.
The Skinny Client Control Protocol (SCCP) is a proprietary network terminal control protocol originally developed by Selsius Systems, which was acquired by Cisco Systems in 1998.
Vonage is an American cloud communications provider operating as a subsidiary of Ericsson. Headquartered in Holmdel Township, New Jersey, the organization was founded in 1998 as Min-X as a provider of residential telecommunications services based on voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). In 2001, the organization changed its name to Vonage.
A naked DSL, also known as standalone or dry loop DSL, is a digital subscriber line (DSL) without a PSTN service — or the associated dial tone. In other words, only a standalone DSL Internet service is provided on the local loop.
An Internet telephony service provider (ITSP) offers digital telecommunications services based on Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) that are provisioned via the Internet.
net2phone is a Cloud Communications provider offering cloud based telephony services to businesses worldwide. The company is a subsidiary of IDT Corporation.
VocalTec Communications Inc. is an Israeli telecom equipment provider. The company was founded in 1985 by Alon Cohen and Lior Haramaty, who patented the first Voice over IP audio transceiver. VocalTec has supplied major customers such as Deutsche Telekom, Telecom Italia, and many others.
Selsius Systems was a telecommunications company in Dallas, Texas that developed and marketed some of the first IP telephony gear. It was co-founded by Richard Platt and David Tucker. Selsius was incorporated in 1997 and acquired by Cisco Systems in November, 1998.
Sipura Technology, Inc. was a voice-over-IP (VoIP) startup company based in San Jose, California founded in 2003 with its siblings VideoCore and Komodo Technology, Inc. Sipura made VoIP telephone adapters including the Sipura Phone Adapter SPA2100, SPA3000, SPA9000, as well as SPA series IP phones, like the SPA941.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to telecommunication:
Jeff Pulver is an American Internet entrepreneur and futurist known for his work as an innovator in the field of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Pulver's early work in VoIP with his company Free World Dialup led to a significant regulatory decision by the Federal Communications Commission in 2004 which classified VoIP as an internet application, rather than as a telephony service which would be subject to government tariffs and regulations, a decision which paved the way for the development of video and voice internet communications.
The Linksys iPhone was a line of internet appliances from Cisco Systems. The first iPhone model – released by Infogear in 1998 – combined the features of a regular phone and a web terminal. The company was later purchased by Cisco and no new products were marketed under the name between 2001 and 2006. At the end of 2006, Cisco rebranded its Linksys VoIP-based phones under the name, shortly before Apple released an iPhone of its own. This led to a trademark dispute between the two companies, which was resolved on February 20, 2007.
Snom Technology GmbH is a German company which manufactures Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephones, based on the IETF standard Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). Snom's products are targeted at the small- to medium-sized business sector, home offices, Internet service providers, carriers, and original equipment manufacturers. The company, founded in 1996 and headquartered in Berlin, is a wholly owned subsidiary of VTech Holdings Limited, since 2016.
Deltathree Inc. is an American company engaged in the business of voice over IP telephony services. The company was one of the first in the world to offer a telephony service over the internet, reducing the cost of international calls by over 90 percent.
Ooma, Inc. is an American publicly traded telecommunications company based in the Silicon Valley, California area. Ooma offers communications services including Voice over IP (VoIP) calling for business, home and mobile users.
TouchWave, Inc., was a privately held Palo Alto, California IP-telephony network switch provider founded in 1997. TouchWave developed a product line called WebSwitch that was designed to replace traditional private telephone exchange systems in small-to-medium-sized companies. WebSwitch was part of a phone system that incorporates communication features provided by the Internet. The rapid success of TouchWave was memorialized with awards and an acquisition by Ericsson Communications for $46M two years after TouchWave was founded. Ericsson continued the TouchWave product line under the name WebCom, but its efforts have been viewed as less than successful.
Big River Telephone Company, LLC is a full-service telecommunications company located in the Midwestern United States. Big River Telephone is classified as a competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) and is a wholesale digital provider of voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services to the cable industry.
Phone Power is an American privately owned commercial voice over IP (VoIP) company, based in Winnetka, California that provides telephone service over the Internet via a broadband connection.
Obihai Technology was a company that manufactures analog telephone adapters that supported Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), XMPP, and Google Voice compatible Internet telephony. Obihai was sold to Polycom in 2018, with Poly and Plantronics sold to HP in 2022. Most items in the former Obihai product line have been either rebranded as Poly or discontinued.
