Phone evolution: the journey from the first phone to the VoIP phone
No one is unaware of the fact that the first telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell in March 1876. This is where the field of modern day telecommunications originates from.
This invention might not have attracted much attention, which Bell’s dim expectations said, but it was the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia that the Emperor of Brazil, Dom Pedro de Alcántara, became aware of this rather man-made invention. interesting. He couldn’t help but be surprised by Bell’s deep creativity, which was reflected in his creation, the telephone.
In the early days, the phone was only seen as a luxury of life rather than a commodity. It only gained more popularity as an essential means of communication around the time that many corporate and government offices started using it.
During the 1880s, when metallic circuits were introduced, they took over long-distance communications. However, for a decade, its use remained restricted to a certain class that could afford the high calling charges. Until in the 1890s, with the rise of the party line, it became convenient for people living in rural areas in particular to split the cost of the line used by many.
Prior to 1891, calls were made by exchange operators, but until a new direct dialing system. Then there it was putting the telephone to its best use in 1927, when the first transatlantic telephone call was made with the aid of radio waves. It was during the time of World War I and World War II, when the telephone went through an important period of development, all thanks to the enormous expenditures made by the Department of Defense to ensure more secure communication. This series of advances also led to the creation of the first mobile phone system, which easily connected mobile vehicles to phones using radio waves.
In the 1960s era, transatlantic cables were introduced to make it easier to dial international calls.
However, the biggest changes in the history of telephones occurred in 1962, when the first TelStar telephone satellite was launched. Telstar was a joint commercial venture between Bell and NASA to bring a more advanced form of communication. This paved the way for satellites rotating within geosynchronous orbit to be used to make long-distance calls directly without relying on cable lines, not to mention the suffering due to repeated cable damage and repair pain.
Fiber-optic cables were first introduced in 1977. In the mid-1980s, fiber-optic cable took precedence over other modes of telephone transmission, as it could facilitate more calls with less interference, compared to its predecessor methods. It could transmit information more quickly to areas farther away, and it strongly withstood any mishap, particularly lightning. In short, it offered a series of advantages and was safer than other modes. Due to the benefits, these fiber optic cables began to be used for computers as well.
After the US government relaxed regulations on phone service, AT&T faced stiff competition from MCI, Sprint and many other local companies. This paved road for fiber optic lines was widely used in all industries, even started to be used for natural gas pipelines and railways.
It was in 1973 when Dr. Martin Cooper belonging to the Motorola Corporation created the first cell phone call using a portable phone, namely the Dyna-Tac. After a successful test run, he was introduced to New York Public. It was in 1977 when the cell phone became popular among the people. The models initially featured seemed a bit larger and commonly used by those used to keeping in touch using the two-way radio mode of communication. At that time, one could not imagine that it would be used by everyone. Cell phones operated with small “cells” for the range of service, to increase the ease of handling more calls. Cell phones made it possible to handle a greater number of calls at once in an area.
Initially, however, primary cellular services used more of an analog technology system, running at 800 megahertz non-stop. Over time, the industry increased the standard to 1850 MHz with PCS. In 1988, a committee, namely the Cellular Technology Industry Association, was formed to formulate guidelines and establish regulations for cellular service providers and functioned for the development and growth of the cellular telephone industry. Today, we have approximately more than 60 million wireless customers, a staggeringly large number for a service that began commercial operation just thirty years ago.
Nowadays, we use digital cell/mobile phones, instead of analog phones. Digital technology transfers data in the form of “pulses.” The benefit of digital signals is that they are transmitted more securely compared to their analog competitors, and provide more efficient bandwidth and better sound quality. You can even share videos and photos while browsing the Internet. All at the same time integrated inside your phones.
However, in digital technology there is a small problem with coverage. For example, due to three different technologies that a cell phone uses, in case you are using a TDMA (time division multiple access) system but you are moving in an area that serves CDMA (time division multiple access) digital coverage, code), then you may have to face technological problems.
There’s a perfect solution for it and the analog-digital technology coupled with changing cell phone providers. In this way, you can get excellent coverage for all types of communication, with high speed and unmatched quality.
Talk of the first “voice conference” being used could be the time when partial lines were first introduced in the early days of the phone. Although, at that time, the only benefit that people could look for in partial lines was the economic factor, there was the problem that several people in different locations could pick up and speak on the same one simultaneously, which created a situation of listening and zero element of privacy.
The idea of calling a number of people, which was initially derived from part lines, was revived again but this time in a better and more private package. It was time constrained and could only be accessed in times of need.
Following this notion, companies from all over the world began to offer services, which coordinated a facility for telephone conferences for companies, granting them fixed rates, monthly installments or depending on the number of calls made. This was fruitful as he saved travel expenses and other call expenses. They provided a trained operator to allow connections between each participant on a dedicated line. In this way, a group of people could easily communicate with each other at the same time. Service providers offered affordable rates to their customers.
Sooner, many telephone manufacturing companies, such as Polycom, AT&T, and Panasonic, developed office phone systems that allowed office users to invite a customer, put them on hold, and then call someone else. This helped create a multi-connection setup for callers to easily communicate with more than two people at a time to discuss important business.
The Internet arrived, which turns out to be the best means of communication ever created throughout the history of humanity. The Internet has accelerated competition among telephone service providers, particularly challenging the installation of audio conferencing and the cost of long distance calls. However, they have reduced their calling costs to a greater extent, however, the unbeatable broadband phone or Internet phone is becoming everyone’s favourite, surpassing its competitor, the traditional phone, because it is so much cheaper and affordable.
Voip, which stands for “Voice over Internet Protocol,” is now the most popular means of communication because it charges only per call, with no regulatory taxes or hidden charges like the charges charged by traditional phone companies. VoIP phones or broadband phones use high-speed Internet to work and allow you to enjoy the same quality of service that traditional phones offer. You can not only make calls with your voip phone, but also the high speed internet phone allows you to enjoy high speed data transfer services such as data sharing, audio conferencing and video conferencing. With voip, you are guaranteed to save a lot on your calling and communication needs.
VoIP offers you conference call facilities to network with multiple groups or parties, no matter what their geographical locations are. This allows clients to connect with their clients spread across the globe and arrange a virtual meeting online. Today, VoIP calling solutions are being provided by Axvoice, Vonage, 8×8, Voxwire, Packet 8, TTCGlobalTalk, and VoiceCafe among many others, providing excellent quality of service.
