A Noakes Knowledge Production
By Simon Millard, on July 17th, 2010
A brief history
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Surprising as it may seem, FAX has been with us for a long time. It was invented in 1843 by a Scotsman called Alexander Bain – 4 years before Alexander G. Bell was born. As the first faxes were sent over telegraph lines, they were actually digital; it wasn’t until the 1980s that they became popular in their analogue form.
FAXing is based on a ‘recommendation’ ratified by the ITU (International Telecommunications Union) called T.30. The fact that it is a recommendation rather …
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A Noakes Knowledge Production
By Simon Millard, on June 6th, 2010
Image courtesy of stock.xchng
We saw in SIP 101 how a VoIP call is first setup, maintained and then hungup at the end. As you’ll recall this is known as the signalling part of a call; fine in principle but useless if you can’t actually hear the person at the other end. For that we need to get some audio flowing and that’s where RTP comes in.
RTP stands for ‘Real Time Protocol’ and is, as its name suggests, concerned with getting data from one place to another …
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A Noakes Knowledge Production
By Simon Millard, on June 6th, 2010
Image courtesy of stock.xchng
When making a phone call two things have to happen: firstly the call has to be placed (one person dials, the other person’s phone rings, they answer and so on) and secondly the two parties have to be able to have a conversation (audio must flow). In technical terms placing the call is a type of signalling, the actual speaking is a form of media exchange. This dual technique of signalling and media is used in every phone call around the world and VoIP is no different. …
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A Noakes Knowledge Production
By Mark Fawcett, on May 20th, 2010
Image courtesy of Konrach
Old school vs. New kid on the block
1. Are you sitting comfortably?
Our story begins in the halcyon days when telephone calls were carried over classic telephony networks, provided by such gentle behemoths as BT, AT&T and Cable & Wireless. Known generally as TDM-based systems, these networks were dedicated to carry calls and little else. So people knew where they stood; you used your knife and fork to eat, your phone to speak to somebody and your computer to play Zork.
Then one day dear reader, there came …
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By Mark Fawcett, on May 10th, 2010
Just enough information to be dangerous…
Noakes Knowledge is a series of free articles on telecommunications and IT technology, intended for everyone whether you be non-technical, semi-technical or a guru in need of a refresher.
At Noakes we believe that technology should not be a mystery to anyone, so we’ve decided to remove the smoke and mirrors thus arming you, dear reader, with enough fire-power to be able to say “I get it“.
The Noakes Knowledge series is published free and without restriction …
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