Terms used throughout the NocTel universeCommunications websites and documentation.
Codec
"Codec" is a technical name for "compression/decompression". It also stands for "compressor/decompressor" and "code/decode". All of these variations mean the same thing: a codec is a computer program that both shrinks large data, and makes it smaller to transport across the Internet. To help speed up transport of audio, mathematical "codecs" were built to encode ("shrink") a signal for transmission and then decode it for listening. Without codecs, downloads would take longer or consume more bandwidth than the original version. With today's high bandwidth connections, codecs are not as important as they once were not so many years ago.
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A non-compressed codec, G711, will give the best voice quality, as no compression and decompression is required. This in turn makes this G711 less susceptible to packet loss, which even in small amounts will quickly degrade voice quality. Other codecs which use compression techniques consume less bandwidth, a good thing, but this compression process in itself lowers the voice clarity and introduces a delay. Additionally, compressed codecs are even more susceptible to packet loss. In addition G711 will maintain better quality with more latent connections, whereas compressed codecs' voice quality can quickly degrade as latency increase, as the chart below reflects.
Lately many telephone companies, such as NocTel, have started using G722, which is at least double the bandwidth and quality of G711. Using this new codec is known by many as "HD Voice" and provides superior quality conversations across the Internet.
CNAM DIP
Requesting a Caller ID Name (CNAM) when you have the phone number.
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A hosted VoIP provider based in Portland, Oregon.
SIP - Session Initiation Protocol
The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is a communications protocol for signaling and controlling multimedia communication sessions. The most common applications of SIP are in Internet telephony for voice and video calls, as well as instant messaging all over Internet Protocol (IP) networks.
VoIP - Voice over Internet Protocol
Voice over IP (VoIP) is a methodology and group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. Other terms commonly associated with VoIP are IP telephony, Internet telephony, broadband telephony, and broadband phone service.