Cloud Provider: The company that owns and operates the infrastructure, providing the necessary resources (like servers, storage, and networking) to host the telephony services.
VoIP or SIP (Session Initiation Protocol): These are the protocols that manage the signaling and communication over the internet.
Endpoints: These are the devices used for communication, such as smartphones, computers, IP phones, or softphones (software-based phones).
How Cloud Telephony Works
Instead of voice signals traveling through traditional telephone lines, cloud telephony sends these signals over the internet as data packets. Voice is converted into digital data, compressed, and transmitted over IP networks.
Cloud PBX (Private Branch Exchange):
A cloud PBX is a virtual telephone system that manages calls, extensions, voicemail, call routing, and other features, all hosted on the cloud.
When a call is made, the system routes it to the appropriate destination based on pre-configured rules
Signaling:Cloud telephony uses protocols like SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) or H.323 to establish, maintain, and terminate calls.
These protocols manage things like ringing the phone, the initiation of the call, call transfer, hold, and disconnection.
VoIP Gateways
VoIP gateways are devices that enable communication between traditional phone lines (PSTN) and VoIP networks. If someone calls a phone number that is not connected to the internet, the gateway converts the digital voice signals into analog signals and vice versa.
Cloud-based Features
Cloud telephony systems can be equipped with advanced features like call forwarding, interactive voice response (IVR), call analytics, voicemail-to-email, call recording, multi-line management, and integration with CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems.
Scalability:
Because the system is cloud-based, businesses can scale their telephony infrastructure easily without needing to invest in physical hardware. Adding new users or lines is typically done via a web-based portal or through API integrations.
Reliability
Cloud telephony services often come with redundant systems, data centers, and failover mechanisms that ensure high availability. Since the infrastructure is cloud-based, these systems can recover quickly from downtime or network issues.
Security:
Voice data is encrypted using protocols like SRTP (Secure Real-Time Transport Protocol) to ensure the privacy of the calls.
Authentication, firewall configurations, and monitoring are also part of maintaining security in a cloud telephony system.
