Confusion creates problems and problems must be solved to live a tension free life
. Confusions can be in any terminology. In this article, we are talking about the technical terms. Two major technical terms used in the contemporary world are SIP and VoIP. Majority of the masses doesnt even know what they are. The ones who know have half knowledge.
It is rightly said that, A little knowledge can be dangerous. Either one must have complete knowledge about it, or they should keep their mouth shut and listen to others if they are not sure about what it is. There is no harm in listening as to what the other persons opinion is.
Telecommunication Industry is full of such technical words which can only be understood by technical man and are of no use for the layman. Such words are SIP and VoIP. People may have been using services like Skype or Vontage but they are not aware as to what lies behind the curtain.
VoIP Softphone is responsible for transferring of voice traffic over IP network whereas SIP is a protocol to establish communication channels. The former can be used in conversation when you are talking about Skype; however the latter is a bigger category. VoIP can also replace the traditional PSTN lines, the latter is the technology used in it.
If we try to understand these terms in the laymans language, we can say that SIP is one big set in the communication technology and VoIP is a subset in that. SIP is more popular among the crowd but one of its main applications is VoIP. Since people are putting hands directly on VoIP, they are not really concerned about what the SIP calling is. People use both the terms interchangeably and are not moved even by an inch if someone says that they are different.
SIP is big enough to include other communication options like video conferencing and instant messaging. It feels good when technology progresses and you are to feel the other person sitting next to you. SIP is the better version of other protocols because it is humanly readable and is in plain text. This is the reason that it is easy to troubleshoot it.
Today it may be fine to use these terms in place of another but in future, picture may change. With other SIP applications creeping into the picture, it will not be possible to interchange these terms. I hope that after reading this article, you will think once before you speak.