Components of a VoIP Network
Figure 1-1 depicts the basal apparatus of a packet articulation network.
6 Authorized Self-Study Guide: Cisco Articulation over IP (CVOICE)
Application
Server
MCU
Call
Agent
IP
Phone
IP
Phone
Videoconference
Station
Router/
Gateway
Router/
Gateway
PBX
Router/
Gatekeeper
V V
IP
Backbone
V
PSTN
Figure 1-1 Apparatus of a VoIP Network
The afterward is a description of these basal components:
■ IP Phones: Cisco IP Phones accommodate IP endpoints for articulation communication.
■ Gatekeeper: A attendant provides Alarm Admission Ascendancy (CAC), bandwidth control
and management, and abode translation.
■ Gateway: The aperture provides adaptation amid VoIP and non-VoIP networks,
such as the PSTN. Gateways additionally accommodate concrete admission for bounded analog and digital
voice devices, such as telephones, fax machines, key sets, and clandestine branch
exchanges (PBX).
■ Multipoint Ascendancy Unit (MCU): An MCU provides real-time connectivity for participants
in assorted locations to appear the aforementioned videoconference or meeting.
■ Alarm agent: A alarm abettor provides alarm ascendancy for IP phones, CAC, bandwidth control
and management, and abode translation. Unlike a gatekeeper, which in a Cisco environment
typically runs on a router, a alarm abettor about runs on a server platform.
Cisco Unified Communications Manager is an archetype of a alarm agent.
■ Application servers: Application servers accommodate casework such as articulation mail, unified
messaging, and Cisco Communications Manager Attendant Console.
■ Videoconference station: A videoconference base provides admission for end-user
participation in videoconferencing. The videoconference base contains a video
capture accessory for video ascribe and a microphone for audio input. A user can view
video streams and apprehend audio that originates at a alien user station.
Other components, such as software articulation applications, alternate articulation acknowledgment (IVR)
systems, and bendable phones, accommodate added casework to accommodated the needs of an enterprise
site.