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In an ideal world, every individual, business, company, enterprise and organization would be using a VoIP solution for their telecommunication needs. However, as it stands today, the public switched telephone network (PSTN) is still a highly utilized and deeply ingrained feature of communications today.

Normally, if a VoIP caller wants to reach an out-of-network recipient, the call must eventually be forwarded over the PSTN, and furthermore, the signal must be trans-coded from digital information to a TDM analog signal usable by traditional phone lines and handsets. This leads to speed delays and information loss, in addition to the added toll charges associated with the PSTN.

Voice Peering is a process by which voice data is routed entirely through a private IP network, bypassing the PSTN, as well as the public Internet. It is a voluntary relationship between VoIP carriers, wherein they agree to share network resources to exchange VoIP data between each other, thereby keeping all voice traffic on their own IP backbones.

“The first step of the IP revolution is taking your traffic and making sure it stays on IP,” says William Stofega (News - Alert), research manager for VoIP services at IDC. “If the traffic starts going through gateways and terminating on the PSTN, voice quality will degrade. You get a superior signal in a controlled, on-net call.”

There are two ways to implement voice peering. The first is bilateral peering, where two parties come together directly and exchange Layer 2 traffic over a private network. The second is multilateral peering, where multiple parties agree to a common set of policies to exchange traffic, and use a central service provider to handle routing using a layer 5 protocol over an open network.  

The Voice Peering Fabric (VPF) is a private, distributed Layer 2 Ethernet architecture, provided by Stealth Communications (News - Alert). The VPF enables organizations to establish direct peer-to-peer connection for the exchange of VoIP/telephony related traffic. The end result is a clear, high-quality signal, free of the high-generation costs to the call originator.

Avoiding the complex series of TDM switches operated by multiple PSTN carriers leads to reduced packet loss and increased sound quality. Moreover, bypassing the PSTN means no charges. Over thousands of phones calls in the span of a year, this means considerable savings.

So, until the world is joined under one large voice peering network, the VPF is the best way to take full advantage of VoIP technology.