Looking the TCP or IP Model

Many people marvel at the very thought that the POTS method of placing
telephone calls can be replaced by a technology that essentially runs on the
computer network. They are also startled by the many new and exciting features
that come with VoIP. However, people also question how VoIP can possibly
work and are a bit suspicious about whether VoIP can really live up to all
the claims.
The answer can be found in the very same model that has been supporting
data-only networking since the inception of the Internet more than twentyfive
years ago: the TCP/IP model.
Pronounced “t, c, p, i, p,” the model uses a five-layer approach to networking.
TCP/IP is adapted to enable it to also support VoIP. TCP/IP has proven to be
just as effective with packetizing telephony as it has been for many years
with packetizing computer data.
To fully understand VoIP, it pays to know a little about the technical underpinnings
that make it work over the network of your choice. In this section,
I describe the layers of the TCP/IP model in relation to computer networks.
Then I insert into this content the parts that change when TCP/IP supports
VoIP.