Distributed Gateways and the Softswitch Architecture1010500Distributed Gateways and the Softswitch ArchitecturePrevious chapters described some of the advantages that Voice over IP (VoIP) can offer over traditional circuit-switched telephony, such as lower cost of network implementation, integration of voice and data applications, new features, and potentially reduced bandwidth for voice calls. It would be nice if all telephony were to be carried over the Internet Protocol (IP) so that these advantages could be made available globally. Unfortunately, that day will not arrive for a long time. Replacing all traditional circuit-switched networks is not feasible, and perhaps not even desirable. Among other reasons, the cost would simply be exorb…
