VoIP and the Military

Abstract

The Army National Guard responsible for the safety of the State in case of a natural disaster or any sort of force that threatens the population of the State. They are also able to deploy overseas in any conflict that the United States may get involved in. Communications is on something that is very critical to the job they do and they are always looking for the newest and greatest way to accomplish their mission and do so with the best communications platforms available. Currently VoIP has been the newest and greatest thing that the Army National Guard has been able to harness. It is proving to work extremely well throughout the states due to its flexibility and reliability. But the older systems are still around because they need them as a backup in case the VoIP goes down. Ultimately the best solution would be that the VoIP never goes down. There are something in the work that will hopefully provide that avenue for the National Guard and the military as a whole.

VoIP and the Military

VoIP was is it? It is voice over IP and it refers to the way that phone calls are transmitted through an IP data network, whether that is on the internet or on an internal network. The reason people and especially the military are interested in VoIP is because it has the ability to help reduce expenses because the phone call travels over the network instead of a phone company’s network. Wikipedia’s definition of VoIP is “Voice over Internet Protocol (Voice over IP, VoIP) is a family of technologies, methodologies, communication protocols, and transmission techniques for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. Other terms frequently encountered and often used synonymously with VoIP are IP telephony, Internet telephony, voice over broadband (VoBB), broadband telephony, and broadband phone.”

There are some major advantages for VoIP and there are some disadvantages. Advantages include is the money saving factor any business that wants to save money and has the ability to use VoIP will save the business money. VoIP in essence give the user the ability to be anywhere in the world but have a local area code for their phone number. For example if someone lives in Washington but all their family lives in New York then the individual in Washington could pick an area code from New York and it wouldn’t be long distance for their family to call to Washington. Another advantage of VoIP is you can combine data and voice communications, which gives that user the ability to maintain an email notification, voice mail notifications, send images, graphics and videos all with the use of the “phone line.” As well as being inexpensive to start it is easy to upgrade. Software updates take minutes and maintenance on the system is virtually painless, no big machines that need to be cleaned on a regular basis, and no need to disassemble or reassemble anything to upgrade the system. The efficiency of the VoIP service is also something that is an advantage as well. Finally one of the best features about VoIP is that it allows the user the ability to talk to multiple people at a time no matter where they are to do that with a traditional phone line would cost the business a fortune in phone bills alone.

Of course with every positive thing there are some draw backs with using VoIP. First and most important is that since VoIP is over the internet it is only as good as the internet service is. For example if the internet goes down then phone service will be lost. That’s why when considering VoIP companies should not rely solely on VoIP for communications purposes. This is also the case if the areas suffers a black out since all things related to the internet run of power so a blackout would essentially shut down the companies whole operations. Some other things that make VoIP less desirable is that no matter how fast the internet is there can be some lag that effects the conversations and the only way to fix that would be to stop downloading whenever the phone rings. Another major issue that could greatly affect the company would be if the internet provider charges by the data transferred and not just the service, if that is the case then VoIP may turn out to be more expensive that having both a land line and the internet. VoIP is still an new technology and there are still some inherent problems that are present, one of those being that there are some numbers that cannot be reached using VoIP. For example calling 911 may not be a seamless as it is calling from a landline network, tracing a call will sometimes take too long or not work at all. Finally there is more equipment to buy because there is the need to have more than one phone line and computer. Regular telephones are hard wired in to the building and generally have many phone jacks in the offices.

Does the military use VoIP that answer is yes and it is being used more and more. Currently in my Army National Guard Unit VoIP and cell phones is the number one way of communication. Now being that the military needs to be able to work in all different kinds of conditions dealing with blackouts, deployments, lack of communications and overall system failure there are many different counter measures put in place. Some of the different forms of communications that the military uses besides VoIP are RF radio, satellite, and others. Even though the military has transitioned to more of the VoIP systems they will aren’t far from the old technologies that work. As with anything the military does they need to keep what works around until they can make sure the new technology is going to work well enough to ensure that the mission still is able to be done. The Army and the National Guard have made great progress in the last few years since the Army decides in 2008 that they would be transitioning from its circuit-switched voice communications toe the packet-switched VoIP. Some of the main reasons that the military wanted to use the VoIP system was because of the flexibility that it lent to being able to send both data and voice over the same line. It is still unclear whether the military will be able to use VoIP for commanded and control traffic due to the instability at time it is looking more and more like it will be something that the military will use more and more. Currently the main use of the VoIP is for day to day operations just like it is used in any business in America or abroad. Being able to stream both voice and data has opened up to doors for the military and how it conducts it day to day business. It is also being used in the field environment to allow the service members to have communications throughout field problems. This is accomplished by the use of satellites that allow the military to set up their own network and internet there for being able to utilize VoIP. This is generally done in the main hub of the unit either located in a building or in a large tent. Although the research is still being done one the best way to manage the new system it has proven to be something that is going to be around for a long time and will continue to improve as the technology does. The military does have some specific needs while dealing with VoIP it needs to be secured and it needs to be able to survive in any condition. It must also perform under extreme network conditions and advanced call control. Some other key military VoIPrequirements are data relay, high definition VoIP, land mobile radio and audio codes media gateways.

Not only is the military using VoIP to help them accomplish there every day mission but it is also reaching out to the service members to give them the opportunity to communication with loved ones all over the world. Since VoIP communications is less expensive and can virtually be anywhere in the world it’s no wonder that the military would used it to allow communications back home. According to the website Boots on Ground VoIP “offers a really low-cost way to communicate back home. The MWR (Morale, Welfare, and Recreation) centers often provide "Spawar" setups which are USB Internet phones or headsets plugged into computers running Skype to call a phone (or a computer if so equipped) back home.” From personal experience there is nothing better than talking to someone from back home or seeing their face in the midst of war. The communications with soldiers and their families should be number one whether it be serving overseas in a war torn country or service state side away from home assisting others in a natural disaster. Skype was one of the first to start providing a service solely in which users could not only stream video but also talk on the phone at the same time. Other things like IM had been doing it for a while but Skype was really the first to make it more of a phone call orientated feature using the VoIP system.

New Technologies

In the more recent years there have been some great improvements in the way that VoIP is being brought to the customer. One company that is helping to solidify their place with the military is a company called Elektrobit Corporation EB. They have come up with a new communication system. “a robust, highly-reliable, ruggedized IP-based communications system, PoE serves as the revolutionary new approach to power communication equipment for military use and can also to provide secure Internet data connections.” This will give the service members more flexibility in the long run. The good thing about this new system is that it will be able to be transported and bumped around without the devise being damaged. In the military everything needs to be ruggedized especially when it comes to electrical equipment such as computer equipment and communication equipment. The equipment must stand up to the harsh environment that the service members need to stand up to and the equipment needs to be able to go anywhere the military goes.

Recommendations

VoIP is here to stay and in many cases it will only get better as the technology progresses. It would be somewhat of a step back it the military didn’t continue to use and adapt the system now and in the future. All thought there are some hang ups that are involved with the use of VoIP the military has the technology to enable them to overcome most of the obstacles that are involved with VoIP. The National Guard should start to increase the capabilities of VoIP to see who it can best be utilized in an emergency situation and how it will be able to benefit the states in which then National Guard services.

References

Rendleman, JR. (2008, January 11). Army marches toward voip. Retrieved from http://gcn.com/Articles/2008/01/11/Army-marches-toward-VOIP.aspx
Cisco, . (n.d.). What is voip and what can it do for your business?. Retrieved from http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/voicesw/networking_solutions_products_genericcontent0900aecd804f00ce

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Why voip. (2005-2009). Retrieved from http://www.all-voip-guide.com/pros_and_cons.htm
Ways to communicate with a soldier in iraq. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.bootsonground.com/iraq-communications.htm
Voice over Internet Protocol. (2010). Wikipedia. Retrieved August 14, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_over_Internet_Protocol
Dawson, CD. (2010, October 07). Military bound: eb tough voip solution. Retrieved from http://ip-telephony.tmcnet.com/topics/ip-telephony/articles/107063-military-bound-eb-tough-voip-solution.htm