Fast-Tracking Communications With VoIP
Brendan Read · Mass transit · 2009
This article describes a new tool in transit's communication toolbox known as Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP or IP. It allows calls to be encoded as data and sent from origins to destinations, and can piggyback onto existing data networks. The author describes VoIP benefits for transit agencies, such as reduced trunking, calling and server costs, ease of configuration, business continuity, enabling unified communications, and a growing number of competitive suppliers. Challenges include expense and voice quality. The article also describes how VoIP has been implemented for two transit systems: the Stark Area Regional Transit Authority of Canton, Ohio and the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority in Cincinnati. Both found the systems to be beneficial.