What is Voice-Over IP (VoIP)

Presence-based real-time communication (RTC) presents itself as a new and emerging technology in the E-collaboration arena with a wide range of new products currently entering the market. Originally created through the integration of instant messaging, with its text chat functionality and presence awareness information, with voice-over IP (VoIP) communication RTC has been maturing over the past three years. Further information and communication channels have been added and RTC technology shows significant potential for integration with other collaborative application as well as general purpose systems like office software. By introducing RTC, its features, potential usage scenarios, and the main players and future trends, this article names several aspects which might inspire future research in this area.