<s>
VoIP	B-Protocol
User	I-Protocol
was	O
a	O
community-driven	O
and	O
financed	O
SIP	O
based	O
VoIP	B-Application
network	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Voice	B-Application
over	I-Application
Internet	I-Application
Protocol	I-Application
(	O
VoIP	B-Application
)	O
,	O
is	O
a	O
technology	O
that	O
allows	O
you	O
to	O
make	O
voice	O
calls	O
using	O
a	O
broadband	O
Internet	O
connection	O
instead	O
of	O
a	O
regular	O
(	O
or	O
analog	O
)	O
phone	O
line	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
VoIP	B-Protocol
User	I-Protocol
network	O
was	O
designed	O
to	O
operate	O
within	O
a	O
community	O
environment	O
and	O
therefore	O
differs	O
substantially	O
from	O
most	O
other	O
VoIP	B-Application
networks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
main	O
highlighted	O
difference	O
being	O
that	O
users	O
can	O
call	O
PSTN	O
phone	O
numbers	O
through	O
VoIP	B-Protocol
User	I-Protocol
's	O
PSTN	O
gateway	O
without	O
incurring	O
any	O
call	O
charges	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
way	O
that	O
VoIP	B-Protocol
User	I-Protocol
is	O
funded	O
is	O
noteworthy	O
:	O
Calls	O
into	O
VoIP	B-Protocol
User	I-Protocol
’s	O
numbers	O
generate	O
a	O
small	O
amount	O
of	O
per	O
minute	O
revenue	O
(	O
the	O
“	O
termination	O
charge	O
”	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
this	O
money	O
goes	O
into	O
a	O
community	O
account	O
or	O
“	O
pot	O
”	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Outbound	O
calls	O
from	O
VoIP	B-Protocol
User	I-Protocol
then	O
call	O
upon	O
this	O
pot	O
and	O
use	O
the	O
accrued	O
call	O
minutes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
is	O
a	O
cap	O
on	O
call	O
routes	O
(	O
which	O
may	O
vary	O
)	O
meaning	O
the	O
VoIP	B-Protocol
User	I-Protocol
PSTN	O
gateway	O
will	O
only	O
route	O
calls	O
to	O
any	O
country	O
which	O
can	O
be	O
achieved	O
for	O
2.5p/min	O
(	O
pence	O
a	O
minute	O
)	O
or	O
less	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
cost	O
of	O
calls	O
to	O
different	O
countries/cities	O
is	O
determined	O
according	O
to	O
rate	O
tables	O
that	O
come	O
from	O
VoIP	B-Protocol
User	I-Protocol
’s	O
own	O
PSTN	O
line	O
provider(s )	O
,	O
so	O
costs	O
vary	O
over	O
time	O
as	O
they	O
do	O
for	O
fully	O
commercial	O
international	O
Telcos	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Where	O
VoIP	B-Protocol
User	I-Protocol
varies	O
from	O
a	O
commercial	O
Telco	O
,	O
though	O
,	O
is	O
that	O
the	O
intention	O
is	O
not	O
to	O
make	O
large	O
profits	O
from	O
connecting	O
calls	O
,	O
but	O
rather	O
to	O
broadly	O
break	O
even	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	O
on	O
calls	O
routed	O
between	O
the	O
PSTN	O
and	O
the	O
internet	O
by	O
the	O
VoIP	B-Protocol
User	I-Protocol
network	O
can	O
be	O
seen	O
on	O
their	O
analytics	O
page	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Members	O
can	O
obtain	O
a	O
UK	O
non-geographic	O
inbound	O
phone	O
number	O
at	O
no	O
cost	O
which	O
can	O
be	O
routed	O
to	O
any	O
landline	O
throughout	O
the	O
world	O
,	O
or	O
any	O
SIP	O
or	O
IAX2	B-Protocol
based	O
VoIP	B-Application
device	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
the	O
telco	O
features	O
of	O
VoIP	B-Protocol
User	I-Protocol
,	O
it	O
also	O
has	O
a	O
web	O
forum	O
with	O
RSS	O
feeds	O
and	O
a	O
telecom-focused	O
news	O
feed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
many	O
discussion	O
forums	O
on	O
topics	O
including	O
VoIP	B-Application
,	O
telephony	O
,	O
messaging	O
,	O
presence	O
,	O
open	B-License
source	I-License
and	O
Web	O
2.0	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VoIP	B-Protocol
User	I-Protocol
was	O
created	O
by	O
Dean	O
Elwood	O
and	O
Tjardick	O
van	O
der	O
Kraan	O
in	O
July	O
2003	O
and	O
both	O
are	O
still	O
intimately	O
involved	O
in	O
the	O
running	O
of	O
both	O
network	O
and	O
web	O
site	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
small	O
team	O
of	O
volunteers	O
administer	O
the	O
forums	O
and	O
help	O
maintain	O
the	O
VoIP	B-Application
network	O
and	O
imagining	O
and	O
creating	O
new	O
features	O
for	O
VoIP	B-Protocol
User	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
forum	O
community	O
itself	O
also	O
contributes	O
a	O
lot	O
to	O
VoIP	B-Protocol
User	I-Protocol
,	O
with	O
many	O
experienced	O
developers	O
,	O
gurus	O
and	O
engineers	O
offering	O
help	O
and	O
advice	O
to	O
others	O
with	O
questions	O
and	O
problems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Companies	O
and	O
individuals	O
wanting	O
to	O
make	O
a	O
“	O
quick	O
buck	O
”	O
have	O
sometimes	O
tried	O
to	O
harness	O
the	O
VoIP	B-Protocol
User	I-Protocol
network	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
connect	O
paying	O
customers	O
with	O
what	O
is	O
,	O
essentially	O
,	O
a	O
free	O
service	O
,	O
allowing	O
margin	O
to	O
be	O
skimmed	O
off	O
for	O
the	O
fraudster	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VoIP	B-Protocol
User	I-Protocol
handles	O
this	O
with	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
measures	O
,	O
including	O
the	O
10-minute	O
call	O
limit	O
,	O
and	O
in	O
extremis	O
blocking	O
of	O
traffic	O
to	O
specific	O
high	O
fraud	O
risk	O
destinations	O
altogether	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Over	O
the	O
years	O
VoIP	B-Protocol
User	I-Protocol
has	O
seen	O
many	O
patterns	O
of	O
call	O
fraud	O
and	O
has	O
created	O
tools	O
and	O
techniques	O
to	O
combat	O
them	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
detection	O
of	O
those	O
patterns	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VoIP	B-Protocol
User	I-Protocol
currently	O
supports	O
Session	B-Application
Initiation	I-Application
Protocol	I-Application
(	O
SIP	O
)	O
for	O
both	O
incoming	O
and	O
outgoing	O
calls	O
and	O
IAX2	B-Protocol
protocol	O
for	O
incoming	O
calls	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
of	O
the	O
VoIP	B-Protocol
User	I-Protocol
core	O
network	O
is	O
constructed	O
using	O
industry-standard	O
PC	O
servers	O
,	O
running	O
Linux	O
and	O
telephony	O
applications	O
that	O
include	O
Asterisk	B-Language
(	O
for	O
audio	O
messaging	O
media	O
and	O
echotesting	O
services	O
)	O
,	O
OpenSER	B-Protocol
(	O
for	O
SIP	O
proxy	O
and	O
registrar	O
duties	O
)	O
and	O
edge	O
controllers	O
and	O
media	O
gateways	O
being	O
a	O
combination	O
of	O
open-source	B-License
and	O
custom	O
written	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Call	O
rating	O
,	O
CDR	O
collection	O
and	O
account	O
handling	O
software	O
is	O
custom	O
written	O
and	O
based	O
on	O
FreeRADIUS	O
and	O
the	O
integration	O
of	O
RADIUS	B-Protocol
messaging	O
to	O
the	O
media	O
gateways	O
and	O
SIP	O
B2BUAs	B-Protocol
residing	O
at	O
the	O
network	O
edge	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VoIP	B-Protocol
User	I-Protocol
currently	O
operates	O
9	O
servers	O
hosted	O
globally	O
and	O
with	O
the	O
main	O
core	O
and	O
media	O
gateways	O
residing	O
at	O
Telehouse	O
London	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
wide	O
variety	O
of	O
customer	O
equipment	O
is	O
used	O
on	O
the	O
VoIP	B-Protocol
User	I-Protocol
network	O
including	O
desktop	O
VoIP	B-Application
phones	O
,	O
softphones	O
,	O
mobile	O
phones	O
(	O
using	O
Fring	O
on	O
the	O
Apple	O
iPhone	B-Device
and	O
Windows	B-Operating_System
Mobile	I-Operating_System
devices	O
and	O
in-built	O
Wi-Fi	O
functionality	O
in	O
Nokia	B-Language
E	I-Language
series	I-Language
)	O
,	O
ATAs	B-Protocol
and	O
open	B-License
source	I-License
switches	O
and	O
PBXes	B-Device
like	O
FreeSWITCH	B-Language
and	O
Asterisk	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
VoIP	B-Protocol
User	I-Protocol
is	O
a	O
"	O
Bring	O
Your	O
Own	O
Device	O
Network	O
"	O
best	O
of	O
breed	O
solutions	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
by	O
the	O
end	O
user	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VoIP	B-Protocol
User	I-Protocol
enables	O
these	O
devices	O
to	O
be	O
mapped	O
to	O
UK	O
non-geographic	O
numbers	O
(	O
typically	O
0844	O
or	O
0870	O
)	O
that	O
have	O
a	O
per	O
minute	O
call	O
rate	O
low	O
enough	O
to	O
fit	O
in	O
with	O
VoIP	B-Protocol
User	I-Protocol
’s	O
mode	O
of	O
operation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
an	O
experimental	O
network	O
,	O
several	O
software	O
vendors	O
and	O
private	O
authors	O
test	O
their	O
SIP	O
devices	O
using	O
the	O
VoIP	B-Protocol
User	I-Protocol
network	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
January	O
2009	O
there	O
were	O
over	O
250	O
SIP	O
User-Agents	O
known	O
to	O
VoIP	B-Protocol
User	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
VoIP	B-Protocol
User	I-Protocol
is	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
handful	O
of	O
organizations	O
signed	O
up	O
to	O
this	O
from	O
the	O
outset	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
practical	O
result	O
of	O
this	O
is	O
that	O
each	O
one	O
of	O
VoIP	B-Protocol
User	I-Protocol
’s	O
accounts	O
now	O
has	O
its	O
own	O
15-digit	O
iNum	O
telephone	O
number	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
initial	O
wave	O
,	O
VoIP	B-Application
companies	O
have	O
implemented	O
iNum	O
,	O
but	O
it	O
is	O
imagined	O
that	O
ultimately	O
commercial	O
Telcos	O
will	O
route	O
these	O
calls	O
too	O
at	O
local	O
call	O
rates	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VoIP	B-Protocol
User	I-Protocol
is	O
a	O
member	O
of	O
ITSPA	O
,	O
the	O
self-regulating	O
body	O
for	O
the	O
VoIP	B-Application
industry	O
.	O
</s>
