This year, however, watch for voice over frame relay to come along quickly, especially in nationwide and worldwide corporate networks. FRF.12 specifies a common way for equipment to fragment long frames into shorter ones before reassembling them at the receiving point. This function is necessary to control network delays that could jeopardize voice quality. And vendors have had even longer to incorporate the FRF.11 IA into their products. FRF.11 describes the frame payload format for digital voice transport over frame relay networks, and it passed several months earlier than FRF.12.
Technology advances aside, the pricing is compelling.
When voice is hauled between PBXs at corporate sites across a frame relay network service, the cost per minute for voice transport is about six tenths of a cent per minute. And the still-hefty international rate structure makes combining voice with data over frame relay even more attractive. With or without the intermediate IP encapsulation, though, the economics remain compelling. Steven Taylor , consultant and broadband packet evangelist, and Joanie Wexler, an independent networking technology editor and writer, team up to bring you this analysis and commentary. Taylor specializes in education and market analysis, and Wexler adds incisive reporting and research.