Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, has only been around for a relatively short period of time when you look at the big picture of human history. In the roughly six thousand or so years of recorded history, VoIP has only been around for a very short time, a small blip or dot in the timeline of man. That said, in the time it's been around, it has grown by leaps and bounds.

The beginnings of VoIP can be found with the introduction of the telegraph and the first telephones - that desire to be able to communicate over vast distances easily, cheaply, and in real time. When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876, he started a ball rolling, a ball of information that would build up over the years.

For many years after the invention of the telephone, use skyrocketed and phones became commonplace and found in everyone's homes. During these initial decades, though, the technology progressed slowly. Slow evolution is still evolution, though.

By the mid 20th century, man was becoming good at transmitting all sorts of data over wires and eventually wireless toward the close of the century. Also during this time, computers became smaller and more powerful, allowing the transmission of data, of ones and zeros, to be able to be translated into other things - like a voice.

The first VoIP devices were found back in 1995, when the Internet was still a long way off from what it is today (and what it's going to become when it eventually reaches its potential.) Even in those early days, though, a lot of people became early adopters because they believed in the technology and could see the benefits would only increase as time went on.

At this point, things really began to move. As it was shown that there was a market for VoIP technology, a lot of people entered the game and started offering service - real time communication via the same "wire" that feeds your Internet connection. And with a lot of people entering the ring, competition led to innovation - smaller devices, better reception, more features, and even a lower price.

All of these things will drive more and more people to look into VoIP and how it can help better their lives. And that will only keep the ball rolling with innovations and improvements to VoIP. And if the cycle does continue for even a generation or two, there's no telling where the technology might lead.

However far it goes in innovation, VoIP is bound to play a bigger role in more people's lives as time progresses. It's not a perfect technology or one that will solve all the world's problems, but it's something that can help you in a lot of different and positive ways.