A voice card, or voice interface card (VIC) from Cisco, is a hardware component or interface board in IP telephony. A voice card simulates FXS between a router or network switch and a telephone or FXS-based device. It is a voice processing device. The voice card uses digital signal processing (DSP) technology and supports DTMF.

Voice cards have at least one RJ-11 port and can fit into a PCI or ISA expansion slot.

Voice cards can process analog (POTS) or digital voice information, allowing for hybrid applications or pure VoIP applications. They can also simulate proprietary digital telephony protocols from Avaya, NEC, Siemens, or Nortel.

A voice card processes calls through channels, from 4 to 16 to hundreds of phone lines, depending on the card. Because of this, a voice card can support high-density communications and makes the system highly scalable.

Additional Voice Card Applications Beyond Telephony

Voice cards are capable of software-based speech recognition, fax, and digital network interface. When used as an all-in-one interface, a voice card is cost effective and efficient because it can stand in for other software or hardware.

Vendors of Voice Cards

• Cisco
• Dialogic
• Pika Technologies

See also

• interface boards
• Digium Cards
• Sangoma Cards
• Telephony Cards
• PBX