VoIP offers more than cost savings

CHICAGO -- When it comes to voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), there's more than one reason to accept the charges, so to speak.

During a presentation Thursday at TechTarget's Networking Decisions conference, Zeus Kerravala, vice president of enterprise infrastructure at the Yankee Group, a research firm based in Boston, argued that cost savings should not be the only reason that companies consider VoIP.

Granted, there are some cost savings to be gained from moving to VoIP, Kerravala said, including fewer toll calls and a possible reduction in a company's telecommunications staff. But Kerravala said that such cost savings would be minimal.

According to Kerravala, VoIP's biggest boon is increased functionality. There are thousands of possible applications for VoIP phones, and as companies open up their code to developers, more niche applications are likely to develop. With proper implementation and training, these systems can boost productivity for a broad range of companies.

The Yankee Group found that companies with VoIP systems are 25% to 35% more responsive to customers, and the productivity of their employees who spend a significant portion of the day on the phone rose by the same amount.

One benefit of converging voice and data is that is allows users to create a centralized place to store messages. Today people are contacted by phone, fax, e-mail, pager and cell phone, and checking all of these separate places for messages can be time consuming. With VoIP, all of these means of communication can be centralized using a single message box.

That's something that appeals to Carl Lucas, IS director for Union County, N.C. He said unified messaging would be a help to county employees and would likely boost productivity.

But for many, the potential for cost savings remains a key factor for any new technology purchase.

Leo Judge, MIS director at Indianapolis-based mortgage lender, The Money Station Inc., said that new applications and the possibility of unified messaging was not a factor in his consideration of VoIP.

Judge said his company, which has four remote locations, could benefit from avoiding toll calls, having easier remote system management and enabling employees who switch desks to simply pick up and move their own phones without help from the IT staff.

However, he said budgets are tight right now and that visible return on investment is the biggest priority. "The bottom line is that the technology has to save us money," Judge said.

Companies with that kind of bottom-line mentality may want to save money by migrating to full VoIP slowly, over time, Kerravala said. It rarely makes sense to rip out a functioning private branch exchange (PBX) in favor of a complete VoIP system, particularly for those companies that are hesitant about making the investment in the new systems and network upgrades that often accompany VoIP projects.

Lucas is considering IP-enabling some of his PBXs and continuing that process over the next year or two, as the need arises. With that approach, he said he can justify the smaller expenses along the way.

J. Todd Babcock, another IS director attending the conference, said he is not considering VoIP right now. Babcock, who works for Chicago's Museum of Science and Technology, said that the museum has only one location and it is in an old building. Any wiring changes in an older structure can be very expensive, he said.

Nonetheless, he said the museum is undergoing some strategic changes that could benefit from VoIP. Babcock said an effort is brewing to get Chicago's many museums to share resources, and a VoIP system based in multiple museums could be one way of doing that.

And that is Kerravala's point. No one is buying technology for technology's sake any more. He said it's time for companies to start thinking about how the technology can help them improve the way their businesses work.

FAQs about VoIP

s there a difference between making a Local Call and a Long Distance Call?
Some VoIP providers offer their services for free, normally only for calls to other subscribers to the service.

Your VoIP provider may permit you to select an area code different from the area in which you live. This means you may not incur long distance charges if you call a number in your area code regardless of geography. It also means that people who call you may incur long distance charges depending on their area code and service.

Some VoIP providers charge for a long distance call to a number outside your calling area, similar to existing, traditional wireline telephone service. Other VoIP providers permit you to call anywhere at a flat rate for a fixed number of minutes.

If I have Internet Voice service, who can I call?
Depending upon your service, you might be limited only to other subscribers to the service, or you may be able to call any phone number, anywhere in the world.

The call can be made to a local number, a mobile phone, to a long distance number, or an international number. You may even utilize the service to speak with more than one person at a time. The person you are calling does not need any special equipment, just a phone.

Can I use my Computer While I talk on the Phone?
Yes

Can I Take My Phone Adapter with me When I Travel?
You may be able to use your VoIP service wherever you travel as long as you have a high speed Internet connection available. In that case it would work the same as from your home or business.

Does my Computer Have to be Turned on?
Not if you are making calls with a phone and adaptor or special VoIP phone, but your broadband Internet connection needs to be active. You can also use your computer while talking on the phone.

How Do I Know If I have a VoIP phone Call?
It will ring like any other call.

Does the FCC Regulate VoIP?
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has worked to create an environment promoting competition and innovation to benefit consumers. Historically, the FCC has not regulated the Internet or the services provided over it.

On February 12, 2004, the FCC found that an entirely Internet-based VoIP service was an unregulated information service. On the same day, the FCC began a broader proceeding to examine what its' role should be in this new environment of increased consumer choice and what it can best do to meet its role of safeguarding the public interest.

The FCC has organized an FCC Internet Policy Working Group to identify, evaluate and address policy issues that will arise as telecommunications services move to Internet-based platforms.

How can I place a VoIP Call?

Depending on the service, one way to place a VoIP call is to pick up your phone and dial the number, using an adaptor that connects to your existing high-speed Internet connection. The call goes through your local telephone company to a VoIPprovider (The VoIP service provider will send you an adapterthat you can plug into your Internet connection and then plug your regular analog phone into the adaptor). The phone call goes over the Internet to the called party's local telephone company for the completion of the call.

Another way is to utilize a microphone headset plugged into your computer with a simple piece of software and no additional equipment. The number is placed using the keyboard and is routed through your cable modem.

VOIP-A brief defination

Internet Voice, also known as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), is a technology that allows you to make telephone calls using a broadband Internet connection instead of a regular (or analog) phone line. VoIP will move the telecommunications services to Internet-based platforms in the short future!

VoIP converts the voice signal from your telephone into a digital signal that travels over the internet then converts it back at the other end so you can speak to anyone with a regular phone number.

Some services using VoIP may only allow you to call other people using the same service, but others may allow you to call anyone who has a telephone number - including local, long distance, mobile, and international numbers.

Also, while some services only work over your computer or a special VoIP phone, other services allow you to use a traditional phone through an adaptor-When placing a VoIP call using a phone with an adapter, you'll hear a dial tone and dial just as you always have.