Imagine being able to cut phone costs in your growing business by using technology you already have. That is what efficiency-minded companies are doing by using voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) in place of a conventional phone system.
VoIP, also called Internet telephony, is the real-time, two-way transmission of voice information over the Internet. The technology turns your voice into packets of data and transmits calls by using the same network and Internet infrastructure you use to send files and e-mails. By substituting fixed-rate Internet access charges for the per-minute/per-mile charges of switched phone service, VoIP can significantly reduce long-distance charges.
Although many companies find that the current sound quality of VoIP makes it inappropriate for day-to-day business use, rapid improvements in the technology are expected to turn it quickly into a mainstream corporate application. In fact, according to a study by Killen & Associates, a market research firm, small and medium-sized businesses worldwide will spend $8.1 billion for IP voice services by 2003.
Ways to Get Involved in VoIP
While Internet telephony is still a developing technology, growing businesses can use VoIP in many ways to start cutting telecom costs now:
- Branch office connectivity: If you've already invested in connecting branch offices and other remote locations through an intranet, it is possible to piggyback voice traffic on top of these data networks. This eliminates the traditional toll charges those calls incur.
- Integrated messaging: The average U.S. worker receives more than 70 messages a day, according to a Gallup study. With VoIP, this message load can be managed through an integrated messaging solution that provides access to e-mail, voicemail, and faxes from a single source.
- IP faxing: Since faxes are digitized images sent over a phone line, they are a natural to migrate to an Internet-based format. VoIP allows faxes between a company?s branch offices (which may account for much of a company?s fax traffic) to be moved to corporate data networks. Additional hardware will permit a firm to shift all outgoing faxes to the Internet.
- Call centers: If you have staff members who primarily take and make phone calls for customer service or telemarketing, VoIP can improve sales and support functions. By using a "click to call" feature on your Web site, visitors can speak with a live representative directly through their computers.