In 2009-10 alone, Japanese users found more varied work for their IP phones beyond simply lowering the price of a call. “Voice, video and Web conferencing via IP telephony reached a 27.8 percent market penetration, up 8.6 percentage points year-on-year,” according to the report.

The IDC report also found that in the Japanese market, while investment has stayed relatively constant from 2009 to 2010 with maybe a slight bump, the extent to which individual features are being used by those with VoIP phones is a different story, and is “increasing more rapidly.”

And there could be more features to love. According to Telappliant officials, VoIP phones, with wireless handsets often supplied with a charging dock, “could be charged without the need for a direct circuit connection between the handset and the mains.”

As the Telappliant blog quotes Tina Teng, senior analyst for wireless communications at IHS (News - Alert) iSuppli saying, mobile phones are early adopters of the technology, “which aims to resolve the age-old issue of tangled wires trailing from mains sockets. Mobile phones will contribute the largest share of revenue to wireless charging."

Specifically, according to the 2010 study, among those with VoIP phones installed, “presence notification, business application collaboration and unified messaging” are on the uptake from 2008.

Presence notification is a particularly cool feature of IP phones as it lets you indicate when you’re at your desk. Think of it as an IM status update for the phone. Okay, maybe you don’t want to be so nakedly available, that’s fine, just turn it off.

Recently, VoIP Supply, a leading VoIP equipment provider, delineated the benefits of VoIP phones. A VoIP phone, as VoIP Supply explains, is simply what you would recognize as a normal telephone but instead it uses built-in IP technology and transport protocols, in conjunction with a VoIP phone system or VoIP service, to make and receive calls. Other than the technology used to actually convey the call, it’s the same as the phone on your desk right now.