The need for VoIP solutions are continuing to increase at a rapid pace. A major factor behind more and more businesses implementing VoIP solutions into their daily operations is the great amount of flexibility this technology offers customers.
In an article on Telappliant.com, Mike Eagle, general manager of the Federation of Communication Services, stated that VoIP hardware is really about being able to benefit from the value added services that various companies’ capital is being spent on, instead of just saving money. But with VoIP solutions, there are multiple cost savings associated with them that organizations can enjoy, including businesses no longer having to spend a large chunk of change in order to get started on utilizing a private branch exchange.
"It's not necessarily that cost is the main driver for business solutions. I think it's more a question of getting the enhanced and more and more sophisticated flexibility," Eagle said in a statement.
Additionally, Eagle stated that for commercial organizations, hosted VoIP and Session Initiated Protocol (SIP) trunking are the products that offer the most functionalities needed by businesses transitioning to VoIP solutions, the article revealed.
He also believes that services powered by Skype (News - Alert) are not reliable. Agreeing with this sentiment, Thomas Beck from Teo also sees many limits to the functions that Skype can offer. Similar to video conferencing features offered by some UC platforms, accessing Skype is not that simple, according to Beck. First, the user must create a new identity (another username and password to manage). Second, Skype users can only communicate within a closed network of other Skype users. Third, users are charged an increased fee when making calls to non-Skype users.
Unlike Skype, Beck said, unified communications such as VoIP solutions, only needs one phone number for everything, a single IP extension for wherever they are, completely eliminating the need for multi-device, multi-ID and multi-application that so many must deal with everyday. Beck added ultimately “this increases employee productivity and efficiency by fully integrating mobile, remote and distributed workers. Workers are granted the ability to be productive without being confined to their office desk.”
Just this year, according to the article, the University of Nottingham released VoIP phones that will enable students to communicate between its different campuses spread out all over the world in the U.K., Malaysia and China.
Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2011, taking place Sept. 13-15, 2011, in Austin, Texas. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. To register, click here.
Jamie Epstein is a TMCnet Web Editor. Previously she interned at News 12 Long Island as a reporter's assistant. After working as an administrative assistant for a year, she joined TMC (News - Alert) as a Web editor for TMCnet. Jamie grew up on the North Shore of Long Island and holds a bachelor's degree in mass communication with a concentration in broadcasting from Five Towns College. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by Stefanie Mosca