IP phones are more than just handsets that support IP-based voice calling. They are the future of calling, weaving together traditional handset features like voicemail notification and less conventional features such as video calling and router capabilities.

There are many interesting IP phone features. We’ve pulled out a few worth noting.

For starters, some IP phones offer direction integration with popular over-the-top VoIP services such as Skype (News - Alert). The NetGear SPH101 wireless IP phone is enabled for Skype, according to the manufacturer, and it promotes itself as the world's first wireless IP phone that's able to make free calls to Skype users without using a computer. So with the SPH101, it is just as easy to call someone on Skype as it is to call their cell phone.

A second IP phone feature worth noting is the video capabilities of the Panasonic (News - Alert) KX-NT400. The KX-NT400 can register and display video feeds from up to 20 IP network cameras. Try that from a traditional handset!

The inclusion of video feeds takes the KX-NT400 to a whole new level.

XML-based services are also possible with IP phones. The Cisco Unified IP Phone (News - Alert) 7900 series is capable of delivering customized, XML-based services to let callers access a variety of information such as stock quotes, employee directories and web content right from the IP phone.

The Cisco 7900 series also supports Extensible Markup Language (XML) capabilities to extend IP phone systems.

Polycom (News - Alert) SoundPoint IP 335 has a neat trick: It can be updated by downloading firmware updates to an FTP site. Just point the phone to the IP address where firmware upgrades have been places, and it will get automatically updated when the phone is rebooted.

For those who run Asterisk, it also is possible to create a TFTP server on the box and just point the SoundPoint IP 335 to it. Fast and simple!

For a sign that the future is now, make sure to check out the ZyXEL Prestige 2000W.

The ZyXEL Prestige 2000W is a wireless IP phone that includes a built-in NAT router. It uses SIP signaling protocols over 802.11g networks, and the NAT router functionality means it can connect directly to a WAN like a Web server.

Yealink (News - Alert) is another provider of IP phones and IP communications solutions that offer rich feature sets. Its VP530 video phone offers integrated audio and video applications and seven-inch 800d480 digital LCD touchscreen and the Yealink Optima HD technology is found on many of the company’s IP phones.  

These are just a few of the features that businesses can find on IP phones today. IP phones are definitely more than just a pretty face to an old technology – the expanding variety of features improve the user experience and bring new capabilities to the VoIP-enabled technology.