In Depth: Five Things You Must Know About VoIP

Ready to bring VoIP into your business? Getting pressure to implement it but trying to avoid it? Here’s our five-point take on the state of the technology.

Like any emerging technology, voice over IP presents a painful series of "yes, but …" trade-offs–Yes, it can lower calling costs, but the gear’s expensive and finicky to get running. VoIP differs from most emerging technology, however, in two ways: how quickly it’s being adopted and how much is at stake to get it right.

Our latest InformationWeek Research survey finds 39% of companies have installed voice over IP, and another 33% will install it in the coming months. A mere 12% say they have no plans to use it. The reasons for VoIP adoption vary. Lower costs leads (cited by two-thirds of those planning to use it), but many respondents also have higher-value returns in mind: 41% cite building a one-stop communications platform, and 36% expect increased collaboration by combining voice with data-sharing, videoconferencing, or presence technology.

Whatever the many reasons, the march is on to VoIP. At some point very soon, you’re either an adopter or a holdout. This will be how most business calls are made. Here’s our five-point take on the state of this technology in business.

By J. Nicholas Hoover
InformationWeek

Full Story: http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=189800103