Drastic improvements in quality and a decrease in voice packet delays make the VoIP phone call a close rival to the traditional land based phone line call that consumers are so accustomed to. The end user may not even realize that they are not using a traditional landline phone.

A recent survey by Infotech, reports that roughly 80% of businesses that use VoIP technology say that it has met or exceeded their expectations. Many companies that are using VoIP are using it in call centers or for their customer service lines. The VoIP phone systems offer more features than the traditional landlines ever have. The days of pressing #1 or #2 to gain access to customer service may soon be a thing of the past. New technology that is now available is allowing the use of voice response and prompts, thus allowing for a more customer friendly experience.

With the advancements made with VoIP, many companies are researching and moving towards telecommuting and allowing their workers to work from various locations such as their home or a local office. As high speed Internet access becomes more widely available, more workers will be able to telecommute. This is especially true with call centers. Typically a job with high turnover, when employers offer telecommuting, it makes the job seem more attractive thus keeping employees on board for longer periods of time than in the past. Furthermore, this lower turnover rate is reducing other business expenses as well.

While the whole VoIP movement may seem like a walk in the park there are some serious issues to consider before making a switch from the traditional landline to IP. One of the biggest concerns should be the amount of bandwidth that is available and if there is enough to handle voice packets and still deliver an acceptable sound quality. Some other considerations should be a backup power supply to keep the phones operating in case of a power failure as well as the technical ability to install and maintain the system.

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