“Services such as VOIP, video, music, radio, news and instant messaging coupled with mobile devices such as a WiFi enabled iPod, and the ubiquity of broadband will result in 100 million consumer mobile VOIP users in 2011”
- Mareca Hatler, ON World’s Director of Research
Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP), was envisioned as a great design for large businesses spanning multiple states or several countries around the world. By using their Internet connection as a mean to communicate through their telephone system, businesses did away with long distance charges associated with state to state or International calls (2008). With today’s technology, many users carry devices that function both as a telephone and as a medium used to receive their email, as well as other functions. However, now with advances in VOIP technology, people are now able to use mobile phones to access VOIP services to make long distance calls with no additional charges (2008). More and more companies are offering this service in place of traditional land lines and with this same technology now accessible to mobile users, this service will only continue to grow as the technology does. With these services, users can now telephone colleagues anywhere in the world as if they were just down the hall in their local office, with the only concern being the time difference in each country (Kharif, 2008).
I work for a petroleum company that has their corporate office in Houston, TX; a large office in Tulsa, OK; and many remote sites locations throughout several states. I have no real experience with VOIP over mobile phones, but my company uses a Cisco VOIP telephone system at work and it offers many advantages. Users simply need to be connected to the Internet and have access to the corporate network, which can be done using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection. The phones are programmed through a web browser using nothing more than the telephones Media Access Address (MAC) and they are connected. They can be located anywhere in the world and dial a company extension as if they were in the office. All the features of the phone work the same. I have the same setup at home in Washington with our corporate office in Houston. I also have a software package that works as a virtual phone on my laptop when traveling. All I need is an Internet connection, a headset, and I have access to the phone as if I am in the office. While a VOIP telephone system will not benefit all companies, businesses that operate in several locations will save a large amount of money using a VOIP telephone system instead of a traditional land line. I believe VOIP services and usage will continue to grow at a rapid rate, both in the business world and with home users.
References
Kharif, O. (2008). VoIP Goes Mobile. BusinessWeek Online, 3. Retrieved November, 19 2009 from Academic Search Premier database.
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