VoIP: 'It's what you do with it that counts'

Businesses must start to consider how voice over IP can improve their business processes and efficiency and not simply concentrate on bottom line issues such as cost.

Full integration - not just convergence of voice and data – must be the aim if the full potential of VoIP is to be exploited according to Dave Thorn, CEO of Telstra Europe.

But Thorn told silicon.com that while the most sophisticated business users are beginning to feel the benefits of a truly converged approach the tipping point for the majority will still be "can I pick up the phone and make or take a call exactly as I do at the moment" and too many will stop pushing the capabilities of VoIP when they have attained that basic level.

"We're not seeing swathes of customers asking about VoIP. The telecoms market is full of acronyms and talk of 'the next big thing' and they really don't care. What they are interested in is the bottom line and whether it works."

However, Thorn said simply looking for 'the same, for less' will mean companies fall well short of exploiting the full potential of VoIP and miss out on major business benefits.

"Total convergence is not about VoIP; it's about taking all your applications and having a unified trust in fully integrated systems," said Thorn.

Mike Lynch, CEO of Autonomy, claims the growth of VoIP and full-integration with systems across the enterprise will prove hugely beneficial.

Lynch told silicon.com that call centres in particular will be one industry that increasingly benefits from such an approach.

"There is a big growth area in making phone calls searchable," Lynch said. "When voice over IP eventually takes hold, people will be searching phone calls the way they do emails."

Lynch said fully-integrated CRM and voice systems will be able to monitor calls and provide on-screen support to call centre operatives in real time - reducing the length of support calls and increasing the efficiency of the call centre.

But research out this week would appear to support claims that the potential of VoIP is yet to be fully grasped and understood even in the call centre sector.

Research conducted by FrontRange Solutions found that while 88 per cent of call centre managers understand the term IP telephony their focus is very much on cost reduction and not on improved quality of service.

Of those surveyed 67 per cent said they expect to reduce costs while only 33 per cent said they expect to see increased customer satisfaction and retention.