Experts identify VoIP challenges

Tom Flanagan and Fred Zimmerman of Texas Instruments have identified new challenges for VoIP as the market for VoIP solutions grows.

Their report says that in the enterprise market it is "pretty smooth sailing" for VoIP, but they have identified that as every small and medium size business (SMB) is unique, they require unique VoIP solutions.

However, they do feel that there are benefits for SMBs which adopt VoIP solutions, not least because SMBs have to compete with large enterprises, and looking and sounding like one can be advantageous.

"Through VoIP, SMBs have access to the same capabilities and functionality that previously were only available to enterprises that had purchased sophisticated voice and data communications equipment or services," says the report.

"With VoIP, SMBs can easily deploy advanced applications like call routing, unified communications and interactive voice recognition that enhance the productivity of the concern while burnishing its image with customers."

SMBs in the UK which want to start using VoIP phones will have welcomed news that Tiscali has announced a new telecoms package for businesses, which they say makes broadband faster and less expensive.

Annex M, an ASDL-based service, will also allow a doubling of VoIP connections per company.