VoIP helps to simplify business processes

Unified communications such as VoIP have the potential to significantly simplify business practices and improve productivity, a leading expert claims.

Dale Vile, co-founder of analysis firm Freeform Dynamics, said on ITDirector.com that the fragmentation of communications can contribute to "lost productivity, process interruptions and business decisions being delayed".

In the worst case scenario, it can also result in business-critical decisions being made without key information because "some people could not be reached in time".

By deploying VoIP, businesses "no longer have to live with the complexity that has sneaked up on us over the past decade or two" as they can do something about it.

Converged IP communications can incorporate voice, video and data together by using the same physical network infrastructure.

"This kind of unified approach to communications can not only streamline business operations today, but protect our individual sanity and prevent future cost and risk to the business as communication and collaboration mechanisms continue to proliferate," he explained.

According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), many VoIP-enabled businesses were able to stay productive during the recent heavy snowfall.