Despite a previous prediction by Walker (2002, 20) that businesses would be reluctant to commit en masse, to the immense cost saving of VoIP, 2004 has seen a distinct escalation of big businesses implementing VoIP.
Ford Motor Co.’s recent purchase of 50,000 VoIP phones, according to Pappalardo D. (2004, 14) is advantageous in two ways. First, the switch to VoIP is very cost saving for a big business like Ford Motor Co. Secondly, the switch to VoIP provides better service, by way of Ford’s use of proprietary Cisco technology, called Survivable Remote Site Telephony (SRST). The technology deploys routers which detect when an IP link goes down, contacts the CallManager at the data center over the public switched telephone network and thus maintains connectivity. This significantly cuts down on lost IP connectivity downtime.
Author, Blair R. (2004, 68) emphasizes the advantage of VoIP being available over an existing internet connection. Typical online self-services allow users to access information and answer questions easily on the internet. However, web browsing can never replace human interaction; the BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina (BCBSSC) has augmented their web-based capabilities with a VoIP feature called STATchat, which allows physician practices connect instantly to a live provider services representative when they are unable to find the proper information through self-service.
The advantage of STATchat over normal phone inquiries is that STATchat users are moved to the head of the queue, since their internet connection allows them to send user and physician details, allowing BlueCross to respond much faster. Unlike a traditional phone call, where conversation first gets converted into electronic signals and subsequently moves through a network of switches along a circuit, VoIP telephony allows sound to be converted into data packets. These data packets travel through private networks or the Internet, much the way e-mail travels, and then get reconverted back into sound on the receiving end of the call.
The unit cost is substantially lower than a live rep answering an 800 line and can even beat an automated voice-response system-because about 40 percent of the time, system users opt out of automated voice-response systems, choosing to speak with a live rep, compared to only 3 percent of the time among those using online self-service.
VoIP isn’t just for the big businesses and cutting edge outfits. In early October, Toshiba Information American Systems Inc. debuted an IP business communications system designed for small businesses. Its features are very user friendly, including a feature that allows users to set up speed dial numbers and program feature buttons using a web browser. The convergence of internet and telephone functions results in a simpler, more effective design.
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Siang Lu 17:28, 27 Oct 2004 (EST)
