Why VOIP?
Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) vendors caught on early to the advantages of integrating their devices and applications with those of their technological big brother, the personal computer. Now we can all take our e-mail, contacts lists, and personal schedulers with us, and hot sync them with our PC-based applications on our return to the office. Some cell phones are starting to provide almost that same level of applications delivery and integration – and some PDAs can be converted into cell phones.
Similar convergent moves are now well afoot on the IP desktop, where the business telephone has been transformed into an addressable appliance on the corporate LAN/WAN. New IP-based applications now allow users to share common directories for both their voice and data communications. This reduces duplication and actually allows users to dial their phone by clicking a contact on their PC – or even on their PDA, if their IP phones and appliances are so equipped.
Going one step further, unified messaging applications are bringing voice, e-mail and fax messaging together in a single universal inbox accessible from anywhere via phone, web, or desktop clients. And speaking of desktop clients, applications enabled by integrated IP-based voice platforms also now give both attendants and individual business users the option of controlling their IP phone via their PC – allowing them to answer, place calls on hold, transfer, conference and dial by simply pointing and clicking. Put video over IP, and you can take advantage of new applications that support browser-based video security monitoring and digital storage/retrieval, dependable, low cost video conferencing, distance education, healthcare, and more. Turn your attention for a moment to some of these next generation IP phones and appliances now coming to market, and you’ll see a further convergence of lines on the IP desktop, as these new devices provide access to web-centric applications and converged network services. Things are truly coming together on the IP desktop – and the resultant whole is rapidly emerging as something far greater than the sum of its parts for users, enterprises, and their customers.
But the sophisticated new IP-based applications won’t have much appeal if accessing and using them is complicated or difficult for users - who’s going to bother? Ease of access is absolutely critical. Making applications that can be shared between and operate on multiple familiar devices on the IP desktop is at least part of the answer. So too are solutions and applications that enhance mobility by supporting remote access via multiple means - whether the web, the phone, or the PDA, even speech. New unified messaging applications integrated with the familiar Microsoft Outlook also now support speech-based navigation of universal inboxes. Users can even listen to e-mails thanks to recent significant recent advances in text-to-speech capabilities.
There can be little doubt that the new IP-based multimedia applications and devices are both breaking down the barriers to communications and providing users increasing levels of personal control over it. Advantage Voice Solutions is leading the way, with an “outside-in” approach to product development that focuses first and foremost on the needs of users. Today the company is introducing a rapidly expanding portfolio of IPbased communications platforms, applications, and desktop appliances geared toward delivering enhanced integration, accessibility, and personalization. By leveraging the combined power of voice, data, and video over IP, Advantage Voice Solutions is enabling capabilities and services that promise to forever improve your way of working, communicating, and delivering services to users and customers.
