VoIP—What Can It Do For Your Business?
With the costs of running a business mounting, more and more companies are turning to VoIP, short for Voice over Internet Protocol, to trim telecommunications expenses and improve productivity.

While the acronym may be clunky, VoIP technology is actually pretty sleek and enables voice conversations to be sent through the Internet. Specifically, sounds are compressed into data packets—just like the data in e-mail -- and then transmitted through a packet-switched network, aka, the Internet. With VoIP, voice and data are transmitted over the same cable and network and handled identically, which may be one of its most appealing advantages.

Admittedly, while many adults are still unclear on how VoIP works and its value, kids throughout are already convinced of its usefulness; VoIP is the technology inside today’s hottest video games that enables players to talk to one another while competing. Microsoft’s Xbox Live is, in fact, among the nation’s largest VoIP providers.

While it may be relatively new, it is a telecommunications innovation that is here to stay. According to the Telecommunications Industry Association, VoIP usage is expected to explode to over 19 million users by 2007, more than double its current number of users.