VoIP and IP telephony are becoming increasingly popular with large corporations to consumers alike. Internet Protocol (IP) is increasingly viewed as more than just a way to transport data, but also as a tool that simplifies and streamlines a wide range of business applications. Telephony is the most obvious example. VoIP-or voice over IP-is also the foundation for more advanced unified communications applications that can have an increasingly transformative effect on the way you do business. Understanding the terms is a first step toward learning the potential of this technology:

1. VoIP- refers to a way to carry phone calls over an IP data network, whether on the Internet or your own internal network. A primary attraction of VoIP is its ability to help reduce expenses because telephone calls travel over the data network rather than the phone company's network.
2. IP Telephony - encompasses the full suite of VoIP enabled services including the interconnection of phones for communications; related services such as billing and dialing plans; and basic features such as conferencing, transfer, forward, and hold. These services might previously have been provided by a PBX.
3. IP Communications- includes business applications that enhance communications to enable features such as unified messaging, integrated contact centers, and rich-media conferencing with voice, data, and video.
4. Unified Communications- takes IP communications a step further by using such technologies as Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and presence along with mobility solutions to unify and simply all forms of communications, independent of location, time, or device.

Now that we have addressed some of the VoIP terms, let's look at communication problems that businesses face and how VoIP can help to overcome these obstacles.

Business communications challenges can affect both profitability and customer/partner relationships, especially as employees' workspace is extended beyond the traditional desktop. Four primary challenges include:

• Communication-caused delay and disruption
• Communications complexity affects long-term productivity, business communications process reform, and financial performance
• Decision-support outcomes suffer from inability to access and collaborate effectively with primary players
• Resources are underused or misallocated because of the complexity of communication

After massive investments in technologies and devices, organizations demand ways of simplifying business communications not only for their mobile and distributed workforce, but also for traditional office employees whose workspace has expanded to encompass conference rooms, campuses, airports, warehouses, and other facilities. Companies must improve communication flows, so that employees can access primary decision makers quickly, enhance collaboration, and improve productivity to positively affect their business.

Companies that can flexibly and productively manage business communications in a multi-device, mobile, and distributed environment:

• Extend the workspace beyond its traditional desktop-bound limitations
• Speed access and improve communication
• Integrate different device modes and communication applications
• Dramatically improve collaboration
• Streamline business processes, reach the right resource the first time, and enhance profitability.

Cisco Unified Communications solutions provide an integrated communications strategy and architecture, helping enable the secure combination of voice, video, data and mobility applications within an integrated and intelligent network. They support employees' ability to collaborate every time, everywhere, using every device.

As unified communications applications become more prevalent in the extended workspace, more organizations are also realizing the associated benefits. Results documented by Sage Research demonstrate a multitude of benefits—both in terms of employee time savings and financial savings. Unified business communications applications not only facilitate productivity improvements for employees wherever their work takes them, they can also enhance the way in which all employees communicate.

• Organizations using unified communications clients saved an average of 32 minutes daily per employee because presence technology enabled staff to reach one another on the first try.
• Use of softphones resulted in an average savings of $1,727 per month in cell phone and long distance charges. Mobile workers also saved 40 minutes each day, enjoyed greater business communications convenience, and generated annual productivity gains of 3.5 days per year through business continuity impact.
• Organizations using unified messaging reported that employees saved 43 minutes per day from more efficient message management while mobile workers saved 55 minutes per day.
• Companies using integrated voice and Web conferencing reported a 30% reduction in conferencing expenses (by making integrated conferencing capabilities available in-house and on-network) and an average savings of $1,700 per month in travel costs.

For some, the savings with VoIP may simply come from having reduced hardware requirements and operating expenses. But,  in today's dynamic business environment, perhaps the most important benefit comes from having a communications system that can change and grow at a moment's notice, enabling new capabilities for more effective business communications, employee mobility, streamlining business processes, and improving profitability.