"VoIP" means that both the voice and data components of a customer contact are carried over the same network. In our traditional voice network (the one we have all been using since the conception of the contact center) the voice is "circuit switched"-carried along a dedicated connection between two points. The voice element travels separately from the data- nothing but voice travels along this circuit-switched network.

VoIP uses a packet-switched network just like the one that data professionals have been using since the beginning of the contact center. With VoIP, voice and data are sent over the same network. Both the voice and data are segmented into small pieces called packets. During one customer call, hundreds of little "voice snippets" are interspersed among hundreds of customer information (and other data) packets and they are all travel down the same packet-switched network "pipe."

The promises of VoIP excite us-they are now fueling its growth and popularity. They include:

Saving money: While the bypass of toll charges was the initial draw to VoIP services, its proponents now point to a decrease in overall management costs as the primary way of saving money. Management costs decrease simply because IP is easier to manage. When network moves, adds and changes (MACs) are necessary, an IP network offers simplicity and therefore substantial savings. When employees move, they simply pick up their IP devices (commonly a telephone) and move. All their user definitions follow them around in their device. No major re-cabling or re-defining the user in the switch is required. Companies do not have to expend their resources to run two or more networks because with VoIP they run just one. Companies can leverage in-house computer expertise and don't have to depend on a vendor's costly service and expertise for feature upgrades and fixes.

Improving user productivity: Users have access all forms of messages-voice, mail, e-mail, fax and video mail-from a common mailbox. Research indicates that this single feature alone delivers an approximate 25-minute-per-day increase in productivity per employee.

VoIP handles customer contacts more smoothly. Agents can use it to transfer customer contacts and related electronic records to another agent much more efficiently.