What is an IP phone exactly?

IP phones are very common nowadays in office environments. What are they really though?

An IP phone merely uses voice over IP technology identical to the very well-known Skype software. The technology enables the end user to forward calls over the internet rather than the usual public switched telephone network (PSTN). The phone devices implement protocoles like Session Initiation and Skinny Client for which further information are either completely useless for the end user or too complicated to understand, so I will move on.

So, lets just say very simply that IP phones are phone devices – and not telephones – with additional features facilitated by installed software. Those extra features may very well include from the standard caller id recognition, call history similar mobile phone's, corporate directories for quick access to numbers and numerous other application depending from the model and your companies agreement.

Although you might end up using all the additional gizmos on your phone very rarely, the conference and multiparty call options regularly prove handy while holding and transferring the odd sales call to your “beloved” colleague has been considerably simplified.

The principal motivation for every sizeable company to adopt an IP phone system is, of course, the usual suspect cost. It is simple really. As your voice is transmitted over IP, the charge associated with implementing the technology is directly related with the prearranged and fixed cost for internet bandwidth.

So, all you cold callers out there, don’t believe the billing your manager flashes every week next to your spins number. He is so full of rubbish!