Higher Quality Promised Loud And ClearHigher Quality Promised Loud And Clear

Businesses have been reluctant to shift to voice-over-IP technology, despite the potential savings, because the quality of early voice-over-IP calls was poor. But telecom companies are trying to spur greater interest with a new generation of IP-based voice services.

Sprint last week rolled out managed IP Telephony Services, developed with Cisco Systems, which uses the network vendor's Architecture for Voice, Video, and Integrated Data technology to provide enough bandwidth for high-quality voice calls. Sprint will manage, monitor, and maintain the network and user equipment. "The equipment and quality of service have come a long way," says Mickey O'Dell, Sprint's director of product marketing.

WorldCom Inc. last week unveiled WorldCom Connection, which integrates local and long-distance voice and data traffic on its global IP network. The service offers flat-rate pricing for voice traffic and can be connected to communications gear that most businesses use.

The shift to IP voice is inevitable, says Mark Ricca, executive VP at telecom research firm Infotech. "Companies know that IP traffic is the future, and their decision is not if, but when, they'll decide to converge voice and data," he says. Concerns about the poor quality of voice-over-IP networks "have mostly been addressed," Ricca says. At the same time, the growth of managed voice and data services should appeal to businesses looking to cut costs because they won't have to invest heavily in new technology for IP calls.

"CTOs and CIOs are looking for competent suppliers to do things well that they were once doing internally," Ricca says. "And managing these services is one of those areas companies will outsource."