Cisco IP telephony and VoIP: When IDC asked 500 IT and telecom professionals for the reasons to deploy IP telephony, applications and integrated networking headed the list. Read more about voice over IP phone systems, internet IP phone software solutions, and more.

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by Howard Baldwin, llustration by Ron Chan. iQ Magazine

Open up a whole new field of opportunities by running business applications on IP-based phones.

Summary
When research firm IDC asked 500 U.S. IT and telecommunications professionals to name the top three reasons they were interested in IP telephony, applications (51%) came in a close second to integrated networking (53%). In larger enterprises, where technology trends often take root, applications were cited even more often (62%).

From Cisco: A Look at the Hardware Whether you opt to customize an application for your specific business or select one developed for your industry, Cisco IP phones support XML-based applications that make them an integrated and intelligent part of your information systems. Cisco offers a variety of phone types to meet the needs of different industries and workplace environments: General Desktop: Probably the most common of the phone series, the Cisco IP Phone 7960G and 7970G models offer LCD panels with access to messages, directories, services, and help; speakerphone capabilities; and a flash memory upgrade. Transaction Workers: The Cisco IP Phone 7940G supports multiple protocols designed to allow customer care and other such workers to access and display database information on customers, inventory, and suppliers. Mobile Workers: The Wireless IP Phone 7920 integrates with 802.11 networks for workers who are frequently away from their workstations, such as in healthcare, education, IT, retail, and warehousing environments. High-Speed Applications: The Gigabit Ethernet 7971G phone includes a port for integration to a PC or desktop server and has a high-resolution color touchscreen display, which is especially suited to phone-based applications.

As organizations of all sizes become accustomed to the integrated management capabilities of IP-based networks, developers are discovering a small but burgeoning IP phone applications market. The reasoning is simple:

• There are at least 10 times as many telephones in the world as there are computers.
• Phones, unlike computers, are always on.
• IP phones combine the most crucial capabilities of phones, pagers, and computers, in that they can be used for signaling, voice communication, and data communication.
• The applications initially developed for IP phones encompass two and sometimes three of these capabilities, and they're being deployed in places where phones are more logical, convenient, or ubiquitous than traditional desktop computers.

Security and Emergency Warnings
Although tornado warnings are usually announced by television and radio stations, those who need information sooner can buy decoder boxes that pick up the National Weather Service (NWS) radio signals and begin flashing a red light in response. The Frederick County School District in Virginia had installed such decoders in the principals' offices in each of its 17 schools. When the red light started to flash, the principals would alert everyone on campus.

But this solution didn't work well if the principals weren't in their offices when the alarm began. So Rob Yost, the district's director of IT, asked AAC, which had developed a time-and-attendance application for the district's Cisco IP phones, to create a phone-based system to broadcast tornado alerts.

AAC worked with Cistera Networks in Dallas to:

• Transform the radio signal into ASCII text and then into extensible markup language (XML) format for the phones
• Capture NWS audio and convert it to a format that can be streamed through the IP phone's speakers.