Voice over IP Solution (VoIP): As more organizations deploy IP communications and converged networks, they must separate fact from fiction. Learn more about VoIP/SIP solutions in this whitepaper that defines the top IP communications myths.

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from Cisco Systems Inc.

As voice, video, and data networks have begun to converge, more organizations are seeing the value in deploying IP business communications solutions, including IP telephony, unified messaging, voice mail, customer contact solutions, and audio, video, and Web conferencing.

Questions about these technologies have arisen, as well as some common myths. Here, we'll share the facts surrounding these myths and provide information that can help you make an intelligent decision about deploying a converged network and IP Communications solutions.

The myths:

1. Customers should wait to deploy IP-based business communications until the standards are more mature.An IP-based business communications implementation is more expensive than implementing a traditional time-division multiplexing (TDM) communications system.
2. There is no single compelling application ("killer application") for IP-based business communications today.
3. IP-based business communications systems are less secure than hybrid systems with a mix of IP-based and traditional communications.
4. Deploying IP-based business communications means throwing away your investment in traditional voice solutions.

Myth #1
Customers should wait to deploy IP-based business communications until the standards are more mature.

The perception here is that standards processes for telecommunications and data networking is a complex and mysterious art, steeped in decades of tradition and secret voting. As a result, many people are concerned that because of the relative newness of IP Communications, the current standards for these solutions are not mature enough to justify investing in the technology. The fear is that if you invest in an IP Communications solution now, by next year, everything will change, and your investment will have been worthless.

The reality
Fundamental standards for IP-based communications are already in place; new standards will continue to emerge.

In the world of technology, it can often take far less than a year for a standard to become obsolete. In the case of IP Communications, most of the standards that are critical to the success of the solution have been around for some time. In fact, many people are surprised by the number of standards it takes to place an IP phone call today.

Let's start with the newest standard-inline power over Ethernet. 802.3af was finalized by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in early 2003, and Cisco Systems® was one of the first vendors to support the new standard with the new color Cisco® IP Phone 7970G.