IP telephony: Back to basics: Insight

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This story was printed from ZDNet Australia.
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IP telephony: Back to basics

By Elizabeth Ussher, Special to ZDNet
October 28, 2003
URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/insight/soa/IP-telephony-Back-to-basics/0,139023731,120280205,00.htm

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Failing huge return-on-investment results, IP telephony zealots claim that applications delivered to the telephone are the -new" driver for IP telephony.

However, there is a painful void of actual application deployment to IP telephones, and clients are still struggling with the -killer app" that will justify investment in the IP telephony infrastructure (and, of course, the phones), with the exception of corporate directories.

Of note is the fact that enterprise application groups have not been jumping on the bandwagon. We expect this is due to the form-factor limitations of the IP telephone as a thin client and the fact that it is not a rich-media device even in light of recent improvements (higher resolution and colour).

We do see specific applications and point solutions, often vertically focused, where value has been attained, but this is not ubiquitous and often could have been accomplished via more traditional means.

We also note a growing application developer community devoting resources to this end; however, these developer shops will be best served by maintaining product diversity and vertical focus.

Bottom line: As with any technology, users must make decisions based on identifying business requirements, then providing the technical architecture to support those requirements.