Six burning VoIP questions

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4. Do I need a $1,000 IP phone?

Flat-screen color display . . . Gigabit Ethernet . . . Linux OS.

These aren't specs for high-end gaming PCs or enterprise network appliances . . . the features describe Siemens' OpenStage SIP-based IP telephone. While clearly aimed at the high-end user, this type of desktop IP phone reflects the growing horsepower, features and capabilities being packed into desktop IP handsets. Whether these mini-computer telephones make users more productive, or add business value to an IT deployment is debatable, some observers and users say.

"Many enterprises are dramatically overspending on desktop IP telephones," says Jeff Snyder, an analyst with Gartner. "Spending $700 to $800 on a beautiful IP phone for the desktop is serious overkill."

The reason is that many users are not yet rolling out applications that take advantage of advanced capabilities these phones provide. While some phones support Web browsers, XML and Java applications, the effort and cost of tying back-end applications and systems into an IP phone is hard to justify.

"The most common application people use on phone displays is calling up past-call lists," Snyder says. "They don’t really have any enterprise applications that merit having a large color screen on the phone."

This is not to say there is no value in tying applications to IP phones with displays. Credit Valley Hospital in Mississauga, Ontario, conducted a pilot project to push corporate directory information down to more than 1,000 Nortel IP phones deployed throughout the hospital. An appliance from Citrix called the Net6 was used to convert directory data into a format that is readable and navigable by IP phone screens and interfaces. The project's aim was to allow doctors, nurses and other staff to quickly look up information when not at a PC.