I read a Gartner report last year about Unified Communications that said the future is softphones. People have been buying pretty Cisco IP Phones for $400 a piece for a while, making Cisco very happy.
The Gartner report made the case that enterprises should stop buying expensive desk phones, which are mini-PCs (they have an OS, run Java, and can run applications), and use the real PC right next to the phone to run a softphone. This cuts hardware investment, maintenance, and operational support. That all made sense to me. Why buy a separate piece of hardware when you have a system right there that can do everything? And then I started using a softphone the last few months. It’s nice. I have my work phone number where I am working, particularly at home. And while traveling I have a way to make phone calls other than the mobile phone.
But a total replacement for my desk phone it is not. It has some bugs, needs to be restarted a couple times a day, and, most importantly, it runs on Windows, so, it’s bound for problems. It’s really not Cisco’s fault; it’s Windows, and well, I am a power user. I usually have 10-15 programs running, including Outlook (a major resource hog), and a web conferencing webcam program. That leads to instability and CPU spikes and it’s just not a good environment for VoIP.
So, now I’m liking my desk phone more and more. It’s stable, gets it’s power from the network, and works. It isn’t designed to run thousands of shareware applications downloaded from random websites in various third-world countries like my PC. When I need to be on a call, it works.
And, now we’re looking at office-at-home solutions for workers that includes a nice SOHO router, a DSL/cable modem connection, and an IP Phone.
More >From the Field blog entries:
Burning Down Your VPN with Super Broadband Speeds
The Best Way to Get the Message Across….
It’s One of Those Opinionated Days
So What’s This About the Internet Melting Down?
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