Do you need an $800 VoIP phone?

The second part of a two-part series on Six Burning VoIP Questions is presented. Flat-screen color display, Gigabit Ethernet, and Linux operating system are not specs for high-end gaming PCs or enterprise network appliances -- the features describe Siemens' OpenStage Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-based IP telephone. The VoIP industry has touted SIP for most of this decade as the future of IP telephony. Proponents say the open-standard nature of SIP, its flexibility and elegance, are among its virtues. The problem is that most companies must rely on proprietary VoIP protocols, or vendor- tweaked versions of SIP in large IP telephony deployments. Some companies are patching together systems that integrate Skype into larger VoIP systems. Big cost savings can be gained this way by using Skype to connect branch offices, while still maintaining the feeling of working on a business telephone, as opposed to a PC-based softphone, which some employees may find unfamiliar.