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	Routing Calls Over the Internet
	Small offices of 10 people - to large enterprises employing thousands - are starting to migrate traditional phone systems to those that use the Internet Protocol (I.P.) Systems based on I.P. technology offer flexibility, enabling voice traffic over both internal data networks and the public Internet. Internet telephony is no longer for bleeding-edge companies. In fact, it has matured to a level where the quality of voice is indistinguishable from conventional phone calls.
	Why do it? Cost savings is the major driver. A company with 100 employees, for example, spends approximately $600 a phone to buy a conventional PBX system, but $500 per phone for an Internet setup (Source: Lippis Enterprises, a network consulting firm in Hingham, Mass). About 2 percent of US enterprises ventured into Internet telephony during 2002 according to market research analysts at In-Stat/MDR. The firm predicts one if five companies will adopt I.P. telephony by 2007.
	Who’s doing it? For starters, the Telecommunications Industry Association (Arlington, Va.), which represents communications equipment manufacturers, has replaced its 10-year-old PBX with an Internet solution. JetBlue, the upstart discount airline, uses Internet technology for its “virtual call enter” comprised of over 700 reservation agents (who work from home). Reservations VP Frankie Littleford: “We will handle nearly 10 million phone calls in 2003, all of which will be routed over our IP-based system to representatives working at home.”
	IP solutions are ideal for road warriors and telecommuters who can now carry office-phones with all their features, applications and directories on their laptop to home and client sites as well as employees who interact with their computer all day long. Wherever they work, users can access speed dialing, corporate directories, call handling, call logging, dial from Microsoft Outlook or other contact managers. Forrester Research concludes: “Competition and plunging transport costs have shredded long-distance prices. New voice technologies and services, sparked by the eve-increasing ubiquity and reliability of IP networks, are about to catch fire.”