VoIP Technology to Help Businesses Operate Efficiently

Although Skype may be worried about its future with businesses, other VoIP companies are making big plans. Earlier this month, Harris Corp. announced their plans on making a radio technology operating with VoIP systems that will allow instant communications globally for both small and large businesses.

Similar to Nextel’s Direct Connect, this new program titled BeOn provides a push-to-talk feature utilizing VoIP systems. BeOn will be similar to police radios, in that everyone within the program can talk to one another using the push-to-talk system, there will also be features that will let higher-up’s voices cancel out the ones of their subordinates called “ruthless pre-emption.” The benefits to a feature like this, is if a fire department used this program, a fire chief’s broadcast would cancel out the others so that everyone could receive their commands.

This program is meant to be available to most smartphones, with a handset being designed to be released as well. A program like this could be great for companies whose employees are out in the field often and need to be in contact with one another.

John Vaughan, senior president of global marketing for public safety and professional communications at Harris, was quoted saying "the next generation of push-to-talk communications, but broader and deeper, it’s a more mature offering.” He would be right to make this claim too, by using VoIP technology to power this new program, he is allowing the program to have data, text, GPS, and email transmissions capabilities.

If a program could not only communicate with each other with the ease of a walkie-talkie, but also be able to send valuable information such as a person’s geographical location, or other pieces of data, this could become a valuable tool for businesses. Communication is a necessity, but instant communication just makes things easier, just one more way VoIP systems are helping businesses.