Talking freely

Technology moves quickly and voice over internet protocol (VoIP) is no longer tied to the desktop PC. It’s now possible to make VoIP calls on a handheld device such as a mobile, which saves lugging a laptop around as well as drastically cutting the cost of communication while travelling overseas.

Consumer technology, from wikis, blogs and social networking to VoIP and instant messaging, is increasingly creeping into the workplace and being adopted as a corporate tool. Free VoIP programs such as Skype have been particularly successful at this – but can have unpredictable side effects.

‘Skype is a fine consumer application, but it’s a little bit naughty,’ claims Ettienne Reinecke, chief technology officer for South Africa-based network communications company Dimension Data.

‘Call quality, especially time delay, is still an issue, and [Skype’s] had to pull some tricks. What it does is give itself the highest priority on the network, meaning you will bump financial transactions [on your network] in favour of letting people use Skype,’ he explains. ‘That’s where it’s not a good idea.’

So although VoIP has its attractions for a company on the up, the call quality, while steadily improving, remains at the mercy of the internet.