VoIP is almost 20 years old. Most of us in the industry are so familiar with what it is and how it works that we take this knowledge for granted. However, a recent survey conducted by VoIP and telecom consulting firm Software Advice (www.softwareadvice.com/voip) tells a different story when it comes to the average consumer.

The survey not only found that most consumers can’t define VoIP (71%), but that demographics mattered little in this survey: 55 percent of respondents between 25 and 34 years of age answered that they didn’t know what VoIP was, and 10 percent defined the term incorrectly—which isn’t a significant deviation from the overall results. Despite the fact that this technology has dramatically changed the architecture of business communications, it still remains obscure to many people. Additionally, the survey asked questions regarding the usability of VoIP and ranked the top five concerns of respondents. They are (with excerpts from the study);

1. Maintaining Dial Tone in a Power Outage
   1. The largest group of consumers (11 percent) expressed concerns about losing VoIP service during a power outage.
2. Call Quality
   1. Few of the respondents selected this answer as a top concern.
3. The Need for Specialized Hardware
   1. Historically office phone systems consisted of highly specialized analog equipment. Some consumers remain concerned that VoIP telephony places similar demands on the user.
4. VoIP Security and Privacy
   1. Concerns about VoIP’s limitations were remarkably uniform across a number of age groups. The only exception to the trend was 18- to 24-year-olds. This group of respondents tended to be especially preoccupied with VoIP security. Moreover, the security and privacy of voice traffic have become significant concerns as businesses and households transition away from the copper lines of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to Internet connections.
5. Mobile Compatibility with VoIP
   1. The one red herring we offered here is that VoIP can’t be used on mobile devices. This was also the answer that respondents selected least. In addition to offering call forwarding to mobile, most hosted PBXs and IP-PBXs enable you to use mobile devices as business phones.

The survey results can be found here. And to learn more about VoIP or hear more about hosted wireless solutions in the market today, contact the experts at NewCore Wireless.