VoIP will make money, not save it

First, it probably will not save users as much as they would end up spending on extra hardware to maintain call quality ­ the promise of savings is a red herring.

But there is a bigger problem in that most people punting IP telephony completely miss the point about its real value. They are stuck in a 130-year-old mindset in which telephony begins and ends with the ability of two people to talk when they are apart. Several embellishments have been added ­ voicemail, caller ID, call forwarding ­ but it is still all about talking. If all that has changed is the way the voice signal is carried, then voice over IP (VoIP) changes nothing.