Looking at the New Year is a bit like standing at the bottom of a hill and figuring out how to trudge up it. There are so many things I want to accomplish this year technology-wise - even beyond the resolutions I established in the last newsletter.

One thing I’m mulling is VoIP. There is a lot of hype about its merits and I promised readers I would make the leap. My IT friends who have installed it in their enterprise networks rave about all of the benefits. They love the ease of administration, including the fact the network can automatically figure out what changed when phones are moved.  They also like the advanced feature sets such as find-me, which enables calls to bounce to cell phones, home phones or other locations, and integration with directories.

But on the home front, I’m not sure VoIP is there yet. A friend installed it for his home office and after talking to him several times I think he should reconsider. The line doesn’t even measure up to cell quality. Every other word drops and it is difficult to hold a conversation. For someone who makes a living using the phone, this was not a strategic move.

A relative also made the move to VoIP and, like my friend, she is experiencing problems. The calls can be choppy and there is no rhyme or reason to the level of quality. While she was willing to put up with that for overseas calls to get lower rates, she expects more for domestic calls.

I believe, however, the technology holds promise and I hope to make the move sometime this year.  But as someone who relies on the phone to bring in revenue, it’s a risky proposition. I’m reluctant to toss over my landline just to save a few dollars. If my clients and interviewees suffer half as much as I have trying to communicate with colleagues, friends and family who use VoIP, it would be a bad move.

The cable companies are pushing hard to boost their VoIP business and hopefully that means they will be putting the effort into improving quality. Until then, I’ll stay tethered to my traditional voice line.

What about you? Have you made the leap to VoIP? What has your experience been? Let me know at sgittlen@charter.net.